My father recently suffered a significant medical event that has him hospitalized. At first, we weren’t sure he was going to survive. The prognosis has improved somewhat, but there’s still significant danger. To say it threw me for a loop is an understatement. My father is a strong, funny, outgoing man and I blithely expected him to be around forever. I don’t know if it’s needless to say, but I haven’t written in the last two weeks. I certainly will again. The interest is building, tempered by my concern for my dad. I’m not the most adept at compartmentalizing so this will be a challenge for the next while.

Cheers,

Chris

I can’t remember when I first discovered Terry Pratchett, or which book it was, but I was hooked from the start. From the Nac Mac Feegle to the Night Watch, I’ve loved every journey in Discworld. Knowing there will be no more stories is definitely sad, but also makes me appreciate all the books that do exist. I’ve reread most of them. Several years will go by before I come back, so that when I return to the books the stories feel like seeing an old friend. If you forced me to pick a favorite character I’d probably go with Sam Vimes although Mort/DEATH is a close second. The ensemble cast of the Watch is unparalleled which was why I was so excited when they made the TV show. Then I watched the show. Once I accepted how impossible it was to recreate the fantastical world Pratchett had created (Nobby Nobbs as just one example) I watched it on its own terms and enjoyed it.) I’ve never written fan-fiction, but if I ever do, I think I’ll start in Ankh-Morpork.

As the question marks suggest, I haven’t gotten into either one of these yet and I don’t know if I should. I’m not sure what to put that down to other than neither one really grabs me. This might be entirely unfair, but prequels never seem to live up to the hype, much the way the Star Wars prequels disappointed. I never wanted or needed to know what Darth Vader was like as a teenager, and I can’t say I’m any more interested in the prehistory of these two franchises either. Having said that, I did enjoy Kenobi which was both new while also being a prequel.