Elizabeth Flux

#Pratchat23 – The Music of the Nitt

3 Comments

For episode 23, Elizabeth and Ben are joined by opera singer Myf Coghill on a trip to Ankh-Morpork’s opera house in Terry Pratchett’s 1994 Discworld novel of witches, phantoms and experimental cookery: Maskerade!

Nanny Ogg’s coven with Granny Weatherwax is short a witch. She decides young Agnes Nitt – last seen dabbling in the craft while wearing black lace and calling herself “Perdita” – is just the person to fill the position. But Agnes has run off to Ankh-Morpork and joined the opera, where a mysterious “Opera Ghost” has turned from good luck charm to demanding, dangerous and possibly deranged. Can “Perdita” find out the identity of the Opera Ghost before the bodies start stacking up – and before Granny and Nanny stick their noses in and do it for her?

Pratchett delves into a world hitherto unknown to him and takes Granny and Nanny to the big city for their penultimate book, heavily influenced by The Phantom of the Opera, and about much more earthly matters than their previous adventures. We learn a lot about opera, Andrew Lloyd Webber and the world of publishing, and delve into Pratchett’s treatment of Agnes, a beloved character whose unflattering portrayal was the subject of many questions and comments.

Did Maskerade bring out the opera fan in you? Do you think Agnes deserved better? And despite being a bit of a downer, is this one of the best Discworld books we’ve discussed so far? Use the hashtag #Pratchat23 on social media to join the conversation and let us know what you think!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:18:45 — 63.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Myfanwy Coghill is an opera singer, soon-to-be qualified teacher, and Dungeon Master (of the Dungeons & Dragons variety). You can follow her on Twitter at @_merlenoir_.

You’ll find the full notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

We’re staying in Ankh-Morpork for Feet of Clay in October before heading back in time to explore the origins of Granny Weatherwax in November with Equal Rites. Plus our subscriber-only bonus podcast, Ook Club, has launched! You can subscribe for as little as $2 a month to check it out. You’ll find all the details on our Support Us page.

#Pratchat22 – The Cat in the Prat

1 Comment

Episode 22 – released, by pure coincidence, on International Cat Day – features Elizabeth, Ben and resident Pratcat Asimov for a look at one of Terry Pratchett’s oddest books: 1989’s humorous examination of all things feline, The Unadulterated Cat.

Cats these days just aren’t a patch on the ones you used to get: aloof, untameable outdoor beasts who are more likely to trap you in a neighbours’ house with a broken leg (long story) than to sit nicely on your lap and purr. The Campaign for Real Cats has had enough of modern, “fizzy keg” cats, with their bows and their bells and their posing. This is the Campaign’s guide to identifying, understanding and appreciating honest-to-Bastet real cats.

Pratchett teams up with cartoonist and illustrator Gray Jolliffe to give us a tongue-firm-in-furry-cheek guide to the world of cats in one of his rare non-fiction works. It’s the kind of thing you buy the cat lover in your life for Christmas, full of chapters detailing the types of cats, their names, the games they play and “advice” on how to deal with them. Are you a cat lover? Did this ring true for you? We’d love to hear from you – and to hear your cat stories, and any real cats you’ve identified in fiction! Use the hashtag #Pratchat22 on social media to join the conversation.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:16:40 — 35.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Asimov lives with Liz and is our resident “Pratcat”. He was previously audible in the background of #Pratchat10, “We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Broomstick” and #Pratchat18, “Sundog Gazillionaire”. No doubt he’ll crop up in future episodes too (and spoiler alert: he won’t be the only Pratcat in future!). You can follow his adventures on Instagram at @asimovthecat.

You’ll find the full show notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

In September we return to the Discworld – and its most real of cats, Greebo – as we head to the opera for Maskerade, the 1994 book which brings the witches to Ankh-Morpork! Our guest will be teacher and opera singer Myf Coghill. We’d love your questions – send them to us via social media using the hashtag #Pratchat23.

As mentioned in this episode, we’ll soon be releasing our first bonus episode just for subscribers! All bonus episodes will be available to anyone who subscribes, so if you’re interested, jump over to our Support Us page for details.

#Pratchat21 – Memoirs of Agatea

Leave a Comment

Twenty-one today! In this episode, Elizabeth and Ben are joined by David Ryding of Melbourne UNESCO City of Literature as we rejoin Rincewind and some of his old friends in Terry Pratchett’s 17th Discworld novel: 1994’s Interesting Times.

Rincewind, the worst student Unseen University ever had, has quite literally been to hell and back. But when a summons arrives in Ankh-Morpork requesting the presence of “the Great Wizzard”, his old faculty bring him home, then send him to the far-flung Agatean Empire. All is not well on the Counterweight Continent: rebels are (gently) questioning centuries of enforced order, inspired by the revolutionary pamphlet “What I Did on My Holidays”. The ruthless Lord Hong plots to change the Empire forever. The walls have failed to keep out a horde of barbarian invaders – seven of them, in fact. And it’s about to be visited by a very special kind of butterfly…

Pratchett revisits characters from his first Discworld novels, as Rincewind is reunited with Cohen the Barbarian in Twoflower’s homeland. But in 2019, twenty-five years after it was first published, his depiction of a comic fantasy Asia leaves a bit to be desired. There’s plenty going on, and some stirring speeches, but it’s also hard to ignore that nearly all the main characters are white folks “saving” a foreign nation from itself – a nation inspired by real-world Asian countries. Is there a clear message in the book? How does this sit on the evolution of Pratchett’s work from parody to satire? And were you glad to see such old favourite characters return, or could you have done without them? We’d love to hear from you! Use the hashtag #Pratchat21 on social media to join the conversation.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:01:18 — 55.9MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest David Ryding has been Director of the Melbourne UNESCO City of Literature office since its establishment in 2014 (though Melbourne has been a City of Literature since 2008). Prior to that he was director of the Emerging Writers Festival, then executive director of the NSW Writers Centre (now know as Writing NSW). You can find out more about what he does at the City of Literature office at cityofliterature.com.au, and they’re also on Twitter at @MelCityofLit. If you’re looking for other great literary podcasts made in Melbourne, you can find some listed on their site here.

You can find the full show notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

We hope you enjoyed our first ever live show, recorded at Nullus Anxietas VII, where we discussed Cohen’s previous adventure in the short story “Troll Bridge”! We’d love to record more bonus episodes in future, and you can help us do it by supporting Pratchat.

In August we leave the Discworld and indeed the land of fiction to read one of Pratchett’s oddest books: The Unadulterated Cat, a 1989 collaboration with cartoonist Gray Joliffe in which he makes the case that the only “real cat” is one that destroys gardens, eats wildlife and makes a thorough nuisance of itself. If you have questions, send them to us via social media using the hashtag #Pratchat22.

#Pratchat19 – It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got Rocks In

Leave a Comment

In our nineteenth episode it’s back to the Discworld as we join Death, and meet his granddaughter Susan, as writer and illustrator Fury joins us to talk about Terry Pratchett’s 1994 Discworld novel, Soul Music!

Susan Sto Helit doesn’t have time for anything silly – not for grief, not for tiny skeletal rats who are here to inform her of SQUEAK, and most definitely not for this new craze sweeping the Disc. But “music with rocks in” has other ideas, and doesn’t care who gets swept up in the swell. With her long lost grandfather (the one with the bony knees) missing in action, Susan has no choice but to take on the family business and try not to….erm…rock the boat.

Pratchett is never one to shy away from the big themes and Soul Music packs a lot of punch into a deceptively simple plot. It explores grief, family, teenage obsession and showbiz. It also continues the story of Mort, and introduces us to some new characters that we quickly grow to love (and sadly never see again). With more music references and jokes than a Spinal Tap album, Soul Music is Imp-possible to put down. Got a favourite Discworld band name? Or an idea as good as “My Little Binky”? We’d love to hear from you! Use the hashtag #Pratchat19 on social media to join the conversation.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:14:40 — 62.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Fury is a writer and author based in Naarm/Melbourne. Their book, an experimental graphic novel memoir titled I Don’t Understand How Emotions Work, is available here.

You’ll find the full show notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

As mentioned this episode, we recorded our first live show at Nullus Anxietas VII, discussing the short story Troll Bridge with author Tansy Rayner-Roberts! It’s in the podcast feed as #PratchatNA7, “A Troll New World”.

Next month we head to the skies and cling on for dear life as we finish the Bromeliad trilogy with Wings! Get your questions in via social media using the hashtag #Pratchat20.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

#Pratchat20 – The Thing Beneath My Wings

Leave a Comment

For our twentieth episode we finish our first Pratchett series! Elizabeth and Ben are joined by writer Dr Lili Wilkinson to discover the final fate of Masklin, Angalo, Gurder and the rest of the Nomes in Terry Pratchett’s 1990 conclusion to the Bromeliad: Wings! (If you need to catch up, you can find Truckers in #Pratchat9, and Diggers in #Pratchat13.)

When Masklin arrived in the Store, he learned that the Thing – an ancient artefact handed down for thousands of generations – wasn’t just a useless box, but could speak. It helped him save the Nomes from the destruction of the Store, and revealed that their people came to Earth long ago from a distant star. Masklin knows Nomes can’t run and hide from humans forever. So with the help of the Abbott Gurder and explorer Angalo, he’s going to sneak onto a Concorde and go to Florida to hijack a satellite so the Thing can talk to their starship and fly them to another planet. Not that Masklin understands what most of those words mean…

The Book of the Nomes concludes with a rollicking, fast-paced adventure with big questions about identity, religion, philosophy and taking risks to do what’s right. Oh, and some frogs. Picking up from where we left them at the start of Diggers, Wings follows Masklin, Angalo and Gurder as they travel vast distances, meet their own gods and eventually have a close encounter of the Nome kind. Did you find the ending satisfying? How does the mix of fantasy and sci-fi tropes sit with you? Do you wish there’d been more stories of the Nomes? We’d love to hear from you! Use the hashtag #Pratchat20 on social media to join the conversation.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:58:09 — 54.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Dr Lili Wilkinson is an author based in Melbourne. She’s written a dozen books for young adults and middle grade readers, including The Boundless Sublime (about a girl who gets sucked into a cult), After the Lights Go Out (in which a girl is prepped for the apocalypse by her Dad…and then it happens), and Green Valentine, a romance featuring shopping trolleys, a lobster costume and a whole lot of gardening. Lili also started insideadog.com.au, an online community for bookish teens, and the Inky Awards, Australia’s only reader’s choice award for YA fiction. Watch out for her new picture book Clancy the Quokka in October 2019. You can find Lili online at liliwilkinson.com.au and on Twitter at @twitofalili.

You can find the full show notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

In July we’re visiting a distant part of the Disc and finally catching up with everyone’s* favourite inept wizard, Rincewind, as we’ll be joined by David Ryding of Melbourne City of Literature to return to the Discworld series for Interesting Times! Get your questions in via social media using the hashtag #Pratchat21.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

* Well…all right. Ben’s favourite inept wizard. Though Catweazle, Ergo the Magnificent and Meredith are all up there as well.

#Pratchat18 – Sundog Gazillionaire

2 Comments

For episode eighteen we go back to Terry Pratchett’s science fiction beginnings as – in the evening between the two days of the 2019 Speculate festival – author Will Kostakis joins us to talk about Pratchett’s standalone 1976 novel, The Dark Side of the Sun!

Dom Sabalos is about to become Chairman of the planet Widdershins when he is messily assassinated. Well…mostly. When he survives against all odds, he discovers his death had been predicted using probability math. The same science also predicts he will discover Joker’s World, the mysterious home of the vanished ancient species thought to have laid the foundation for all intelligent life. Dom sets out to fulfil his destiny with his alien mentor Hrsh-Hgn, his new robot, Isaac, and a strange, lucky creature from his homeworld’s swamp.

Filled with references and homages to prominent science fiction authors like Larry Niven, Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert, The Dark Side of the Sun is the first of Pratchett’s two early science fiction novels. (We’ll get to the other one, Strata, in fifty episodes’ time.) It features the first appearance of many names and concepts he would later recycle for the Discworld. It’s a short, fast-paced book with big ideas – not least Pratchett’s own take on the classic sci-fi trope of a vanished, ancient precursor species known only through mysterious artefacts. But does it work? Is this an early sign of genius, or a run-up for someone who needed more time to come into his own? We’d love to hear from you! Use the hashtag #Pratchat18 on social media to join the conversation.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:38:37 — 45.5MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Will Kostakis is a writer and award-winning author. He’s written many short stories and four novels, all for young adults, including The Sidekicks and The First Third. As mentioned in the episode, his first fantasy YA novel, Monuments, will be released in September 2019. You can find out more about Will and his work at willkostakis.com, or follow him on Twitter at @willkostakis.

You can find the full show notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

(This episode was released just before Liz and Ben appeared at Nullus Anxietas 7, the Australian Discworld Convention, on April 13 and 14 2019! The live episode they recorded at the convention is available in the podcast feed as #PratchatNA7, “A Troll New World”.)

Next month it’s back to the Discworld as we crank up the volume and rock out with Death! Yes, we’ll be reading Soul Music, so get your questions in via social media by mid-April using the hashtag #Pratchat19.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

#Pratchat2 – Murdering a Curry

2 Comments

In our second episode, writer and editor Stephanie Convery joins us as we discuss the runner-up in our poll for which book to read first – Terry Pratchett’s Mort! Published 30 years ago, it’s the fourth Discworld novel, and the first to put Death in a starring role.

Mort (short for Mortimer), a daydreaming farmer’s son, is offered an apprenticeship by Death himself. Travelling outside of space and time to Death’s home, he finds things aren’t what he expects: Death has an elderly manservant, an adopted daughter, and an unusual interest in fly fishing. Mort, left to do the job alone, tries to defy fate in a very human (and teenage) moment  – but can he possibly succeed? And why does an immortal anthropomorphic personification need an apprentice, anyway?

Mort is often cited (including by us) as the first book in the series that feels like the Discworld we know and love, so if you’re joining us for the first time this episode, this is a great place to start. (And don’t worry: we do later go back and read the first three books, The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic and Equal Rites. See our Books page for a list of episodes in publication order.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:33:48 — 86.6MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Stephanie Convery is a writer and author, and at the time of this episode deputy culture editor of Guardian Australia. She is currently their dedicated inequality reporter. Stephanie’s first book, After the Count: The Death of Davey Browne, was published in March 2020 by Penguin Books. You can follow Stephanie on Twitter at @gingerandhoney, and find her work at Guardian Australia.

You can find the full show notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

#Pratchat3 Notes and Errata

Leave a Comment

Theses are the show notes and errata for episode 3, “You’re a Wizzard, Rincewind”, featuring guest Cal Wilson, discussing the fifth Discworld novel, 1989’s Sourcery.

Iconographic Evidence

The photo used as publicity for Cal’s 2018 show Hindsight.

Notes and Errata

  • The episode title riffs on Hagrid’s famous words to an unbelieving Harry Potter in the first novel (and film), Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: “Your’s a wizard, Harry!”
  • Freddie Mercury was a first son of a son of undetermined order, so his magical powers clearly came from somewhere else.
  • Ben talks a lot about Dungeons & Dragons this episode; if you’ve no idea what it’s all about, his article “What Even Is Dungeons & Dragons?” will get you up to speed. (Content note: the article is a little sweary.)
  • Some of Terry’s thoughts on J K Rowling can be found online in his interview with The Age here: “Mystery lord of the Discworld”, Peter Fray, November 6, 2004.
  • A person who doesn’t realise they’re no good at what they do might have a form of cognitive bias known as the Dunning-Kruger effect, named for a 1999 psychological study.
  • Hook turns might not be widely used by cars outside of Melbourne, but they’re a common way for bicycles to turn across traffic at cross intersections in many parts of the world.
  • The Annotated Pratchett File (APF for short) is a brilliant source of information on the various references in the novels. We also recommend the Discworld & Terry Pratchett Wiki, also hosted by the L-Space Web.

#Pratchat4 – Enter Three Wytches

3 Comments

In episode four, vaudevillian Elly Squires – aka Clara Cupcakes – joins us to discuss one of her first Discworld books, and the start of the witches series proper: Wyrd Sisters! Terry Pratchett’s sixth Discworld novel, published in 1988, it’s the second book to feature Granny Weatherwax – but the first to introduce her fellow witches, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick.

Seasoned witches Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg are adjusting to life in a coven with recently graduated apprentice Magrat Garlick when the king of their tiny kingdom Lancre is murdered. The old king’s baby son escapes – right into the witch’s arms. They send him off to be raised by a troupe of travelling actors, while the usurper Duke Felmet is crowned king, aided in his tyrranical rule by his equally cruel wife. Granny, Nanny and Magrat must contend with rumour, theatre and their own clashing personalities if they are to change their kingdom’s story…

The witches are one of Pratchett’s most beloved groups of characters, and pre-date both the City Watch and the modern faculty of Unseen University – so it’s surprising to see them spring so fully-formed from their first novel! We loved meeting them all over again. We’d love to hear what you think of Wyrd Sisters – if you’re joining this episode’s discussion on social media, please use the hashtag #Pratchat4 so we can all find each other’s thoughts! (Big thanks to listener Jodie for this brilliant idea.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:40:47 — 46.2MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Elly Squires can be found on Twitter as her alter-ego @claracupcakes. She’s touring her hit 2017 Melbourne International Comedy Festival show, The Worst, to various festivals around Australia and the world, including Fringe World in Perth and the Edinburgh Fringe in Scotland. Keep an eye out for her tour dates on Facebook or (if you’re not afraid of Russian hackers) at claracupcakes.com.

You can read the full show notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

Our next book, discussed in our March 8th episode, will be 1989’s standalone Discworld novel, Pyramids – and joining us to talk about assassins, gods and a very different tiny kingdom will be comedian Richard McKenzie! We’ll be recording on February 19th, so get your questions in before then if you’d like us to answer them on the podcast! You can use the hashtag #Pratchat5 to ask them via social media.

Want to help us get to the end of our six(ish) year mission and read every Pratchett book – and more? You can support us with a tip, or a subscription for as little as $2 a month, and that’s cuttin’ our own throats! See our Support Us page for details.

#Pratchat5 – Ten Points to Viper House

6 Comments

In episode five, comedian Richard McKenzie joins us to discuss that rare beast, a Discworld tale that stars no wizards, witches, watches or Death, and isn’t part of any of the ongoing storylines: Pyramids! Terry Pratchett’s seventh Discworld novel, published in 1989, it’s chock-full of jokes, footnotes, gods and great characters – but we’ll see almost none of them ever again…

Pteppicymon XXVIII – Teppic for short – is heir to the throne of the ancient river kingdom of Djelibeybi. But the kingdom is broke, having spent its money on pyramids, and in order to give him a profession, Teppic is sent to the best school on the Disc: the Assassin’s Guild in Ankh-Morpork. Seven years later he’s just taken his final exam when his father dies. Teppic is now King (and God) of Djelibeybi earlier than planned – and after so long away, he finds the ancient traditions of his homeland stifling. Can even the King challenge the authority of the kingdom’s high priest, Dios?

Though it features none of his most beloved characters, Pyramids is nonetheless a favourite among Discworld fans – not least because the first quarter of the book takes us into the classrooms of Ankh-Morpork’s most famous guild. What do you think of this tale of tradition, family and mathematics gone wrong? Let us know! Use the hashtag #Pratchat5 on social media.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 2:00:00 — 55.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

Guest Richard McKenzie is a comedian best known for his storytelling style. Though he rarely performs standup anymore, he hosts trivia twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays, at the Cornish Arms on Sydney Road in Brunswick, Melbourne. Make sure to use a Pratchett pun in your team name if you go!

You can read the full show notes and errata for this episode on our web site.

Our next book, for our April 8th episode, takes us outside the Discworld – and indeed the fantasy genre – for 2012’s tale of Victorian London: Dodger! Joining us to talk about toshers, geezers and peelers is a man who’s no stranger to fancy words, and better known by his initials: crypto-cruciverbalist and former Letters & Numbers dictionary master, David Astle! We’ll be recording on March 24th, so get your questions in before then if you’d like us to answer them on the podcast. You can use the hashtag #Pratchat6 to ask them via social media. (And check out the Episodes page if you want to see a bit further into our future schedule!)