Weekly Update: May 5th, 2024 | The One Where I Give Discworld Fans an Affectionate New Nickname 

“Death comes out of nowhere . . .” To be fair, it often does. 😁

I'm working through the Silmarillion right now which I've been pleasantly surprised by. I feel like it's the same thing as disc world and the slog in WoT. I've heard so long how hard it is to get through that I was scared to start, but I'm really liking it so far

Hi Mike A "chill" discworld fan here.... I accidentally started with Mort not realizing it was this huge series. I thought it was hilarious and immediately went back and started reading them in publishing order. I had about 5 books to go when Pratchett died, and I slow rolled reading the final few because it was bittersweet to read the final book.

😆 ok, it was me, I'm the one who panics when anyone starts Discworld at the beginning! In all seriousness, Mike, I'm thrilled you're visiting the Discworld beta editions - He was planning to *not* write more in the Disc after Mort, but Neil Gaiman specifically requested more because he enjoyed Terry's version of Death so much. After that Sir Terry began to give the Disc a clearer identity and imo got brilliant at writing in that world. I hope you enjoy the ride!

Can we just take a moment to appreciate just how fast this man can read so many books given the family and work related commitments he surely has? I've been struggling to keep my reading momentum given the recent busyness but Mike definitely inspires me.

Too much fun being your guest on "Talk About Nothing!" Call me out of the bullpen anytime!! I love the concept you have for the videogame video. I have something in mind, a little similar talking about games, but very different as a whole. Looking forward to what you're cooking up!

For what it’s worth, I’ve read Discworld front to back a number of times and I’m all for publication order. There’s enough world building that gets missed jumping around, but They are correct in that the writing and style gain momentum but that part of the fun! In a world of Gatekeepers, be a Keymaster 🤘🏼

The Turtle moves

Started reading Dresden Files this weekend because of your vid’s. Love it so far!!

You were given a good selection of Discworld books. The books can be into different 'collections'. The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic are books 1 and 2 in the The Unseen University collection. Mort is book 1 in The Death Collection. And Guards! Guards! is book 1 in The Night Watch collection. Each book introduces characters who feature in subsequent books. The characters do appear in cross-collection books, but the character development mainly happens within collections.

There's a reason it keeps cutting from Rincewind to the people "playing D&D". You'll figure out who The Lady is too. ;)

Hey Mike Really enjoy your channel You inspire me to read more great books Thanx Take it easy and don't mind the haters

People recommend weird reading orders for Discworld because most people came to the series randomly by getting a book essentially at random from the library or the bookstore, and that worked for us, then we read the first book later and it felt like a very weird shift. Any series this long is going to have the occasional weak entry. Reading all of them in order is for people who don't have big TBRs.

Small Gods is by far my favorite Terry Pratchett book so far.

I just finished Dark Matter by Blake Crouch, what a phenomenal book. I’m quite excited for the series. I’m getting ready to read Shogun again (last time was in ‘94ish) after the amazing Hulu show wrapped. Watching Shogun made me miss great TV that we could always depend on.

I’m reading Star Wars: Ambush at Corellia. Haven’t read it in like 15 years. Excited to be back in the SW universe that is actually good. I forgot how entertaining (and easy) it is to read.

Silverblood Promise 😍😍😍 Honestly the cover is what got me first .. also, I'm so excited for you to see your son play violine 🎻

I’m looking forward to discussing some sci-fi and fantasy! Hope your son’s concert goes well! 🎻

How to Train Your Dragon was one of the first book series that got me into reading as a kid. Still yet to watch the movies as I'm not usually big on animation. Will have to check them out!

Mike,Biblio and Jonathan on the same channel. My three favorites. The other one I don’t know but will check out. Hopefully they have a general conversation about fantasy and sci fi too. Would love that.

Books 1 and 2 of the discworld feel the most insane to me tbh

Hi Mike. How are you doing? I 💕 the How to Train Your Dragon movies. Toothless is awesome. Mr. Peabody and Sherman is another favorite for me too. Also, may the 4th be with you. I also wanted to let you know, that I have only an hour left to go before I finish listening to Star Wars A New Dawn by John Jackson Miller. It was good, but not as addicting as some other books that I have read. The characters were the best part.

I honestly love you for how stubborn you are in your determination to start Discworld with book 1 hahah. Hope you enjoy the rest more!! And the Talk About Nothing brought me so much joy, Brian is just a gem! Cheers, Mike ;)

Can't wait until you watch HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2. Not only is it my favorite in that series but I'd call it one of the best animated films of the 2010's.

I ordered Silverblood Promise after reading several reviews! Finishing Durfee's books then I'm there!

Petrik loved it silver blood. Crazy was I won one from goodreads!

I love the fact that you read with your children and watch movies with them. They will cherish those memories

I too recently watched How to Train Your Dragon and was actually impressed with it enough that I flowed up with the sequels and those are great as well!

Decided to jump into red rising this week and blew through book one so now I have another series to get through. This week I will be finishing up well of ascension and then starting golden son and hero of ages, gonna be a good week!

I am going by publication date on Discworld. One a month and Pyramids is my May book in this series. Enjoyed them all so far. Mort is my favorite to this point.

You can definitely read Discworld in just about any order. I started with whatever was available at the local library. You may miss some of the character development, but the stories are all self-contained.

I say read the new one so I know if it’s worth picking up. Always need new recommendations!

The How to Train Your Dragon trilogy films are excellent. I’ve not read the books but love the films. I’m currently reading Howling Dark and loving that.

I recently finished color magic and I loved it It's pure chaos from 1 end to the other And yet it jumps around a lot but it's because he's trying to introduce you to All the factions that he's going to be running about in the next Several books Is what I'm feeling I've started reading the second book And from what Murphy Napier says it's a more Developed Story With the more through plot line

I mostly read Discworld in order of release, and I mean.. you hit Mort at book 4. That's pretty dope. I started with Hogfather because that's the one my mom had. I like turtles :)

That hoodie looks super comfortable 😎 What you are experiencing regarding Discworld is reasonably indicative of the series as the narrative framing is bonkers.

At least the turtles are happy together. 🤣🤣

I need to start this series as well! I just started the Muderbot Diaries.

You forgot the Granny Weatherwax grouping!

I continued my reread of Republic Commando: Hard Contact, by Karen Traviss. I also built my first Lego since 1982. The Dune Sandworm diorama here in my profile picture. It came with the Blu-ray collection of Dune & Children of Dune Sci-Fi Channel miniseries. I had a blast putting it together. I even ordered the Lego ornithopter. Just started working on it last week. Never thought I’d get back into Lego at 48. But here I am. I’m loving it.

Love to see you enjoying War for the Rose Throne. I took Petrik’s advice early last year, and also delved into audiobooks for the first time with it, and it was excellent. The narrator’s voice fit Piety so well. 🙂 Great idea with Fallout novels! I somehow missed the game franchise completely, binged & loved the show recently, and now Fallout 4 has swallowed my life. 😆 It’s such a rich and deep rabbit hole of lore. I’ve been spending almost as much time watching lore videos as I have playing.

MGS book series would be amazing.

I´ve recently watched How to train you Dragon trilogy with my 5 year old, we loved it :)

By the way, an additional comment. I was originally only going to read Science Fiction until I started watching your videos, and you made Fantasy so interesting that I decided to read Fantasy and specifically start with The Wheel of Time (I'd read LOTR and Harry Potter in the past). I'm in the last quarter or so of The Shadow Rising now and looking forward to taking a break from that for a bit to read a Discworld and then the Mistborn trilogy before going back to The Wheel of Time with book 5. Thanks for your excellent videos!!!

Not sure if you have seen it or intend to but there is a different miniseries sequel called Return to Lonesome Dove with some cast members returning. Not sure it stacks up but it’s another way the story could have gone. Thanks, Mike!

New subscriber here;loved the weekly update about your family as well! Very down to earth 👍🏼. From a guy who was a kid who always had a “dragon shaped whole” in his heart/imagination please suggest Eragon by Christopher Poalini to your son! That series is hands down the reason I love fantasy today. Sure it might not break molds, and it may follow several stereotypical tropes, but that’s also why it’s a good starting point for younger readers. And dragon companions.. I mean cmon.

If Gen-X had refused to read The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, Sir Terry would have sold no books,; thusly he would not have improved; and therefore we wouldn't have the Discworld. As a matter of history, read the damned books in order or suffer in silence, heh.

Yes! Silverblood Promise! I'm just waiting on my BB edition and it will be going on the TBR for May or June! Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Please read Silverblood Promise! I would love to read that along with you!

Happy Cinco de Mayo, Mike!

Glad you're loving McLean's series! Also, I cannot wait to pick Silverblood Promise up.

Mike's face in the thumbnail doe 😆

I started with Guards! Guards!. It was funny. Liked the characters and humor

Mike, the best nickname for the Disc World fans is the Elucidated Brethren!!

Hi, Mike! If you have a flexible TBR, I highly recommend you to read Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa, you'll probably like it even more than Shogun. A game that does not need to be adapted in book form, being like a book itself is Planescape: Torment. Some say that it has the best lore of all the videogames and the text within it is longer than The Lord of the Rings. So, I highly recommend it as well 😃.

Link, WELL EXCUSE ME PRINCESS

The How to Train your Dragon movies were so different from the books. But both were fantastic. I read the books as an adult and I had to ordered the whole series after reading the first and read all 12 books back to back. The book series, targeting middle grades, were seriously underrated.

I like the idea of games to books. First one that came to mind is The Legacy of Kain/ Soul Reaver

Switched my fire tablet to text to speach and finished the books and reading shotgun book 1

The Halo Games have a book trilogy(they have more but I've never read them); The first book is a Prequel to the game, the other is the game but as a book(to my knowledge, I've never played it), and the third is a sequel to the game. The first and third are really good. 1. Halo: The Fall of Reach 2. Halo: The Flood 3. Halo: First Strike

just started (37%) Priest of Bones… thanks for the recommend!

I’m not well versed in Discworld, but I can attest for Mort and Guards, Guards. Glad you’re giving it a shot, and I hope you enjoy other ones more. I recently finished a re-read of The Magician’s Nephew, it’s pretty good but not my favorite. Now I’ve got to decide between a re-read of Malice by John Gwynne, or The Shadow Rising. Either way I’m sure it’ll be good.

I'm about halfway through Silverblood Promise, it's really good but definitely very inspired by Locke Lamora (but without the flashbacks so I don't think you should have worries there). Does it feel like a TBR buster at this point? No, but I do think you'll end up really enjoying it.

Discworld fans are called Kevins! We're Kevins 😂

Do it! Jump on Silverblood Promise This 1 is on my list and I would love to hear your thoughts!

My top ten book lists are technically top nine ones since there's Discworld and then everything else! Definitely publishing order, way to many little quirky bits and cameo's you'll otherwise won't pick up on! Currently blazing through the Vatta Wars by Elizabeth Moon, great palate cleanser and a breezy read. Not decided what to pick up after yet.

I think you are right, one problem of fantasy booktube is every channel reading the same books. Malazan, Janny Wurts, Gwynne, one thing gets attention and every channel gets on the hype train. As a viewer it's not refreshing. This is not a problem with horror booktube. But with thrillers there is the same problem, a lil bit. Now you can say that it should be interesting to see different person's perspectives on the same book, and it is, but not over and over again. So it's a great idea to moodread and give lesser know writers a chance. Like you did with Empire of Silence and those RyannCahill books. Also, waiting to see THE DEEP come up on your tbr.

It's going to be fun to cut up and joke with you on Tuesdays, Mike.

Please do read The Silverblood Promise. I would really like to hear your opinion on it. I know Petrik liked it, but he usually praises everything, no disrespect to him. It would also be nice to see you be more spontaneous and read more new releases when they come out, and not be tied to a schedule.

Any updates on One Piece with you and Philip?

Sad about Disquiet Gods, but Silverblood Promise is one I've thought about trying too. I hope it's good and just not another mid/fine modern fantasy

Guards Guards is pretty freaking great! Hope you like that one. Also don't know what people mean by Dresden 1 being bad? I listened to it last year and quite liked it. Maybe things get even better, but that's not the same thing as the starting bad? Weird.

Did you read The Matthew Corbett series Mike? I’m on the second book, really good series

How To Train Your Dragon 🐉 are one of my favorite movies! I made my bf watch all the 3 movies and he loved them. He also never watch Kun Fu Panda 🐼 and he loves all 3 movies !…. You will like the second and third movies…. And about Zelda becoming a movie I’m questioning how they work around that! Because Link does not talk at all! My bf is a big time fan of Zelda games and he was like “ HOPE THEY DONT F%#CK IT UP!” Also, How To Train Your Dragon they are going to do a live action remake movie 🙄 . And I’m here like “WHY?” “What’s wrong with the animation one?!” Either way I don’t think I will go see it. Awesome video ! 🤓

Reading December park.

Walter Goggins pointed out the both Nolan brothers did movies about nuclear weapons

This bs about discworld reading order is weird. The world and the story EVOLVED and to comprehend this you want to follow along with the changes IN the order the author uncovered them. Yes, CoM is less evolved than say, the witches and Granny Weatherwax, but that’s where she CAME from. I LIKE “The Colour of Magic”….I’m a Fritz Lieber fan and I love the Fafhard and Grey Mouser parody. He also chucks in Anne McCaffrey, and a touch of Conan, and SO many other “famous” and well known fantasy stories. It’s fun to play “spot the parody” I feel that the first book is ALWAYS going to inevitably suffer in comparison to the fully evolved world of the later books, so it’s better to START at the beginning…….discover the world as we did when the books came out, and as TP did as he wrote it……or not….it’s up to you.🤷

Some interesting things this week then for you. I have read a bit of disc World but nothing significant. Perhaps I might join you on these five? There’s quite a varied bunch there from several of the series. For me I have been fighting a cold this week so have been reading lighter things. I am still meandering through Rape of Europa but set it aside primarily for my reread of the first volume of the Legend of Galactic Heroes books. The former is a brilliant book (the documentary is well worth while watching) but the type is small as is my mental capacity at the moment. Next week I will continue that, along with the relatively new novel The Fox Wife, which I had to wait five months for from the library. We shall see if it was worth the wait. Japanese historical fiction is a new favorite subgenre of mine. Speaking of Japanese historical fiction I will be beginning my shogun reread this week on audio. I have no idea how I will like the audio as I read the book the first time but I need something to do on my commute. I will be starting Shogun again after completing The Dragon Reborn on audio. I have to say, I’m not sure how I feel about this installment. Some of my key nitpicks are 1. Selene needs to expand her vocabulary. 2. Elayne “you’re not my brother” Trakaand (I know you two don’t get along but he is your dad’s son). You were gone for months in this insane world. Why is the fact that your mom and brother would be a bit freaked out shocking to you? 3. “I owe you my water”. 😏 4. The commentary from each of the three main guys about how smooth the other two are with girls. Again….and again. 5. I just enjoyed the plot of the last one a bit more. I felt more invested in the mystery. And the plots of these three seem a bit similar in structure. I hear that changes though. But overall, I am enjoying it. It’s very relaxing in its way. I’m really not trying to memorize every character’s name or detail of world building as, oddly enough, I think I’d become more confused that way. Happy Reading!

Who am I to tell you what to do and read? So, I understand the paradoxical nature of this statement: read what you want to read Mike!

I picked up The Silverblood Promise on Saturday based on Petrik's rating. It sounds like it's going to be my type of book. I hope so. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts when you get to it.

How to train your dragon is great! Apparently based on a Danish childrens book series

I will agree on your idea of fallout I have never played the game must have missed that one when I played stop years ago but I thought the same thing this would make a great novel idea and not played the game nothing will be ruined for me keep pushing that idea maybe it will happen soon great vid, Terry pratchett it a great writer I started same place but I found it hard to get going until I watch the mini movie The I really enjoyed I would alway read most in release order keep with them you will enjoy them

Yo I'm tellinn you. Halo, warcraft, starcraft, Resident Evil and predator novels are so good and add so much good lore. Best part about it is that they are pocket novels and you'll probably finish them in a day

How to Train Your Dragon…1 listen to the soundtrack, one of the best. 2. There is a kids book series!

How to Train Your Dragon is a great kids book also! You should check it out, your son might like it too.

I just started sun eater this week

Is the LoZ film adaptation going to be live action? I wish it was animated like Super Mario Bros. Plus the whole debate of whether Link should talk or not. Let’s see guys. This one is going to be hard as it is my favourite (and many people’s favourite) video game franchise of all time. I’ll try to not prejudge and give it a chance.

I have tried so many Discworld books and I can't get into any of them. When I try, I just keep thinking wtc am I reading?? I wanted to be a fan so bad

The Turtles. Haha...

Could be biased but Elder Scrolls could be a great series lol..Aren’t they doing a live action How to train your dragon? Love them

read it as you will mate the books are all great in there own ways. plz dont make any judgements until you have read at least five of the books. O nd just like real life, Death comes out of nowhere. Death is also my favorite character next to Carrot and the Burser 😊

The Turtle Moves! I read Discworld from The Colour of Magic, there's nothing wrong with it, I think people are just anxious for you to like it and the series doeesn't hit it's stride until later.

What do you think of the belgariad series ?

Did Mike Celebrate May 4th?

So, what do you think of Cohen the Barbarian? ;) And Pratchett called his fans "a bunch of bloody loonies", but I don't think that caught on :D

The first two Discworld books kinda feel like a DnD campaign that Terry Pratchett turned into a novel

My question: Would it be better to get video game adaptations into novels, or tabletop RPG adaptations into novels? For me, it would be the latter. There are lots and lots of great tabletop RPGs that have been created over the years, and it is sad that many have remained in obscurity. On the brief occasions that I've had the opportunity to play a few of them either with friends or with my brother, I've always liked the creativity that they offer to the "gamemaster" that's in charge of coming up with something interesting and unique for the players to have to do. To me, this is why they would lend themselves to adaptations as novels better than video games, which are more of a passive activity to play and are often very linear in nature. Anyway, that's just my opinion on this.

I don’t know if you said anything about it. Maybe I missed it. What did you think of Remember the Titans?

Oh damn. You just might not like the very things that make terry incredible. 😅 im glad for you to keep trying. Terry is number 1. 🎉

I know what you mean. I told people I was starting Discworld with The Color of Magic, and people said don't do that. However, I want to read it in publication order. I love to see how a writer develops their style. It was another Booktuber (Cronk, The Book Guy) who's a huge Discworld fan who said on his introduction to Discworld video to go ahead and read it in publication order; there's nothing wrong with it. Start with The Color of Magic; just don't end there. Commit to reading at least the first five before you decide if it's for you or not. I agree. The Color of Magic was good but not great. But I'm committed to read the whole series. I know it gets better as it goes along. And, from what I hear, it becomes something really special. I'm currently finishing The Shadow Rising and then I'll read The Light Fantastic and use Discworld as pallate cleansers between heavier books. I think you'll really like Discworld as you go along. But there's nothing wrong with reading it in publication order. Don't listen to the gatekeepers.