Discworld

Many of the people who I talk to on Identi.ca or IRC know I've been on a bit of a Discworld kick recently. In doing so I've noticed plenty of others who also have an interest in Discworld as well as plenty who have never heard of it, so I thought I'd do a very basic intro to Discworld post.

Discworld is a series of novels focussing on different sets of characters set on the same world. Discworld is a flat disc shaped world on the back of four giant elephants, who in turn are standing on the back of a giant turtle called Great Artuin. Yes, get your "the earth is flat" jokes in here. They are one of many running themes in these novels.

Discworld is fantasy fiction with many layers to it, written in a very funny way. While other stories and writers try to play the stereotype card as serious, Terry Pratchett plays it with a twist that makes it pure genius. The stereotypical view of a vampire is that they wear black evening wear, sleep in crypts, hate bright lights and have an eye for young virgin's necks. In Discworld the characters know those steretypes, not only that but they are seen as values to aim for, what society expects of them. Maybe a couple of examples would help explain it better.

In one story (the name escapes me for the moment) a vampire is complaining that on his day off he has to go down the wood merchants to buy wood to build a crypt. Why? Because his wife feels the social pressure to conform, and "you can't be a vampire without a crypt".

One of my favourite characters Otto Chreik is also a vampire, and an iconographer (photographer) for the Anhk Morpork Times. Being a vampire, and therefore having an issue with bright light, he turns to dust every time the flash goes off. He has a little business card in his pocket that says "please drip some blood onto the ashes" at which point he becomes Otto again. Later on he starts carrying a vial of blood which breaks when he turns to dust. Sometimes the flash is not strong enough to turn him to dust, it merely sends him scurrying for cover under a desk yelling "OW! OW! OW! OW!".

I iconograph is like an old camera, but inside is an imp with a brush who paints what he sees. The flash is caused by hitting a salamander who's been sleeping in the sun charging up, giving the salamander a shock, causing it to release it's light as a defence mechanism.

If this wasn't crazy enough, Otto is a Black Ribboner, a member of the Temperance League, which is a sorta group support for addicts, like the AA. In his case it's his sworn oath to not drink blood, so when he sees a young virgin walk past with the heaving bossoms he rubs his ribbon and sings a little song to stay strong and resist the urge. Being from Ubervalt he speaks with a strong German / Transylvanian accent.

Otto is just one of 1,000's of crazy and lovable characters in Discworld, some have whole series focusing on them, Otto is a bit part player coming into a few as a secondary character sadly. Here are but a few:

• Death - Yes, Death is a real character, as a dark hooded skeleton with a sycthe who turns up when people die to usher them onto the afterlife.
• You Bastard - The greatest mathematician on the disc, who also happens to be a camel. You Bastard does all sorts of quantum maths in his head, he also knows Son Of A Bitch; a camel from a nearby village.
• Rincewind - A failed wizard, he specialises in running away. Rincewind liked to think of himself as a racist, the 100mtrs, the hurdles, the marathon; he'd raced them all.
• The Luggage - A magic travelling case with a mind of it's own, very loyal with a vicious side. It follows it's owner everywhere.
• Havalock Vetinari - Anhk Morpork's patrician and tyrant, he's also a fully trained member of the Assassins Guild.
• The Librarian - Used to be a wizard until a magical accident turned him into an orangutan. The wizards offered to try and change him back but he decided he liked being an orangutan and wouldn't hear of it. His entire vocabulary is built around different ways to say "Oook!" but all the wizards understand him and talk to him as before.

A world where there are guilds for everything, not to mention more religions than you can shake a stick at it's hilarious. Lord Vetinari decided that while there was going to be crime, it may as well be organised crime. The result is that the thieves have their own guild called the Thieves Guild. Yes when you get mugged, you get a receipt for your loss, as well as a free gift. The theives have limits on how much they are allowed to steal and can't go over it. Any thieving done by a non guild member are treated very harshly. There is also a Musicians Guild, where musicians have to pay to be allowed to play, if not they get visits from legalised heavies to destroy equipment, break up concerts etc Sounds like the RIAA to me.

There are various series of novels focussing on different parts of Discworld:

• The Watch - Sorta CSI Anhk Morpork, it focusses on The Watch (the Police). When you have a gargoyle, a zombie, a werewolf, a troll and a dwarf on staff, the stories get nuts.
• The Witches - Set in Lancre, the Witches are much more down to earth with their magic, where a witch is an essential part of life from a midwife to a good luck charm and a lot more.
• The Wizards - Unseen University in Ankh Morpork is the home of the wizards. The wizards are basically about the University faculty, where it's a group of old men stuck in tradition referring to each other by title's like "The Chair Of Indefinite Studies".
• Death - Death has a family, a job and hobbies like anyone else. He also has an apprentice called Mort. In one story he decides to go on leave, where he tries to find work as a regular Joe. This results in him flipping burgers at one point, and sitting at an employment office with the clerk trying to figure out his strong points.

There are various novels which cross over with each other, with characters like Sam Vimes of The Watch having to deal with the Wizards of Unseen University, or Granny Wetherwax and Nanny Ogg of The Witches turning up in Ankh Morkpork. There are plenty of one off stories too that don't fit into any series, like the brilliant Pyramids which sees the son of an ancient King who is currently in training with the Assassins Guild have to head home to become King when his dad is killed. You Bastard the camel is in Pyramids, CUD CUD CUD! (come back and re-read this post after reading Pyramids, and you'll get that joke).

The stories all fall into the "part of one huge whole" idea which I love. You see characters like Sam Vimes, who starts as Commander Vimes gradually get outfoxed by Lord Vetinari and find himself very reluctantly pushed up the class ladder to become Duke Vimes. Vimes is an old fashioned copper through and through.

Each story has a few themes too, like Going Postal is about the postal service in decline, the faster technology called the Klax (towers with blinking lights like fibre optic binary), and an underground group called The Smoking GNU who can hack the Klax and get their messages on the trunk without the Klax owners knowing. Unseen Academicals is about football (soccer), celebrity culture and fan violence, as Unseen University put a team up to play against the locals. The game used to be called The Shove, which was very violent, until Lord Vetinari revived it and changed the rules. Football fans will love this one.

This is only a tiny taster into the bizarre, wonderful world of Discworld. To say it's funny, intelligent and incredibly well written would be an understatement. If you like fantasy fiction, have an appreciation of satire, with a wicked sense of humour, you're missing out on a work of genius if you don't get into Discworld.

There are a lot of sites set up around Discworld, the L Space wiki is a good one to start with. Offhand "L Space" is a way of twisting space and time devised by Ponda Stibbons, the only faculty member in Unseen University who actually does anything other than time his schedule around the arrival of the tea trolley.

Discworld is such a rich environment for names and references, that it'd be an excellent naming scheme for a project's releases. After I threw it out as a flippant idea, the idea has grown on me to the point where I'd jump on it myself if I had a project that was in need of a naming scheme, which I don't.