Asmodai is explicitly mentioned in a John Bellairs book, so I knew about said demon at a fairly young age. Apparently he was also the demon in Solomon's ring.
Zassaliss, Harssacss,and Sesstra. Yeah, nightmares there, too, but I gotta give it to Asmodeus for his lair. Heads and wings and tails, corpse and trophies and treasures everywhere in a twisting expanse of dark and silent tunnels.
I guess the difference for me is the reason for them stinking of death. Zassaliss, Harssacss, and Sesstra have the scent of death from their fused, rotting bodies. Asmodeus has the smell of death everywhere in his lair so you can't smell him coming. Asmodeus moves silently, the children of Berussca gotta scrape the chain and rotted tails on the ground as they move, which is creepy but in a different way.
I prefer,"oh crap, where the heck is it" monsters to "oh crap, here it comes" monsters. More anxiety and less horror.
I was somewhat opposed to the idea of making predators default villains instead of, y'know, acknowledging that maybe it's kind of lame to have to eat other sentient beings to live. So I never read them.
I never stopped reading Redwall. My brother bought all of the books up to Rakkety Tam, except Salamandastron, Pearls of Lutra and The Long Patrol. Those, and the ones after Rakkety Tam, I read from the library.
I keep forgetting Salamandastron exists, I know it's surprisingly early in Publication Order. Published before Marlfox.
Also, Outcast of Redwall was always my least favorite of the pre-Marlfox books.
Legend of Luke was either right before or right after Marlfox. The ones after those two, I haven't read as many times.
See, when I was a kid, the then-current series I looked forward to most were Redwall, Harry Potter, and Star Wars.
Hmm, publication order without looking it up...
Redwall, Mossflower, Mattimeo, Mariel of Redwall, I think maybe Martin the Warrior or The Bellmaker, Salamandastron's in there somewhere, also Pearls of Lutra and The Long Patrol, probably after Outcast of Redwall which is in there somewhere, and then Marlfox and Legend of Luke. Before Marlfox and after Mariel of Redwall it gets a bit fuzzy, and then it goes Taggerung, Loamhenge, Triss, and Rakkety Tam. Then Eulalia, and crap, twelve-year-old me would be so disappointed in current me.
this isn't a reading order, it's a chronology... pah
as evidenced with the "industrial" starting with moving pictures and including monstrous regiment. pah. going postal was the big one for industrialization.
I mean, you're meant to read them chronologically, so!
I mean like yeah, if you read e.g. one of the later watch novels first, and Vimes is a superintendent, that would be weird. and i could keep talking about this but i just noticed it's what the dotted lines are for, so forget it
Why would you ever suggest that someone start with Mort?
Start with Soul Music. It's technically in the middle of Death/Susan's story, chronologically, but it's a much better introduction to Death's world than Mort and, imo, a stronger novel in general.
this isn't a reading order, it's a chronology... pah
as evidenced with the "industrial" starting with moving pictures and including monstrous regiment. pah. going postal was the big one for industrialization.
I mean, you're meant to read them chronologically, so!
I mean, so long as it's not too dependent on knowledge of prior events in the series for context and overall satisfaction, I think it's kind of moot? Like, you can start with Small Gods to get a feel for what the books are like and then read something like The Colour of Magic, Equal Rites or Mort and proceed forward.
That said, I started Thud! ages ago and have yet to finish it (although I quite liked it), but I never felt confused in the slightest.
Okay so you watch Episodes 4 and 5, then you do the entire prequel trilogy, THEN you watch 6.
After this you watch the Holiday Special, the Droids cartoon, Howard the Duck, and the two Ewoks movies before watching, in one sitting, No Country For Old Men and that fan edit of Phantom Menace that removes Jar-Jar
The thing is, the individual series (in particular the Guards and Death books) do tend to pretty tightly intertwined. Witches and Rincewind are looser (outside of like, the Tiffany Aching books), but.
The thing is, the individual series (in particular the Guards and Death books) do tend to pretty tightly intertwined. Witches and Rincewind are looser (outside of like, the Tiffany Aching books), but.
thus the independent ones
or a starter i guess. i mean i liked equal rites. starting with color of magic might be weird. it's kind of... eighties
Okay so you watch Episodes 4 and 5, then you do the entire prequel trilogy, THEN you watch 6.
After this you watch the Holiday Special, the Droids cartoon, Howard the Duck, and the two Ewoks movies before watching, in one sitting, No Country For Old Men and that fan edit of Phantom Menace that removes Jar-Jar
No Barton Fink vs Jango, smh
Seriously though, Pratchett went out of his way to make most of his books readable even if you haven't read the other books in the series. The plot usually has bits and pieces that are helped by prior knowledge, but everything's relatively self-contained.
Like I said, I read Thief of Time first. Carpe Jugulum was my first Witches novel. I got into Rincewind at The Last Continent, and if Sourcery was my first introduction to Discworld, I might not have found it so likable. You pick whatever book seems the most interesting and damn the continuity.
Also, under no circumstances should you read Colour of Magic first. Everyone agrees that the early Rincewind novels are a bit weak due to Pratchett working out the subtleties of his style.
i liked the nuclear safety joke though. that's choice. i can almost recite it from memory and i haven't read that book in probably ten god damned years
it's possible he mentioned asmodeus and i missed it, but i find that hard to believe, because fucking asmodeus, who i thought was a dnd invention
asmodeus was not mentioned. there was a ceremony in the church the day before (which was the official ceremony) with just our families and he mentioned more explicitly that the previous seven husbands died but not that she was cursed by asmodeus
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
@Calica You may be the only person in history who has ever had to clarify "Asmodeus was not mentioned by the officiant at my wedding."
You are the end result of a “would you push the button” prompt where the prompt was “you have unlimited godlike powers but you appear to all and sundry to be an impetuous child” – Zero, 2022
Also it's kind of funny how "oh yeah there was an extra wedding the day before" is pretty much an open secret
cheese and bread is proving to be a better snack than junk food. more filling, so i want less and it ends up being cheaper. dunno if it's any less healthy though.
Comments
I think I might've missed something
I guess the difference for me is the reason for them stinking of death. Zassaliss, Harssacss, and Sesstra have the scent of death from their fused, rotting bodies. Asmodeus has the smell of death everywhere in his lair so you can't smell him coming. Asmodeus moves silently, the children of Berussca gotta scrape the chain and rotted tails on the ground as they move, which is creepy but in a different way.
I prefer,"oh crap, where the heck is it" monsters to "oh crap, here it comes" monsters. More anxiety and less horror.
idk if this means I'm old or if I just stopped reading them at a younger age
maybe I was still reading em but was far enough behind that I never got to that one
I checked the list and the one immediately before it is the last one I remember reading, so
(Start with Small Gods, because it's standalone and really good.)
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
☭
B̤̺͍̰͕̺̠̕u҉̖͙̝̮͕̲ͅm̟̼̦̠̹̙p͡s̹͖ ̻T́h̗̫͈̙̩r̮e̴̩̺̖̠̭̜ͅa̛̪̟͍̣͎͖̺d͉̦͠s͕̞͚̲͍ ̲̬̹̤Y̻̤̱o̭͠u̥͉̥̜͡ ̴̥̪D̳̲̳̤o̴͙̘͓̤̟̗͇n̰̗̞̼̳͙͖͢'҉͖t̳͓̣͍̗̰ ͉W̝̳͓̼͜a̗͉̳͖̘̮n͕ͅt͚̟͚ ̸̺T̜̖̖̺͎̱ͅo̭̪̰̼̥̜ ̼͍̟̝R̝̹̮̭ͅͅe̡̗͇a͍̘̤͉͘d̼̜ 
⚢
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
That said, I started Thud! ages ago and have yet to finish it (although I quite liked it), but I never felt confused in the slightest.
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead