Episode Notes We were so incredibly pleased to be joined by Gabrielle Kent and Rhianna Pratchett, the co-authors of this new book in the Discworld library. Tiffany's story is one of our favorites, and having both more Tiffany and more witch stuff is just the best. Tiffany Aching's Guide to Being a Witch would make a great holiday present! We're not…

We pare down to the core group for one last trip across the Disc, and Ana and Aaron finally read The Shepherd's Crown. Project wrap-up content starts at around 51:30, although it does continue to include Shepherd's Crown content. Thanks to our many guests, but especially to you, our listeners. We would have done it regardless, but we hope that we i…

Steam power comes to the Disc, whether or not the Disc is ready for it. This book, which lays track (ha ha) for many changes in and around Ankh-Morpork, unfortunately instead became a farewell to many beloved characters. We discuss the book, the implications of the railway system, and a little bit of our wishlist for what might have happened... if.…

According to the writer of the best selling crime novel ever to have been published in the city of Ankh-Morpork, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a policeman taking a holiday would barely have had time to open his suitcase before he finds his first corpse. We are joined to discuss Snuff by Angry Staff Officer (either a nom de plume or no…

Teenage witch Tiffany Aching confronts her greatest foe yet--the insidiousness of moral panic. We are delighted to be joined by Bitter Karella! Bitter Karella is the writer and horror aficionado behind the microfiction comedy account @Midnight_pals, which asks what if all your favorite horror writers gathered around the campfire to tell scary stori…

This is a story about football. This is not a story about football. It can be both. We return to Ankh-Morpork for the coda to the Dwarf Cultural Revolution, the continuation of Vetinari's modernization efforts, and a deep exploration of prejudice and racism. And also some footie. And we are deeply honored to be joined this month by Rob Wilkins. Rob…

What happens when you give the keys to the royal mint to a conman with a heart (and a suit) of gold? It's time to find out in Making Money, the 36th book in the Discworld series. We are joined by two guests this month! Dr. Holland Dougherty (@dochollandd) is a research scientist for CSIRO's future protein mission. Originally from south Florida, she…

We were bored and decided to get together to talk about what we'd done this year but had not yet made content about. Some content snuck in. Sorry. You should feel no obligation to listen to this whatsoever. *** Connect with the show at @babylonpodject and at @atuin_pod, or if Twitter is dead by now, @compleatdiscography@mendeddrum.org on Mastodon. …

Wintersmith is the 35th book in the Discworld series, and the third in the Tiffany Aching arc. It is a story about growing up, taking responsibility for situations that are not (or not entirely) your fault, and witches. It is about what you do when no one is looking, and when everyone is looking. Most of all, it is a story about Tiffany Aching. We …

THUD is one of those books that sticks with you. There's a lot we love, and a few bits that we don't love so much. Most importantly, don't ever be late for story time. We're joined this month by Dr. Kat Day! Kat Day is a PhD chemist who was once a teacher and is now a writer and editor. By day she mostly works as an editor and proofreader of scient…

Night Watch may be the pivotal Vimes book, but Going Postal is probably the pivotal Ankh-Morpork book--and the pivotal Vetinari book. It's a great read in terms of plot and writing, and it has a diamond-sharp message. We're joined this month by friend of the show and game design hero Kevin Kulp! Kevin Kulp (@kevinkulp) is the co-author of Swords of…

Almost exactly two years later, we stray far away from the Disc to the realms of the Emperor Undying, because Nona the Ninth came out and we couldn't NOT talk about it. We had (and mostly ignored) a planning document, so... uh... strap in. SO MANY SPOILERS. Also, as we are talking and swearing about books about queer space necromancers, if body hor…

"There is no one alive who will get every joke in a Terry Pratchett book." - Marc Burrows Monstrous Regiment is a book about war, gender politics, queerness, and socks. Our guest, Marc Burrows, can be found at https://www.marcburrows.co.uk/ and @20thcenturymarc on Twitter. He is the author of the Locus award-winning biography of Sir Terry, The Magi…

Join Patrick Rothfuss and Worldbuilders Charity for their Geeks Doing Good Fundraiser running July 14th through the 21st! Get rad geek stuff, support cool charitable works, and watch new fun streaming content at www.twitch.tv/PatrickRothfuss. Head to www.worldbuilders.org for more info. The Tiffany Aching novels are so special to us. A Hat Full of …

Some recommended resources for organizations fighting abortion bans and advancing reproductive justice: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bffforaccess https://secure.actblue.com/donate/supportabortionfunds https://www.abortionfinder.org/ Tiffany Aching, a 9 year old living on a sheep farm in the rolling grassy lowlands of the Disc, is not your ordi…

Night Watch is one heck of a book. We are delighted to be joined AGAIN! by Kat Kuhl, a podcaster and creator we all were listening to well before we even had the notion that we could do this ourselves. Kat is a ttrpg game designer and storyteller who's been producing and GMing actual play podcasts since 2014. Her current project, Autonomic, is an a…

In this bonus episode on Sir Terry's birthday, Aaron sits down with his 10 year old daughter Sophie to discuss her own perspectives on Amazing Maurice. Check us out on twitter at @atuin_pod Help us keep the lights on via our Patreon! Follow individual hosts at @urizenxvii, @The_Miannai, and @Justenwrites We can also be found at www.compleatdiscogra…

Maurice is just a simple talking cat with big dreams--like perfecting his preferred con, the Pied Piper. His erstwhile companions, a stupid-looking kid and a clan of sapient rats in the middle of developing things like "ethics" and "society", are dragged along in his wake. When they get to the town of Bad Blintz, however, things go from Bad... to w…

In this pivot point in the series, we're joined by the creator of Lego Ankh-Morpork to talk about old and new heroes, the changeover between Kirby and Kidby art (and which we like better), and the canon-but-also-kind-of-fan-fiction nature of The Last Hero. "Poets have tried to describe Ankh-Morpork. They have failed. Perhaps it's the sheer zestful …

We are joined by multiple award winning author Seanan McGuire to discuss the 26th novel in the Discworld series, Thief of Time. At the time of recording, three of the four of us were either currently sick or recently recovering from being sick with the 'rona, so this one's a little loopy. Bear with us! Also, there's a series of Information Hazards …

Our first new perspective character in a while, we see a lot of the fallout of The Fifth Elephant back in Ankh-Morpork as the Dwarven Cultural Revolution progresses back in the Big Wahoonie. Some old favorites return, as well--Gaspode now leading his own pack of outcasts and misfits, Vetinari on the business end of yet another attempted coup, and C…

The Fifth Elephant is a pivotal novel in the Discworld series. While Sir Terry lightens up (slightly) on the Hammer Horror monsters of Uberwald from Carpe Jugulum, he also retools them into very clear political allegories. It is a standout among the 41 novels--so much track is laid for the future as the author breaks Ankh-Morpork out of medieval st…

We pare down to just the three of us so that Justen can wax rhapsodic about Hammer Horror and Vampire Bullshit, Ana can talk about witches, and Aaron can react in dismay that neither of his two cohosts have seen Young Frankenstein. Check us out on twitter at @atuin_pod Help us keep the lights on via our Patreon! Follow individual hosts at @urizenxv…

The Last Continent is about Fourecks, a country legally distinct from Australia because Sir Terry says so--and because it's a country of original people and accidental new inhabitants, rather than colonial powers. Also it hasn't rained for a very long time. Pratchatis a podcast from Splendid Chaps Productions in which hosts Elizabeth Flux and Ben M…

Evan Saft, noted Golem enthusiast, rejoins us (with more than a moment's notice this time) to discuss one of the most loved Guards novels, Feet of Clay. Our guest, Evan Saft, can be found at @namesequipped or at their podcast Roll Out! ft. the Young Vanguard Check us out on twitter at @atuin_pod Help us keep the lights on via our Patreon! Follow in…

While Jingo is broadly classified as a Guards book, it really is the beginning of a series of Sam Vimes books with the Watch in orbit around him. There's also a LOT of our favorite carnivorous flamingo, The Patrician himself. There's submarine action, a plot head-fake that would be at home in film noir or Tom Clancy, and lots and lots of politics. …

Maskerade! Every face a different shade... after reading Nanny Ogg's new cookbook, that is. Seeking unpaid royalties (and a young witch to replace newly married Magrat), Nanny and Granny head to Ankh-Morpork. They experience Culture, commit shenanigans, and consider questions of morality. Meanwhile, when Sir Terry isn't making her the butt of every…

Hogfather is a fun Death book, a great Susan book, and Ana's favorite. And to help us celebrate the Glorious 25th of May in style, we're joined by TV's thrice published author and president of the One Shot Podcast Network, James D'Amato. Check out his new book premiering today, which we utterly failed to ask him about during the podcast, the Ultima…

While this is probably the best Rincewind we've seen, the book is weighed down by leaning hard on a mishmash of Fantasy Asia tropes... and then there's the Silver Horde and some repeated sexual assault jokes. We're not saying DON'T read the book, but approach it with open eyes and an understanding that it overall may not sit well with you. We didn'…

Soul Music, the 16th book in the Discworld series, is an extremely long setup to two delightfully silly jokes at the end, or possibly a book-long excuse to make Josh Kirby and Paul Kidby draw Death on a motorcycle. It's our first meeting with Susan, the granddaughter of Death, as well. We hope you like more music and music-industry puns than you ca…

We return to the rank (no file, yet) of the elite guardians of the evening, the City Watch (night). Per Vetinari's orders, they are taking on additional recruits to diversify the face of the modern watch, including a troll (Detritus, previously appearing in Moving Pictures), a dwarf (Cuddy), and a w... (Angua--if you know, you know). In a meditatio…

It's a warm midsummer as the three Lancre witches return home, but things are going to turn chilly on many fronts. Marital strife, coven conflicts, and the actual Fae combine in the best Witch book yet in the series. Also the first one where pTerry specifically recommends reading earlier books before diving in. It should be noted that Justen now kn…

Connect with the show at @babylonpodject and at www.babylonpod.page Justen can be found at @justenwrites Ana can be found at @The_Mianaai Both Ana and Justen can also be found on The Compleat Discography, a Discworld re-read podcast. Jude Vais can be found at @eremiticjude. His other work can be found at Athrabeth - a Tolkien Podcast and at Garbage…

Evan Saft joins us to discuss the most philosophical of the Terry Pratchett philosophy-oriented Discworld books, a story about faith, religion, and the gray space in between. Our guest, Evan Saft, can be found at @namesequipped or at their podcast Roll Out! ft. the Young Vanguard Check us out on twitter at @atuin_pod Follow individual hosts at @uri…

Magrat inherits the duties of a fairy godmother, and obviously Granny and Nanny come along to make sure the wedding is adequately broken up. There is a wonderful "British tourists on the Continent" storyline, some extremely funny murder-cat moments, the Disc's second-greatest lover, the first appearance of Dwarf Bread... and then Sir Terry decides …

Death has developed a personality, and to the auditors of reality, this is a problem. Forced into retirement, he finds himself, along with his trusty steed Binky, wandering into a small farming village. There, he is hired as a farmhand by an older lady living alone by the name of Miss Flitworth and takes on the name Bill Door. Romance, chaos, a fig…

In a world gone mad... 30 movie jokes a minute! CMOT Dibbler! Talking animals, featuring Gaspode the Wonder Dog! Visit Harga's House of Ribs Wizards are finally fun, because they spend most of their time swinging between Scooby-Doo and an action movie pastiche! And seriously, what's up with the elephants. Check us out on twitter at @atuin_pod Follo…

Time for some loving dunking of each other and then some less-loving dunking on certain religious zealots and houses reliant on child soldiers. Also, as we are talking and swearing about books about lesbian space necromancers, if body horror ain't your thing, go read read Moving Pictures and wait for the next episode. Tor Books' Houses breakdown Al…

Look, we didn't really have much of a plan for this, and it's pretty chaotic--and even after three hours of recording we only managed to cover around half of what we could have talked about. Seriously, though, if you haven't read the books, these episodes could spoil a lot for you. Also, as we are talking and swearing about books about lesbian spac…

Weeelllll this book's problematic section isn't quite as long as Pyramids but there's a Mesoamerican parody that stuck out like a sore thumb. This book wants to be a few different things and doesn't quite do any of them--it's mostly "bad things happen near Rincewind" and historical/literary jokes. No invisible dragons, despite already being Discwor…

Arguably the most famous of the Discworld plot threads, the Guards novels start with this story. Destiny, Dragons, Politics, Gender Roles and Subversions Thereof, and at least a few of Sam's ruminations on inequality and power. If Death is Sir Terry's authorial self-insert, Sam Vimes is Sir Terry's moral self-insert. If you love noir, urban fantasy…

We're so happy to have had Amr as our first guest host... and so very sorry this was their first Discworld book. What was probably somewhat funny pop cultural references in 1990 turn out to be surprisingly offensive Orientalism in 2020. This may be one where we don't really recommend you read this, at least not early on in Discworld. Amr Ammourazz …

Wyrd Sisters is a great entry point book for Discworld. It's stacked to the rafters with solid female characters, it's the point at which Terry's exploration of witch magic gets really good, and it's a really fun read to boot. Plus there's a major cameo that killed us dead. Check us out on twitter at @atuin_pod Follow individual hosts at @urizenxvi…

Please donate to the Alzheimer's Association, Alzheimer's Research UK, or the Orangutan Foundation UK, in honor of Sir Terry. Wear the lilac, and how do the angels rise up? Check us out on twitter at @atuin_pod Follow individual hosts at @urizenxvii, @The_Miannai, @mynaminnarr, and @JustenHunter We can also be found at www.compleatdiscography.page …

Sourcery marks the first book with some disagreement among our hosts, but what would life be without some healthy, well-mannered debate? Strengths include solid lore-building regarding the wizards, including why they’re forbidden from boning down, and more of Terry’s musings on identity. Weaknesses include coherence as an overall novel and some unc…

Just putting it out there--Mort is a good book. Though we have some Thoughts about how to improve it further. Check us out on twitter at @atuin_pod Follow individual hosts at @urizenxvii, @The_Miannai, @mynaminnarr, and @JustenHunter We can also be found at www.compleatdiscography.page Our art is by the indomitable Jess who can be found at @angryar…

Equal Rites is, to the more experienced readers, much closer to what we associate with Discworld novels. It's got a core argument and some characters we dearly love, it Says Something, it hides worldbuilding behind plot, and aside from some kinda rough edges it's a pretty decent book. Check us out on twitter at @atuin_pod Follow individual hosts at…

The Light Fantastic is a slightly better book and we're a slightly better review team. Check us out on twitter at @atuin_pod Follow individual hosts at @urizenxvii, @The_Miannai, @mynaminnarr, and @JustenHunter We can also be found at www.compleatdiscography.page Our art is by the indomitable Jess who can be found at @angryartist113 Music is by Inc…

This episode was our first outing, and just like the book, it's rough around the edges and wanders a bit. But that's ok, because there's a lot of great stuff in Colour that sometimes was even a delightful rediscovery for the veterans of the group. Check us out on twitter at @atuin_pod Follow individual hosts at @urizenxvii, @The_Miannai, @mynaminna…

Check us out on twitter at @atuin_pod Follow individual hosts at @urizenxvii, @The_Miannai, @mynaminnarr, and @JustenHunter We can also be found at www.compleatdiscography.page Next up (or, rather first up) is The Colour of Magic. Our art is by the indomitable Jess who can be found at @angryartist113 Music is by Incompetech and used under a Creativ…