DISCWORLD TODAY By Andrew Wielochowski ... 4 months late 1:= Carpe Jugulum 2:= The Fifth Elephant 3:= Progression of the Pratchett Books 4:= Discworld Noir 5:= News 1:= >> Carpe Jugulum Apologies first I should really have done this about two issues ago, but I've got my excuses. It has now been released in paperback. Carpe Jugulum begins where we last left the Witches from the Ramtops, probably arguing. Except things have changed and times moved on. And things are going wrong. It is the Naming celebration of Magrat and Verence's first child. Except all is not right and we could start with the fact that Verence has invited everybody to the celebration including Vampires. Although so thing else is wrong .... Granny Weatherwax is missing and it isn't like her to miss anything. She always says that things are about timing and effect and the vampires have just that. They can't be trusted and that's the first thing you should know and the second it that garlic just ain't gonna work. Mightily Oats, a priest from Omnia is down to present the Naming and he dresses in black and is from Omnia and that's all the suffices for Nanny Ogg to take an instant dislike to the man. Whereas Agnes Nitt, Magrat's large replacement, takes an instant liking to the man, but Perdita thinks he's a sad pathetic little man, but she always was in two minds about everything. Danger strikes as the vampires take over Lancre, but Granny is nowhere to be seen and everyone should be getting very worried. 2:= >> The Fifth Elephant The Fifth Elephant is the 24th Discworld book and features the Ankh-Morpork City Watch and a handful of vampires, dwarfs and werewolves thrown in for good measure oh, er, yes and don't forget that nice little doggie, the one which walked through all that snow. The Discworld is becoming diplomatic as the time of the crowning of the new low king is drawing near and Ankh-Morpork, that is to say Lord Vetinari is "eager" to send a party out into Uberwald for the coronation. The reason being Uberwald is the number one area for good gold deposits but more importantly are the Schmaltzberg mines which mine the high quality fat deposits which come courtesy of the Fifth Elephant of the Discworld (I won't say anymore about that). Yet all is not well in Ankh-Morpork as the usually murders are afoot, the death of successful "rubber" businessman and the disappearance of a fake Stone of Scone are somehow related to the events that will occur up in Uberwald. Sam Vimes, Duke, Commander, Eraser of blackboards and now diplomat is sent by the Patrician, along with Detritus, Littlebottom and a clerk, mmm mmm, as well as his wife, to Uberwald where things don't quite go as planned. Meanwhile Angua has mysteriously vanished and Carrot leaves to find her leaving an over-ambitious Colon as Captain of the Watch. Quickly things turn upside down, Vimes is a hunted man and Carrot is tackling werewolves ... yeah ... er with the help of some brave little doggie ... who really deserves a bone. 3:= >> Progression of the Discworld Books The Discworld series began with The Colour of Magic and is now on its 24th book (The Fifth Elephant) and throughout that time the style and way in which they are written has changed dramatically. The Colour of Magic stuck to the well known rules of literature and the style was obvious and not really fancy. As the books progress however the style and the narration changes a lot as Pratchett establishes a fan-base and publisher recognition. First there is more of mixture of styles and a different feeling in the way the book is presented - for example he describes it in the view of a film director or of an unseen observer hiding in the hills. But these and the other styles of writing are also what attracts us to the books. The reason I really started to write this little bit here was because I wanted away to lead onto the latest Discworld game, Discworld Noir, but that'll come along in a moment. Possibly the biggest change is quite recent when the books have become a bit more mature but a lot darker while still retaining the comic humour. This twist and change of style began really with Maskerade and onto The Fifth Elephant the range here is of much darker stories such as Carpe Jugulum and The Fifth Elephant while The Last Continent resorts back to the style seen before. I quite liked this change and think that it suites the Discworld and this is one reason why I think Discworld Noir is so good. 4:= >> DISCWORLD NOIR Officially the third Discworld game, but really the fourth. Discworld Noir is a sudden change to what we were used to with Discworld 1 and 2. In Discworld Noir Ankh-Morpork has suddenly become a lot darker and less comical. The graphics have changed and Rincewind has been replaced by Lewton P.I. The first reason people I've spoken to give for not liking Discworld Noir is that "It isn't Discworld" and "Rincewind isn't in it". I think that neither of these make the game worse than the previous 2 (not including COM) but then I think that possibly it is more of how you perceived the Discworld beforehand that makes you like the game. I think that the Ankh-Morpork in Noir is perfect as is Lewton's character. Ankh-Morpork is meant to be a shady city where murders are as regular as clockwork and people tend to stick with themselves. Discworld Noir plays on the new darker side of the Discworld that Terry Pratchett has been slowly introducing and it does it well. Ankh-Morpork is a comedy. Ankh-Morpork is the place where if you leave a bucket outside your front door someone nicks the bucket and may well kick down the front door just for a laugh. I think that Ankh-Morpork is portrayed like it should be whilst still giving us the humour that comes with the Discworld. The previous games portray Ankh-Morpork as more of a friendly city and in a much more cartoony and animaniacs style. For example the time when you have to break down the wall by sticking a 10 ton sign on a ball and swinging it at it. The humour is still there but in more subtle ways and isn't so plain and in your face. Some of the best humour is quite hard to pick up on whilst some is simple and funny. In particular I loved The Butler and the whole business he had with the Hardwood Floor. I think that people think that the Discworld is this funny colourful place and I think they're right ... except I don't think the previous Discworld portrayed it more as Hollywood and a cartoon set. I think that Discworld isn't just Ankh-Morpork like in the previous two it is also more Discworld than the previous two. The Discworld is a serious place, but whilst being serious it is humorous, exciting, fun, hilarious and totally different from what we see and I think this has been all done very well in the new game. However I think it lacks a certain Pratchett style plotline and style ... but I think that Ankh-Morpork and the inhabitants have been done perfectly. 5:- >> NEWS * Sad news:- I understand that the creators of the 3 Discworld games have recently gone out of business. * The Fifth Elephant is out!!! Possible discounts are WH Smith (I got it for œ12.99) and Ottaker's who had it at œ9.99. @~www.amazon.co.uk is basically even cheaper ... œ8-odd ... but @~you have to allow for postage ... Sue * Carpe Jugulum in paperback. * The Fifth Elephant was out TWO months before us in Sweden. * The Truth will be his next novel due to be published in November 2000 and near March 2001 he'll produce an illustrated novel called THE LAST HERO and this includes the ascent of the Cori Celeste and the first successful attempt to orbit around the Disc * The Assassin's Guild Diary 2000 is out œ3 discount in Ottakers. * Nanny Ogg's cookbook is out. Very funny. - o -