Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“You take a bunch of people who don’t seem any different from you and me, but when you add them all together you get this sort of huge raving maniac with national borders and an anthem.” (Bingo)

Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett

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Nowhere Book Bingo 2025: A book with LGBTQIA-rep CBR17 Bingo: Border (this book is all about a very drawn-out war with borders between the opposing countries constantly changing, depending on who’s currently winning) Spoiler warnings for a 22 year old book. I don’t think I can review it well without revealing some of the more essential plot points. Official plot summary: It began as a sudden strange fancy… Polly Perks had to become a boy in a hurry. Cutting off her hair and wearing trousers […]

there need to be about a million more Death books than there are

Mort by Terry Pratchett

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Hot take: Death is the best, but he’s the bestest best when he’s paired off with a human who can observe and call out the weirdness of his life Actual review: Having read Hogfather last Christmas for Book Group, I thought I’d start over again and read all of the DEATH series as I very much enjoyed Death’s characterization. And even though I already know part of how Death will turn out–e.g., we know about Susan and obviously Death still exists as Death etc–it’s still fascinating how […]

“A city like Ankh-Morpork was only two meals away from chaos at the best of times.”

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

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Oh, what to say about a Terry Pratchett book that can’t be summed up as “just read it!” in increasingly louder tones? AS I said in my review of Wintersmith, the worst Terry Pratchett book is better than some of the best examples of other authors’ works. And this book has to be in my opinion one of his best. Sam Vimes, Commander of the City Watch, is soon to be a father, which means perhaps chasing Carcer, one of the more dangeous of Ankh-Morpork’s […]

“A metaphor is a kind o’ lie to help people understand what’s true.”

Wintersmith: A Tiffany Aching Adventure by Terry Pratchett

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Wintermsith is the third book book in the Tiffany Aching series, which is set in the Discworld universe, but is geared towards children. Tiffany is a witch in training who has caught the attention of the Wintersmith, the personification of winter, which you can kind of tell from the name. But don’t imagine some older, mature fellow; he’s more like if Jack Frost from Rise of the Guardians had no idea how to be human. So on top of learning to be a witch, dealing […]

When Clever Isn’t Quite Enough

Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett

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In the satirical novel Guards! Guards!, a secret brotherhood of (mostly witless) Ankh-Morpork citizens is led by the Supreme Grand Master, who wants to summon a dragon to the city to wreak havoc. They plan to invent a long-lost king to defeat the dragon and end the oppression they think they are experiencing. Of course, plans go awry and this story intersects with that of the Night Watch, a small group of officers who get no respect because their role is essentially pointless given that […]

“Comedy is laughter in the face of death”

Wyrd Sisters (1988) by Terry Pratchett

Witches Abroad (1991) by Terry Pratchett

Lords and Ladies (1992) by Terry Pratchett

Carpe Jugulum (1998) by Terry Pratchett

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These are re-reads, these are beloved, these are–I suggest–suitable for the fanfic square because they are riotous and revelrous games with Shakespeare plays and fairy stories and Dracula and witch traditions, even while they question the logics behind them. For example, as Pratchett points out, witches would probably not be dancing around nude during their eldritch rites because it would get quite chilly. Wyrd Sisters (1988) Autocorrect keeps trying to make wyrd into ‘word’, which is fitting, because this is a book partly about the […]



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