#one of hogfather's pov characters is a woman

[ladyherenya]

Books read in February

Sometimes there are obvious themes or trends in the books I’ve read because I am deliberately seeking out certain stories, but more often any patterns are accidental.

I read three contemporary YA novels in a row and in all of them, the main boy answers to “Jamie”. (One boy is nicknamed Jamie only very occasionally but that still counts.)

In the same week I started two books about paladins, with “paladin” in the title. (Paladin is not a word I’ve encountered much -- the only other books with paladins that I can remember reading are some of T. Kingfisher’s and a series by Lois McMaster Bujold.)

There’s also a theme going on with these covers -- purple and gold.

Favourite cover: Paladin.

Reread: Legacy (The Sharing Knife) by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Next up: A Heart So Fierce and Broken by Brigid Kemmerer.

(Longer reviews and ratings are on LibraryThing and Dreamwidth.)

*

Haunted Ground by Erin Hart: An archaeologist and an anatomy lecturer investigate a redheaded woman’s head discovered in an Irish bog, and also become caught up in the mystery surrounding the disappearance of a local landowner’s wife. I didn’t know about peat bogs nor the challenges they pose for determining how long a body has been buried. I’ve read a bunch of murder mysteries -- this one is definitely different. It is so atmospheric, with a strong sense of place, history and mystery. I enjoyed Cormac and Nora’s company and liked how they had different skills and perspectives. I’ll read more of these.

Lucky Caller by Emma Mills: Nina is in her final semester of high school and her radio broadcasting elective is not going as expected. This book made me laugh. I enjoyed the camaraderie of the radio team and Nina’s close bond with her sisters. I like the way Jamie is part of Nina’s life, quiet yet important -- he’s a classmate, a colleague, a childhood friend, a neighbour and a crush. I find Mills’ YA very relatable, even though her protagonists’ circumstances and personalities differ from mine as a teenager. It’s the way these stories are about friendship, family, fandom and facing change.

Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed: Two teenagers, one Jewish and one Muslim, end up campaigning for a state senate candidate together. There’s less about actually canvassing than I expected but it’s nevertheless an interesting look at being seventeen and politically aware -- and particularly aware of discrimination against people like you -- during an election. The dual POV brings breadth to this story and puts Jamie and Maya’s (cute) relationship front and centre, but means there’s perhaps less development in their respective relationships with friends and family; there’s potential for some of those to pack more of an emotional punch. But that’s not what this story is focusing on.

Every Move by Ellie Marney: Sequel to Every Breath and Every Word. Rachel Watts and James Mycroft are back in Melbourne but haven’t recovered physically or psychologically. And a couple of local murders send a clear message: they’re still in danger. I really liked that this deals with trauma and with consequences. She’s trying to forget, he’s obsessively trying to find answers -- their different coping strategies are an interesting potential conflict. I was frustrated by some of their choices, although I understand their reasoning, and there’s more violence than I really wanted. Quibbles aside, this trilogy is tense and satisfying. I appreciate that this is a Sherlock Holmes-ish story about Australian teenagers.

Hogfather by Terry Pratchett (narrated by Nigel Planer): The Hogfather has disappeared, so Death takes over the job to ensure that the children don’t stop believing at Hogswatch. I wonder if this book is trying to tap into experiences of childhood I, growing up in a family which didn’t “do” things like Santa or the tooth fairy, didn’t have... but I can’t specifically pinpoint any reason why that would impinge on my ability to enjoy this story. I really liked the parts with Susan and Death, and I have a growing fondness for the wizards of Unseen University. I don’t care for the assassins or auditors.

Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon): A paladin and a perfumer deal with politics, a wrongful accusation of poisoning and some weird murders. I like my comfort reads to have an edge of darkness, so I’ve no objections to murder intruding into a fluffy romance. The humorous bits are funny and the characters’ support networks are heartening -- as is seeing two people who have been hurt in the past and consequently seriously doubt their own desirability discover joy and solace with each other. Their obvious physical attraction undercut some of the tension for me but the rest of the plot had enough uncertainty and surprises. Enjoyed.

Knife Children (a story in the world of The Sharing Knife) by Lois McMaster Bujold:  Lakewalker patroller Barr was told to stay away from his half-farmer daughter and leave her unaware of her true parentage, but he has watched her from afar. When Lily disappears from her family’s farm, Barr sets out to find her. This novella technically stands alone but what I enjoyed most about it was seeing how much Barr has grown -- from an impulsive young man in Passage and Horizon into someone who deals maturely with the consequences of past mistakes, and provides proper support and guidance for a teenager whose world has been turned upside down. Satisfying, hopeful and unexpectedly poignant.

The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff: I really struggled to focus on this. I still suspect it may turn into a story that appeals to me more and if it hadn’t been a week overdue and accruing a fine -- and if I hadn’t had other library books that I wanted to read before they did the same -- I would have persevered longer. It occurred to me that if I listen to the abridged audiobook, I will at least discover what sort of story this turns into! I am leery of abridged audiobooks but there isn’t an unabridged version, so it might be worth a try.

Headliners by Lucy Parker: I’ve really enjoyed all of Parker’s romances but this one didn’t grab me. I’m fascinated by the theatre world but not very interested in breakfast television. And with everything else going on in this story -- the rivals-to-colleagues-to-lovers relationship, uncertainty about their careers, mystery about possible sabotage and the aftermath of revelations about Sabrina’s family --- there isn’t much space to properly show why Sabrina and Nick end up caring about their morning show so much. However there were things I liked about the characters and enjoyed about their interactions. And I kept reading until the end, which says something.

Paladin by Sally Slater (narrated by Carly Robins): I needed an audiobook, this was available and I like the cover. After her mother is killed by a demon, Lady Samantha disguises herself as a boy and joins the paladins. In terms of its tropes, themes, twists and worldbuilding, this story isn’t doing anything new -- nor that other stories haven’t arguably done better (although the exact combination of narrative elements could very well be unique). But it is entertaining.

[so-i-did-this-thing]

A good adaptation starts with understanding what the story is trying to say. Discworld stories exist both as good comedic fantasy yarns AND as satiric/philosophical commentary. To be successful, you want to nail both.

I'd agree that the past Discworld movies focus too much on the former. I think it was a mistake to adapt Colour of Magic, because it doesn't have much interesting to say. Going Postal nailed some things and dreadfully dropped the ball on others because it wanted a more traditional character arc for its lead. Hogfather, and by authorial extension, Good Omens (yes, not Discworld) did a fairly good job of both, which was what got a lot of us excited for The Watch.

Anyway. One has a few things to mine for an adaptation:

Plot points.

The Watch books already work on the surface level as tidy little procedurals. Similar to episodic TV, there is an A Plot and a B Plot. The books lend themselves well to adaptation here in that it isn't absolutely necessary to have read other books in the series to enjoy the one you're on (the one oft-warned exception being Night Watch, a book that is major payback on Vimes' series-long character arc, which makes it even more baffling the adaptation chooses to immediately mine a setup it hasn't earned yet.)

The book plots also prop up Terry's commentary, so making a pastiche in an adaptation further raises eyebrows. The Watch books have a running thread about the corruption of power and the need for accountability, yes, but each book also has standalone ideas to explore.

By mixing everything together, The Watch is running into the danger of only grabbing superficial plot elements (Magic! Dragons!) and unintentionally reinforcing commentary antithetical to Terry's philosophy. See concerns about copraganda.

Characters

Initially, The Watch's decision to shake up the casting was interesting. Terry's own descriptions of his characters are frequently light on physical details, in favor of mannerisms and voice. Artist Paul Kidby's depiction of Vimes is mined from Terry's nods to Clint Eastwood films. But when asked what he thought Vimes looked like, Terry pointed to Pete Postlethwaite. Clearly, room for artistic interpretation, but I think Kidby still "gets" Vimes -- because even though his Vimes is based on an actor we'd consider a "leading man", Kidby downplays Eastwood's heroic presence in favor of his dour and downtrodden physicality, which rings very true for our watchman.

An edgy, manic Vimes is the exception, not the rule, in the books, and to see that as seemingly the default in the miniseries is disappointing because seeing Vimes get pulled from his apathetic intertia and confront his limits (and sometimes break) was so damned interesting.

Lady Sybil is a good example where her physical interpretation (her size) is a very important part of her character and what Terry had to say. Sybil's size is tied to her place as a woman in the aristocracy, someone to be ignored and patronized, but she uses her position and privilege as weapons to great effect. Why The Watch makes her a traditional action hero literally wielding hand axes is an uncomfortable commentary on the validity of book-Sybil's emotional labor and her viability as a romantic interest as a fat woman.

Carcer works so well as a villain because he hides in plain sight, gleefully using systemic oppression to his advantage -- we see this so often today among white supremacists. To have him cast as a man of color loses that commentary and further reinforces the cinematic trend of POC being dangerous. Not a good look.

Dialogue and interactions

The POV characaters, Vimes especially, have inner dialogue that will be lost in the jump to screen. But the spoken dialogue is still there as a source.

Does dialogue have to be used verbatim? Of course not. But like other elements, it contains clues about character and themes. Which is why it's boggling to have Vimes flip of Vetinari, for example, in The Watch, when so many of their book interactions display the tension between two men who love their city, but have very different approaches to the rule of law. Vetinari winds up Vimes all the time to make him a better man, but he is also deeply concerned about going too far and breaking him; if that break is where The Watch starts off, well, that is not an interesting way to communicate how these characters are foils to one another.

Stage direction and setting

Ah, here we are at OP. When tackling a work that functions as both story and meta, it might be in one's best interests to lean on existing stage direction and setting to lighten the cognitive load of making an adaptation.

Necessary? No. It depends on what the staging is for, but with something thematically rich like Discworld, why not use the tools at your disposal and make it easier to tell the surface story of the books so you can make sure you nail the philosophical points. Especially when the surface story isn't as superficial as some may think.

The stage direction, like everything else in Discworld, doesn't exist in a vacuum. A lot was to set up jokes, yes, but those jokes usually serve the commentary. Jingo, for example, has a lot to skewer about Lawrence of Arabia, and that can absolutely be accomplished via attention to staging and setting.

Narrative Voice

This is one of the harder bits to nail. Good Omens attempted in its adaptation, with varying success, via a narrator.

A lot of wit and commentary are tucked away in narrative asides and footnotes. But it's important to remember that each storytelling medium has its strengths and weaknesses. Film excels at condensing exposition. It can convey nuance in ways that are difficult with words.

Terry was very interested in other mediums for storytelling (he loved video games, and was involved in the production of the previous Discworld movies). He so excelled at making his characters and plot reinforce his philosophical points, that it's impossible to untangle his storytelling from his satire. I think it does him a disservice to say that his narrative voice was the soul of his work, when his soul truly permeated everything.

Tldr;

Dissecting Discworld reveals a great deal of underlaying mechanisms that all worked in tandem. I would caution against saying any one literary element is what made Terry's voice so distinct and Discworld so satisfying to read.

On the other hand, I'm also here to blast The Watch for individual missteps, like not taking advantage of some of the more obvious literary devices, such Terry's frequently cinematic style. Because it feels like they did absolutely zero homework and, thus, have done little to engender any confidence in the radical changes they did make to the source.

"Doesn't lend itself to adaptation" my ASS. This is so easy to adapt it has the camara angles IN IT.

I'm fully convinced they didn't bother to read the book at all.