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reanimatedreader's review against another edition
3.0
This is a lovely travel guide to the Discworld offering tips on all areas of the the disc. Especially funny when you've lived or visited the countries these satirical musings are based on. Highly recommend to the avid Pratchett fan.
molokov's review against another edition
5.0
An updated Discworld map, which is huge, beautifully illustrated and double sided - together with a very detailed guide to all the lands of the Disc. This book doesn't just repeat the jokes from the novels (although some references are indeed made), it adds a lot of new material about all locations on the Discworld, and even gives details about some places never actually visited in the books (and some that aren't even mentioned!) There is a lot of sly humour, some wonderful illustrations, and so much rich detail that I think this is an essential buy for any Discworld fan, even moreso than the Compleat Ankh-Morpork. Plus, it's going to be very useful for ideas for The Discworld Grand Tour! http://ausdwcon.org
indiepauli47's review against another edition
funny
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Reread 2022 :
It's companion books like this one that make me realise how incredibly developed and thought-out this world is.. Sir Pratchett could do it all, and amazingly nonetheless.
Read 2019 :
3.5-4 stars.
This atlas is beautiful, the book itself and the illustrations make it a great add to the Discworld series.
Every region, country, land is depicted in there; cultures, geography, populations,.. you can find a lot of information about each of them.
It's more the kind of book handy while reading the series, rather than reading it in one go. I still did it though.
It's companion books like this one that make me realise how incredibly developed and thought-out this world is.. Sir Pratchett could do it all, and amazingly nonetheless.
Read 2019 :
3.5-4 stars.
This atlas is beautiful, the book itself and the illustrations make it a great add to the Discworld series.
Every region, country, land is depicted in there; cultures, geography, populations,.. you can find a lot of information about each of them.
It's more the kind of book handy while reading the series, rather than reading it in one go. I still did it though.
trish204's review against another edition
5.0
Reading this, I had "the feels".
And the last page only made it worse!
It was just a description of the author and his work for crying out loud! ... Which is exactly what I did! Crying. Out loud.
Aaaaanywaaaaaay. The book.
As a fan of the Discworld I had to have an atlas of course.
There are a lot of compendium books out there but this newest one seems to be the only one showing all of Discworld so far.
The book is made out to be like a geopgraphy/history book. It therefore has the typical cream-coloured pages that look weathered. The art itself is very well done too. Not like the satirical pictures by Kidby and/or Kirby (that are just the best covers imaginable) because it is supposed to look like a real science book.
The overall structure of the book is continent => country => capitol => ... with the countries being the main chapters. Each of these chapters is then further divided to give a description of the respective capital, economy, landscape, culture etc. So we move from big focus to detail.
Every chapter is interspersed with cute, funny and colourful images of some of the landscapes, people living in the respective region, landmarks, buildings and much more.
Naturally, there are some references to characters from the books but generally they aren't featured here. Thus, no spoilers.
Nevertheless, the chapters and descriptions are interesting and funny and it's a great way to keep track of who lives where and to get a feeling for the world Terry Pratchett created (even or especially for those who haven't read the series yet).
Rounding this off is a map.
And what a HUGE map it is! I had to put it on the bathroom floor just to be able to take a picture of the entire thing (sorry for the bad quality)! The front and back are both printed on as you will see in a moment.
One side is showing the discworld, including the elephants and Great A'Tuin.
The other is the actual map, complete with indications to temperatures/weather, population density, amount of magic etc.
I'm truly in love with this seemingly small, inconspicuous book and all its' lovely intricate details!
And the last page only made it worse!
It was just a description of the author and his work for crying out loud! ... Which is exactly what I did! Crying. Out loud.
Aaaaanywaaaaaay. The book.
As a fan of the Discworld I had to have an atlas of course.
There are a lot of compendium books out there but this newest one seems to be the only one showing all of Discworld so far.
The book is made out to be like a geopgraphy/history book. It therefore has the typical cream-coloured pages that look weathered. The art itself is very well done too. Not like the satirical pictures by Kidby and/or Kirby (that are just the best covers imaginable) because it is supposed to look like a real science book.
The overall structure of the book is continent => country => capitol => ... with the countries being the main chapters. Each of these chapters is then further divided to give a description of the respective capital, economy, landscape, culture etc. So we move from big focus to detail.
Every chapter is interspersed with cute, funny and colourful images of some of the landscapes, people living in the respective region, landmarks, buildings and much more.
Naturally, there are some references to characters from the books but generally they aren't featured here. Thus, no spoilers.
Nevertheless, the chapters and descriptions are interesting and funny and it's a great way to keep track of who lives where and to get a feeling for the world Terry Pratchett created (even or especially for those who haven't read the series yet).
Rounding this off is a map.
And what a HUGE map it is! I had to put it on the bathroom floor just to be able to take a picture of the entire thing (sorry for the bad quality)! The front and back are both printed on as you will see in a moment.
One side is showing the discworld, including the elephants and Great A'Tuin.
The other is the actual map, complete with indications to temperatures/weather, population density, amount of magic etc.
I'm truly in love with this seemingly small, inconspicuous book and all its' lovely intricate details!
joti's review
5.0
It's simply beautiful. The artwork is gorgeous, and the text is brilliant. There is so much information in here, some of it slightly repetitive from what we already know about the world, but most of it is new or references events and places from the novels in Pratchett's typical quirky way. A wonderful read after the books, and I'm sure it will be a good resource while rereading as well. Comes with a stunning map of the world, although I haven't been able to look at it again because the back of the map has artwork from the Disc, A'Tuin and the gods on there and that's the side I decided to frame. It's been up on my living room wall for years now and I still absolutely love it.
elementarymydear's review
5.0
At the start:
At the end:
This book is a brilliant addition to the Discworld collection; it's absolutely stunning, and gives plenty of details on the areas of the Disc that are mentioned in passing, or haven't been visited in a while, with an update as to what's going on at the moment. Two happy afternoons were spent with the map open on the floor, one finger holding the page with the map references, happily putting A level Further Maths to use with the polar coordinates, before getting to the end and (once again) having the crushing realisation that there will be no more Discworld novels. In the back of my mind as I read through this there was a little voice going, 'I wonder how Susan is getting on?' or 'How are Polly and Mal doing?' or 'Will Uberwald move with the times, will the aristocracy get along?' and then a reminder that we will never know. And in a way, that's okay; so many stories were self-contained, have been finished, and we can use this book - and others - to rest assured that things are doing okay.
But that doesn't stop occasional visits from the onion fairy...
At the end:
This book is a brilliant addition to the Discworld collection; it's absolutely stunning, and gives plenty of details on the areas of the Disc that are mentioned in passing, or haven't been visited in a while, with an update as to what's going on at the moment. Two happy afternoons were spent with the map open on the floor, one finger holding the page with the map references, happily putting A level Further Maths to use with the polar coordinates, before getting to the end and (once again) having the crushing realisation that there will be no more Discworld novels. In the back of my mind as I read through this there was a little voice going, 'I wonder how Susan is getting on?' or 'How are Polly and Mal doing?' or 'Will Uberwald move with the times, will the aristocracy get along?' and then a reminder that we will never know. And in a way, that's okay; so many stories were self-contained, have been finished, and we can use this book - and others - to rest assured that things are doing okay.
But that doesn't stop occasional visits from the onion fairy...
katrinamiddelburg's review
4.0
Gorgeous and full of "in-jokes" for lovers of Pratchett's Discworld. It reads like a high-quality RPG manual. :)
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