Saturday, 29 September 2012

Book of the week: Dodger

 I must admit that I haven't read every single book by Terry Prachett. I first heard about him from none the less than Lloyd Alexander who was super-enthusiastic and even gave me his copy of Reaper Man, and I was hooked. Later I read and reviewed the Diggers trilogy, and at one point I had Monstrous Regiment on my fantasy course syllabus. I absolutley love A Hatful of Sky.

I was first a bit disappointed when I realised that Dodger was not a Discworld novel, but I was immediately gripped by the book which was just as clever and ironic and improbable and you-name-it as every Pratchett book. It so happens that I have recently read quite a number of unrelated books that take place in London, and seeing yet another side of it through Pratchett's eyes was exciting. I learned lots of new words, I was tempted to check facts (all quite unncessarily explained in the afterword), I caught myself doing something I interrogate in my research: getting emotionally engaged with the character. I was truly upset when I finished the book. It's an exceptionally high grade for me.

2 comments:

Marcus said...

Hej Maria, vad kul att du skrivit om Pratchett. Jag har varit sugen på att börja läsa Pratchett ett tag och undrar om du kan tipsa om vilken bok som är bra att börja med? Är böckerna en sammanhängande serie eller kan de läsas i en orkonologisk ordning?

Maria Nikolajeva said...

Discworld-böckerna kan läsas i vilken ordning som helst, och alla är lika roliga (fast jag har som sagt inte läst alla). Ta den första du ser.