62, WG38, E54, / NG24, D8, C1, Frz0, B2, NA0

Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms

Auf den "The Fifth Elephant" kann ich diesmal (vielleicht) verzichten, aber dieser zweite Band der Citywatch-Serie musste einfach sein, schon weil hier die neuen Mitstreiter aus allen möglichen Spezies die Wache ab hier bereichern. Und wie jedesmal schmerzt es mich, dass Cuddy umkommt, weil er und Detritus so ein herrliches Duo abgeben.
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He could think in italics. Such people need watching.
Preferably from a safe distance.
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There were no such thing as dwarf gods. Dwarfs were not a naturally religious species, but in a world where pit props could crack without warning and pockets of fire damp could suddenly explode they'd seen the need for gods as the sort of supernatural equivalent of a hard hat. Besides, when you hit your thumb with an eight-pound hammer it's nice to be able to blaspheme.
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The Librarian was, of course, very much in favour of reading in general, but readers in particular got on his nerves. There was something, well, sacrilegious about the way they kept taking books off the shelves and wearing out the words by reading them. He liked people who loved and respected books, and the best way to do that, in the Librarian's opinion, was to leave them on the shelves where Nature intended them to be.
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He was vaguely aware that prospective grooms were not supposed to see putative brides on the morning of the wedding, possibly in case they took to their heels.
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(Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms, 1993)
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Terry Pratchett, Thud

Mit dem letzten - und vielleicht besten - Band der Citywatch-Serie komme ich langsam zum Schluß meines Pratchett-Bingeing. Ein oder zwei Bände vielleicht noch, dann reicht es erstmal wieder für eine Weile. Bei diesem Band beeindruckt mich immer wieder, wie Pratchett es schafft, die unüberwindbar erscheinende religiöse und kulturelle Kluft zwischen Zwergen und Trollen zu erklären und zu veranschaulichen, wie unaufhaltsam die Bemühungen tatsächlich sind sie zu überbrücken, trotz aller Widerstände.
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Fun. What is it good for?
It's not pleasure, joy, delight, enjoyment or glee. It's a hollow, cruel, vicious little bastard, a word for something sought with an hilarious couple of wobbly antennae on your head and the word 'I want it!' on your shirt, and it tends to leave you waking up with your face stuck to the street.
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(Terry Pratchett, Thud, 2005)

60, WG36, E52, / NG24, D8, C1, Frz0, B2, NA0

Terry Pratchett, Jingo

Weiter geht's mit dem Discuniversum. Diesen Band habe ich sehr lange nicht wiedergelesen und dementsprechend waren mir keine Einzelheiten mehr im Kopf, nur die grobe Handlung um die überraschend auftauchende Insel, die soviel Unheil zwischen Ankh Morpork und Klatch stiftet. Die Stelle mit den beiden Paralleluniversen hatte ich komplett vergessen.

Sergeant Colon had had a broad education. He'd been to the School of My Dad Always Said, the College of It Stands to Reason, and was now a postgraduate student at the University of What Some Bloke In The Pub Told Me.
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It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was Us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.
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Night poured over the desert. It came suddenly, in purple. In the clear air, the stars drilled down out of the sky, reminding every thoughtful watcher that it is in the deserts and high places that religions are generated. When men see nothing but bottomless infinity over their heads they have always had a driving and desperate urge to find someone to put in the way.
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One of the universal rules of happiness is: always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual.
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(Terry Pratchett, Jingo, 1997)
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Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!

Eigentlich wollte ich ja nur die neueren Bände der Watchserie lesen, aber dann kam doch der Wunsch hoch, wiederzulesen wie alles anfing. Vor allem die Stellen mit dem Drachen sind immer wieder klasse.
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'.. Never trust any ruler who puts his faith in tunnels and bunkers and escape routes. The chances are that his heart isn't in the job.'
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(Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!, 1989)

58, WG34, E50, / NG24, D8, C1, Frz0, B2, NA0

Terry Pratchett, Nightwatch

Nach zwei Jahren Pause haben sich doch wieder einige Bände aus der Discworldserie angesammelt, die wiedergelesen werden möchten. Wie diese geniale Zeitreisegeschichte, in der Vimes eine Revolution leiten und steuern, einen psychopathischen Killer dingfest machen und zu allem Überfluß noch sein eigenes jüngeres Selbst beschützen muss, und alles ohne die Vergangenheit zu verändern. Spannung pur.

'... Don't put your trust in revolutions. They always come around again. That's why they're called revolutions. People die, and nothing changes...
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As soon as you saw people as things to be measured, they didn't measure up. What would run through the streets soon enough wouldn't be revolution or a riot. It'd be people who were frightened and panicking. It was what happened when the machinery of city life faltered, the wheels stopped turning and all the little rules broke down. An when that happened, humans were worse than sheep. Sheep just ran; they didn't try to bite the sheep next to them.
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(Terry Pratched, Night Watch, 2002)

Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay

Auch dieses furiose Debut der Golems von Ankh Morpork habe ich viel zu lange nicht wiedergelesen. Immer wieder besonders schön: die Wappen mit den praktisch unübersetzbaren Mottos.

'You know, sometimes I envy you. It must be nice to be a wolf. Just for a while.'
'It has its drawbacks.' Like fleas, she thought, as they locked up the museum. And the food. And the constant nagging feeling that you should be wearing three bras at once.
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Rumour is information distilled so finely that it can filter through anything. It does not need doors and windows - sometimes it doesn't even need people. It can exist free and wild, running from ear to ear without ever touching lips.
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'They think they want good government and justice for all, Vimes, yet what is it they really crave, deep in their hearts? Only that things go on as normal and tomorrow is pretty much like today.
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Royalty was like dandelions. No matter how many heads you chopped off, the roots were still there underground, waiting to spring up again.
It seemed to be a chronic disease. It was as if even the most intelligent person had this little blank spot in their heads where someone had written: 'Kings. What a good idea.' Whoever had created humanity had left in a major design flaw. It was its tendency to bend at the knees.
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(Terry Pratchett, Feet of Clay, 1997)

56, WG32, E48, / NG24, D8, C1, Frz0, B2, NA0

Terry Pratchett, The Truth

Dieser Band ist nicht nur mein Topfavorit (neben Going Postal) in der Discworldserie, sondern vielleicht auch eins meiner wirklichen Lieblingsbücher. Irgendwie könnte ich mir die fulminante Entstehungsgeschichte von Ankh Morporks erster Tageszeitung immer und immer wieder antun. Es wird einfach nicht langweilig.
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'Be careful. People like to be told what they already know. Remember that. They get uncomfortable when you tell them new things. New things ... well, new things aren't what they expect. The like to know that, say, a dog will bite a man. That is what dogs do. They don't want to know that a man bites a dog, because the world is not supposed to happen like that. In short, what people think they want is news, but what they really crave is olds. I can see you've got the hang of it already.'
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(Terry Pratchett, The Truth, 1999)

31, NG14, E24, / WG17, D7, C1, Frz0, B2, NA0

Stephen King, Never Flinch

Gleich 3 neue Bücher in zwei Wochen, und noch solche Knaller. Dazu noch ein neuer Holly-Band, ich freue mich jedesmal wie blöd, dass King sie noch nicht drangegeben hat. Diesmal kommt sie als Bodyguard zum Einsatz und zur Abwechslung mit einem zwar verrückten, aber menschlichen Antagonisten mit einem wahrhaft schauerlichen Mordplan. Der Handlungsstrang mit Sister Bessie gefiel mir auch sehr. Kurz, wieder ein Buch ganz nach meinem Geschmack.

Jerome is struck by how much she looks like his Aunt Gertrude. This leads to a second thought, which should be elementary but somehow isn't: this is just another human being. A fellow rider on the journey from cradle to coffin. That leads to a third thought, which he will try to hold onto: unless and until it's used, talent is just an illusion.
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(Stephen King, Never Flinch, 2025)

30, NG13, E23, / WG17, D7, C1, Frz0, B2, NA0

Stuart MacBride, This House of Burning Bones

Nachdem der letzte Logan McRae-Band vor 6 Jahren so harmonisch endete, dachte ich irgendwie, die Reihe wäre abgeschlossen, aber weit gefehlt. Zum 20jährigen Jubiläum kam dieses Buch und erwies sich als wie gewohnt brilliant und vor allem in der zweiten Hälfte so spannend, dass ich es kaum weglegen mochte. Dazu ein Wiedersehen mit vielen alten Bekannten wie Biohazard und Roberta Steel und vor allem Constable Quirrel alias Tufty ohne den es die entscheidende Wendung im schwierigsten Fall nicht gegeben hätte. Auch hier gab es wieder haarsträubende Verfolgungsjagden, eine skurriler und abgedrehter als die andere, unglaubliche Screwups, und trotz allem solide Ermittlungsarbeit. Jetzt habe ich tatsächlich Lust alle Logan-Bände nochmal wiederzulesen - alle 14, deren Titel übrigens immer wieder mal ganz nebenbei im Text auftauchten, wie Ostereier für Eingeweihte. Mal schaun, wenn mir wieder der Lesestoff ausgeht, mache ich es vielleicht wirklich.
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But at least the wrought-iron railings had survived. Which gave people something to fix their floral tributes, football scarves, and teddy bears to. Votive offerings for the Gods of Tragedy And Public Displays Of Grief.
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(aus dem Nachwort)
Oh, and the police officers would act like real people, not ROBOTS FOR JUSTICE. They'd have lives, and make fun of each other, and cock things up, and be jealous and silly and grumpy, and do their best to muddle through. You know, like real people.
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The setting had to be Aberdeen, of course. At this point in the LongAgo, crime novels could only be written about Edinburgh, Glasgow, or wee Highland villages, by law. The Book Police would arrest you and steal all the vowels from your keyboard if you wrote about anywhere else.
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(Stuart MacBride, This House of Burning Bones, 2025)

28, NG11, E21, / WG17, D7, C1, Frz0, B2, NA0

All Hail our Robot Conquerors!, edited by Patricia Bray & Joshua Palmatier

Dies ist wahrscheinlich eine der allerletzten Anthologien mit einer mir unbekannten Kurzgeschichte von Tanya Huff darin - es gibt noch ein paar, die aber - zu diesem Zeitpunkt - nicht zu bekommen sind, also lass ich es erstmal gut sein. "Oh, the Humanity" allein lohnte schon die Anschaffung, aber einige der anderen Geschichten gefielen mir auch, wie "Road Rage" von Julie E. Czerneda, "Director X and the Thrilling Wonders of Outer Space" von Brian Trent, "The Dawn's Early Light" von Sharon Lee und Steve Miller, "Pensacola Wagner and the Robot Invasion" von Rosemary Edghill und "Heroes Never Die" von Seanan McGuire. Anthologien lohnen sich eben immer.

But of all of the delusions, misconceptions, grand designs, and undeniable impulses that shape sentience and bind its bearers into a kinship as unavoidable as the abrupt discovery of unknown relatives after one wins the lottery, there is one driving force which is the jewel in the crown of self-aware intelligent life.
It is the eternal quest for the easy way out.

(Rosemary Edghill, Pensacola Wagner and the Robot Invasion, aus 'All Hail Our Robot Conquerors', 2017)