Week 17

Week 17 Reviews
December 23rd- 31st

Book 1- Father Christmas's the Fake Beard 
(short story collection)

by Terry Pratchett 

Read December 22nd -24th 

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This is a great collection of short stories that for the most part I really enjoyed. I love Terry Pratchett's humorous style of writing and the wit that he always uses. This is no exception to that. Below I will give a short review for each of eleven short stories and a rating for each. The illustrations in this book were also great and I loved how it was designed. Overall, it was a joy to read his Christmas tales.

"Father Christmas's Fake Beard"
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I believe that Terry's stories that deal with Father Christmas are the best from this collection. Each just shows the joy of the holiday and are quite honestly just enduring tales. This one is told through a series of notes, where a store has hired someone who they believe is a fake Father Christmas (Santa Claus) for their toy department. Throughout the course of the memos, they slowly realize that they may have been quite wrong. The hijinks that continue on are quite hilarious.

"The Blackbury Pie"
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The first story dealing with the town of Blackbury, I liked these stories but not a lot. This story is about the mayor of the town wanting to give something to everyone in the town, especially the hungry, for Christmas. He decides on a giant pie. The story continues on from there.

"Prod-Ye-A'Diddle Oh!"
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Another tale from the town of Blackbury, about a game played on New Year's Day that is a cross between rugby, hopscotch, shove ha'penny, and vandalism. In the tale, a man who is the best on his team is trying to win the hand of the mayor's daughter, but the mayor gives him a request to do something he really doesn't want to do. This was a good story but the town of Blackbury really isn't that interesting.

"A Very Short Ice Age"
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A story about a little boy trying to navigate a large snowstorm. This one was quite simple but really cute.

"The Computer Who Wrote to Father Christmas"
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Father Christmas goes into an office and has a great conversation with the computer there. A sweet tale that has an equally great message and ending. I loved this one above the rest.

"Good King Wences-lost"
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A tale about a king that loves helping people, a large snowstorm, and a man lost in that snow. Hilarity follows as the king goes out into the snow to try and help a man. Also, a little bit of miscommunication. This was overall a solid piece.

"The Weatherchick"
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This one was actually my least favorite out of the overall collection. It's about a chick in the town of Blackbury that controls the weather.

"Judgement Day for Father Christmas"
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Father Christmas and many other mythical creatures are put on trial.

"The Abominable Snow-baby"
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A cute tale about a woman that befriends a baby abominable snowman and the troubles that this causes. This is another tale from Blackbury and is my favorite from that collection of tales.

"The Twelve Gifts of Christmas"
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A take on the twelve days of Christmas song. It makes the idea of someone giving those gifts to their love make much more sense and also the idea of it even more silly at the same time. So enjoyable to read.

"Father Christmas Goes to Work at the Zoo"
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When Father Christmas is forced to get a day job because he is bothering his wife at home. Let's just say I was not expecting competency with these jobs. 

Book 2- Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

Read December 27th

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This was a reread for me and I just adored it so much. Just recently I did a post on Carrie Fisher for the year anniversary of her death.

A good amount of this book was quite hard to read especially her talking about death and wanting to live for certain milestones. This has become sort of a poignant tale that holds a lot her personality and the story of her life up until the age of fifty. A great set of stories and mishaps from her life that I have enjoyed reading a second time around. I recommend this book to any fan of Carrie's, whether that be from Star Wars or from any of her other works. It is a gem. Also, the stage show/ documentary is really good too. 

Book 3- Hogfather by Terry Pratchett 

December 26th -29th 

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~ Brief Synopsis ~

This is the twentieth book of the Discworld series, though you do not have to read the rest of the series to read this. Also, this is book four in the Death subseries which focuses on the character of Death. I do recommend reading the series because you may miss out on the jokes. I have done reviews for the Discworld books earlier in the year and will link them below for you to look at if you would like. (I skipped ahead a little in the books because I wanted to read this for Christmas. I will be going back and continuing where I was at in January).
Terry Pratchett's Discworld 

This book takes place the night before Hogswatch (basically Christmas in the Discworld). The Auditors have decided that they need to "remove" the Hogfather...so they contact the Assassin's guild and Mr. Teatime (pronounced "Teh-ah-tim-eh." ) is sent to "inhum" him (though the Hogfather is more of a deity than a human). It becomes Teatime's mission to figure out how to kill the Hogfather because technically he can't die. Death has taken over the role of going down chimneys, giving kids gifts, and is trying to save the world. Susan, his granddaughter does not understand why he is doing this and goes on an adventure to try and help. 

~ Characters ~

Death is and will always be my favorite character in this series. We follow him and his manservant, 

Albert, as they go from house to house trying to spread the joys of Hogswatch and keep the children's faith in the Hogfather. Death is still trying to understand humans and the emotions that they show in situations. Reading about his adventures where he gives gifts to children, such a sword to a little girl (it's educational, obviously), is some of the best parts of this book. He has most of the best lines in this novel and his end speech is one of my favorites that I have read all year. (By the way, Death's dialogue in the books is marked in small caps. In the quote below I have put it in caps.) 

“All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable."

REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.

"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—"

YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.

"So we can believe the big ones?"

YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.

"They're not the same at all!"

YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.

"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—"

MY POINT EXACTLY.” 

― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

Susan Sto Helit is the granddaughter of Death, who at the beginning of the novel we meet as a governess for two children. She is trying to keep the monsters away that the children keep seeing and also stay as normal as possible. As the granddaughter of Death, she has special powers. She is able to use his voice in certain instances throughout the novel to get people to do what she wants them to do. Also, she is able to see things that will happen as if they are memories. This was my first time reading a book with Susan and I really enjoyed her as a character. Her's is another one of the four different plots that we follow along in the novel as she tries to find out more about where the Hogfather is and what Death is doing. She's not afraid of speaking her mind even to Death and that is an enjoyable aspect of the story. I cannot wait to read more about her. 

Mr. Teatime, is the hired assassin, whose mission is to "inhum" the Hogfather before the morning of Hogswatch. This man is an insane genius. He can literally come up with a full proof plan for assassinated anything in a few minutes and is quite creepy to read about. One of his eyes is made of glass and the other is only a pinhole that he can see through. This man is innocent looking but you can tell by the way that he talks that he's far from innocent. Also, it is questioned throughout the entire novel if he was one that killed his parents when he was a small boy. I won't put it past him myself. His plot is the third that we follow throughout the novel. 

The final subplot which connects in with the story is at the Unseen University, with the wizards there. The wizards of the Unseen University are some of the most interesting characters in this series. They always seem to mess things up and just cause problems. Much of the humor in this novel comes from their scenes. Each time one of the wizards mentions a lare or penate, they are created instantly to fill the void that the Hogfather has created. Many of these creations are just so comical and just bring so much humor to this dark book.

Some other characters that were in the novel that were also quite interesting were The Death of Rats, Quoth the Raven,  Bilious the oh God of Hangovers, and the Cheerful Fairy. This is really just to name a few because there are so many characters to mention. 

~ Ending Thoughts ~

This book was one of the darkest so far for me of the Discworld series and also the funniest. It was entertaining reading about Death saving Hogswatch and also the world along with it. So far this is one of my favorites of the series and I cannot wait to read more of them next year. Out of any book or series that I recommend on this blog, this is the one that I recommend the most. Terry Pratchett was an incredible writer and person and I would recommend them to everyone. He was one of a kind and it devastates me to know that he has not been with us for almost three years now. What an incredible mind and person. I cannot express to you enough about how much you should read this book and the whole series in general. If you love a great fantasy you should read this. If you love the feeling around Christmas you should read this. And finally, if you love a great story you should read this. 

 I will be watching the miniseries in the next couple of days for this novel and I cannot wait. 

Book 4- Groo: Play of the Gods

December 29th 

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~ A Short Synopsis ~
The Groo graphic novels/ comics have been around for decades and I remember when I first heard about them when I was a kid. This is my first venture into his tales and I can honestly say that I'm surprised by how much I really enjoyed this simple little graphic novel. This follows along Groo, a very idiotic barbarian that literally ruins everything around him with just being there. His ultimate mission in this tale is for the search of the best cheese dip in the world. Hilarity follows him in every movement as he ultimately changes the course of the everyone's lives around him. Groo's dog, Rufferto follows him around as he adventures throughout this book and interjects little side comments throughout. He reminded me of Garfield in his way of making fun of the actions of Groo, similarly to how Garfield makes fun of Jon. It was quite funny to read.

~ Writing Style ~
Throughout the whole piece, we see not only the adventure of Groo but also the reactions of the Gods watching everything going on below them. The queen of the land is trying to spread out into other lands surrounding their own and spread the word of their one god to these lands. Each of the Gods blames Diothos for the fact that he is the only one that they are trying to worship and anyone believing in anyone else is getting hurt for it. As a famous sailor leads them to the land that he discovered each person has their own plan. The sailor wants to get gold for himself and leave the others. The priests want to spread the word of their god no matter what the cost, even if they have to hurt people (this actually becomes a funny joke throughout). Groo is tricked into coming for the best cheese dip and no one really wants him to come along.

What I really liked about the style of writing was the switch back and forth between the gods and the humans that they are arguing about. It was an interesting and rewarding choice in creation because this just added to the humor.

~ The Art, Lettering, and Coloring ~
The art style is wonderful to look at. It still has this old type of style with bright popping color for each of the characters. Each character stands out with their own specific styles that fit their characteristics. One of the best scenes is when the citizens of the new land start thinking up new gods. There are really ridiculous ones such as The God of Repetition (who then repeats everything he says multiple times throughout), The God of Spelling Things Backwards, and my favorite: The God of Procrastination. Each of these gods looks different from each other and many have a look that matches what they are gods of. The more gods added to this scene looked great together.

The lettering really is nothing too spectacular but it goes along perfectly with the style of the drawings and the coloring. All of the dialogue stands out great against what is happening in the images. They look great together.

~ Final Thoughts ~
This is the graphic novel that I wanted and needed to read at the end of the year. I loved the humor and the style of each panel. Groo was a character that grew on me almost instantly. The poor guy keeps messing up everything for many of the people around him and many will run away to avoid him. He doesn't even seem to realize or care and I found him enduring. The only downside that I really found in this piece was how slow it was at the beginning. It took me quite some time to actually get into this but once I did I was hooked. The art style and writing style make for a great experience. I cannot wait to read more of Groo's tales from the past and any more that will come out.

*I received this book for free for an honest review*

Book 5: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Illustrated Edition)
by J. K. Rowling
Read December 31st 
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This is probably the seventh or eighth time that I have read this book, really I have lost track now. It was actually this book that really got me into this series and hooked. It has been my favorite of the series since I was around ten and it still is. Even after reading it so many times, I still get so much joy reading this book. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin are my two favorite characters from this series and I love their introductions in this book. I recommend this book to anyone who has never read it and also to those that have. What a great way to end this year of wonderful reading. Also, the illustrated edition is the most stunning book that I have ever seen. I recommend also getting the illustrated editions of the whole series they are beautiful.

Happy New Year to Everyone! 
Did you know that Frankenstein by Mary Shelley was published 200 years ago today? I thought that was pretty darn cool. I completely recommend reading it. It's a pretty good book and different than I ever expected.