NationStates Jolt Archive

Simply, who do you prefer and why? Despite being diffrent in both subject matter and in the simple volume of their work, Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett are often lumped together in people's minds purely because their work plays with humour to create their universes. But which of those universes suits you best? Whereas one plays with the trappings of science fiction within Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the other is firmly in the realm of fantasy on Discworld...

As you argue this one out, you might want to consider the following:

Whose universe would you like to be in?

Where would you prefer to go for a holiday - Golgafrincham or Ankh-Morpork?

Who would be your ideal travelling companion - Death or Marvin?

What's more useful - a magical trunk or a computer that knows how to make a decent cup of tea?

And a simple one - giant turtle or pan-dimensional mice

Well, I've never even heard of the second guy, but one thing I do know is that Douglas Adams kicks ass! So I voted for him.

Well, I've never even heard of the second guy, but one thing I do know is that Douglas Adams kicks ass! So I voted for him.
he did Diskworld.

Oh and my answers to my own questions-
Golgafrincham
Death
a magical trunk (I hate tea)
giant turtle

What kind of sick twisted person would try and make people choose.

CAN YOU NOT LEAVE GREATNESS ALONE? I refuse to answer the poll.

Sorry for the caps.

Forty-two

Douglas Adams - wrote a few mildly funny books, and everyone in the world ends up reading them and thinking its the funniest thing ever to randomly quote from them (see post above this one :rolleyes: ) The Dirk Gently novels where way better than Hitchhiker's Guide, anyway.

Terry Pratchett - one of the best selling authors in the UK (not just in fantasy/comedy, but overall), but overlooked elsewhere. Has written 30+ books, most of which are pretty brilliant; way better than Adams. Unlike Adams' satire on scifi, Pratchett has moved on from simply making fun of the fantasy genre to something much deeper and mature. Also he is still alive... no offense.

therefore PRATCHETT WINS.

Douglas Adams - wrote a few mildly funny books, and everyone in the world ends up reading them and thinking its the funniest thing ever to randomly quote from them (see post above this one :rolleyes: ) The Dirk Gently novels where way better than Hitchhiker's Guide, anyway.

Terry Pratchett - one of the best selling authors in the UK (not just in fantasy/comedy, but overall), but overlooked elsewhere. Has written 30+ books, most of which are pretty brilliant; way better than Adams. Unlike Adams' satire on scifi, Pratchett has moved on from simply making fun of the fantasy genre to something much deeper and mature. Also he is still alive... no offense.

therefore PRATCHETT WINS.
Indeed.

I have to go with Pratchett, because, being still alive, he never posthumously published a few chapters of a bizarre mistery novel never to ever be completed ever so I'm doomed to spend the rest of my life wondering "what the fuck was up with the Rhino?"

I never really cared for Terry Pratchett, actually I couldn't read one of his books. I just never got into them enough. And who wouldn't want Marvin for a travel companion?

The first Hitchiker's Guide was pretty good. The rest got increasingly bad as time went on, to the point where Douglas Adams seemed unable to find a decent ending and just killed everyone.

I've never read Terry Pratchett, but I'd rather travel around with Death than Marvin. Death might kill me, Marvin would drive me insane.

Douglas adams kicks so much #$% it is not even pretty. but terry pratchett is also cool.

Though Pratchett has written volumes more books than Adams has, the Hitchhiker's Guide is not just a book; it is a radio series, a BBC series, a book, and coming soon a movie! Though I absolutely adore Terry Pratchett's work and recognize his absolute brilliance, I must be forced to say that Douglas Adams' work is my personal favorite. I mean, who else could kill you off (essentially that's what he did when he destroyed Earth to make way for the hyperspace bypass) and still make you love the book? Although I concede that Terry Prachett is still alive and that is sort of a one up over Adams, but I don't see why his being alive makes his work any better.

All in all, PTerry. However...


What's more useful - a magical trunk or a computer that knows how to make a decent cup of tea?


I thought the computer didn't know how to make a cup of tea.

and coming soon a movie

Wasn't there already a movie (though fairly piss poor to be honest).

I still love Adams though, cannot wait to see the film. Not as much as I am waiting for A Scanner Darkly though.

Adams.

All the Way.

and he didn't just write the guide.

read Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency.

Sorry, you cannot compare the two like that - they are equally fantastic, but if i'm forced to make a decision it'd be pratchett simply because he is still alive and still writing. Adam's though also wrote a brilliant factual book called Last Chance To See, read it!!!!!!!!!

They're both of equal quality early on, but while Adams gets kind of...weird...in his later books, Pratchet seems to be writing works that although darker are far more inteesting. I vote for Pratchet, but I like them both.

Pratchett, simply because he's more prolific. The humour is similar, though Douglas Adams takes things even less seriously than Pratchett...

Discworld might be good, but its second place to the original British comedy book master guy thing.
Whatever.
:)

Douglas Adams - wrote a few mildly funny books, and everyone in the world ends up reading them and thinking its the funniest thing ever to randomly quote from them (see post above this one :rolleyes: ) The Dirk Gently novels where way better than Hitchhiker's Guide, anyway.

Terry Pratchett - one of the best selling authors in the UK (not just in fantasy/comedy, but overall), but overlooked elsewhere. Has written 30+ books, most of which are pretty brilliant; way better than Adams. Unlike Adams' satire on scifi, Pratchett has moved on from simply making fun of the fantasy genre to something much deeper and mature. Also he is still alive... no offense.

therefore PRATCHETT WINS.

Yes. yes he does

interesting point, even though everyone here says pratchett, adams seems to be winning

Echoing other Adamist sentiments- Jesus, the radio show kicked ass. The first Guide book was damned good, the video game (http://www.douglasadams.com/creations/infocomjava.html) (yes, you have to read all that to get there) was fun with consistent illogic, and the short-lived TV series was kinda interesting, but the original radio show had character. I'll admit the fourth and fifth books were almost painful, though Wonko the Sane amused me.

The Electric Monk is the only concept in SF that I'd even compare to Sturgeon's "Referential Stasis Drive," in terms of innovation, average day-to-day usefulness, and flat-out coolness. A Suffusion of Yellow is useful when you're tired of responding "Mu" to a pointless question, though even fewer people get it.

PTerry's books provide a three or four chuckless each, and they put Incredibly Obvious Wisdom (the kind of stuff everyone's known since they were five, but never said) into words. These are invaluable services, but his books kinda get repetitive if you don't pace them- except for those experimental first few (I actually liked The Light Fantastic, though the rest, not so much) and Small Gods, he essentially has one formula- something changes a natural law, heroes make it worse, realize this 50 pages before the end, and then a random accident fixes everything while they're busy plunging headfirst into action.

Styles are similar, but Pratchett has written many more, so he gets a point for that. Plus, Vetinari. Plus, Death. Plus, Only You Can Save Mankind.

So that's a vote for Pratchett, I believe.

Discworld! Though I've not read the book (or played the adventure game), I plan to do both soon.

I like both quite a bit, but if I have to choose Pratchett. I find him funnier (I didn't care much for Dirk Gently).

Whose universe would you like to be in?

Where would you prefer to go for a holiday - Golgafrincham or Ankh-Morpork?

Who would be your ideal travelling companion - Death or Marvin?

What's more useful - a magical trunk or a computer that knows how to make a decent cup of tea?

And a simple one - giant turtle or pan-dimensional mice


HHGTG
Golgafrincham
Death
the Luggage
hmmm... Can't decide

I'll toss in another:
Which band would you rather see live - Disaster Area or The Band With Rocks In?

Disaster Area for me. :D

Though Pratchett has written volumes more books than Adams has, the Hitchhiker's Guide is not just a book; it is a radio series, a BBC series, a book, and coming soon a movie! Though I absolutely adore Terry Pratchett's work and recognize his absolute brilliance, I must be forced to say that Douglas Adams' work is my personal favorite. I mean, who else could kill you off (essentially that's what he did when he destroyed Earth to make way for the hyperspace bypass) and still make you love the book? Although I concede that Terry Prachett is still alive and that is sort of a one up over Adams, but I don't see why his being alive makes his work any better.

Discworld has had numerous adaptations as well. :)
9 books adapted for the stage (some of which have been even been performed in Antarctica, apparantly)
2 animated TV adaptaions
several BBC radio adaptations
2 RPGs
5 computer games
a boardgame
and a cardgame

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld#Adaptations

Terry Pratchett is better in my opinion.
Since first reading his books a few years ago, i have read all of his discworld novels at least once, and in most cases 3-6 times, and no matter how many times I read them, they cause me to go into fits of laughter the whole way through, each and every time.
Movies has nothing to do with it, since Pratchett has sold more books than Rowling, yet Warner Bros makes a movie out of each of her books.

DA rules, so long an thanks for all the fish!

Personally I prefer the humour in Pratchett's books, but Douglas Adams is a good author too (just out of curiosity, has he written anything other than Hitchiker?)

I dont think so, hes also dead, so his writing days are gorrrrrrrrrrn.

i liked adams, but pratcett is far funnier in my opinion.
:headbang: :sniper:

There are two literary geniuses for who I reserve the utmost respect for: Shakespeare and DNA.

What kind of sick twisted person would try and make people choose.

CAN YOU NOT LEAVE GREATNESS ALONE? I refuse to answer the poll.



Yes! thats what i should of wrote.

BTW are u fimbles as in those teletubbie wannabes?

Two words: Robert Rankin. I think any fans of Pratchett or Douglas should read his books. Very intelligent and funny stories.

Two words: Robert Rankin. I think any fans of Pratchett or Douglas should read his books. Very intelligent and funny stories.
Yay :fluffle:

I love that guy. A bit more surreal then the other two imo (nb: I don't see that as a bad thing). Unfortunately I haven't managed to read any of his more recent books :(

Two words: Robert Rankin. I think any fans of Pratchett or Douglas should read his books. Very intelligent and funny stories.

Evil EVIL Robert Rankin!!

Evil EVIL Robert Rankin!!
Heretic!

I bet you don't even like sprouts :p

Guess I should look up this diskworld thing. Till then I abstane.

I haven't read the Discworld books, so I'm going to have to say Adams. That book (and probably the poetry module) were the only things that saved me from going insane in English (which is quite ironic considering the nature of the book). Everyone else in the class was confused by it.

Then again we were studying the text in the context of travel, so that's just as illogical as the books itself (one would think you'd study it as a text in detail due to its unusual nature. But then the NSW Government has made many illogical decisions (such as closing a perfectly useful rail line), so I guess it's perfectly logical that the NSW Board of Studies has set some very unusual texts in the past.

I'm definitely going to look up this Discworld thing, though, sounds right up my alley.

Put a "both" option up, please! You're tearin' me apart!

Evil EVIL Robert Rankin!!

How dare you say that! I shall tell Hugo Rune, Eighth Level Dan Master of the Ancient Art of Dimac and he shall deal swiftly with you.

Personally I prefer the humour in Pratchett's books, but Douglas Adams is a good author too (just out of curiosity, has he written anything other than Hitchiker?)

Yep. The Dirk Gently books and Last Chance to See (both of which were mentioned above ;)).

How dare you say that! I shall tell Hugo Rune, Eighth Level Dan Master of the Ancient Art of Dimac and he shall deal swiftly with you.

I'm sorry but he is, true true evil

Heretic!

I bet you don't even like sprouts :p

as in brussel sprouts....nah don't like them, love them!!

Personally I prefer the humour in Pratchett's books, but Douglas Adams is a good author too (just out of curiosity, has he written anything other than Hitchiker?)Post #28, meet posts number 6, 12, 14, 21, & 24. I hope you can learn to be good friends.

Which universe - they're both the same one, just the Discworld is on the far end of the reality curve. [/pedantry]. I think the H2G2 universe for me.
Golgafrincham or A-M - before or after the 15 million social wasters were forced off the former? Probably Golgafrincham anyway actually...
Death or Marvin - Death.
Magical trunk or tea-making computer - magical trunk. If you want tea, the Luggage could probably open its lid and be full of tea.
Turtle or Mice - the mice.
Better author - neither. They're both great.

To those who like Robert Rankin, you should read Tom Holt as well. Unless you already do, in which case, yay you!

How many times would we have to figure out both the answer and the question before the universe got as weird and inexplicable as discworld?

Whose universe would you like to be in?

Discworld. It would be nice to have things work the way they're supposed to instead of the way they do.

Where would you prefer to go for a holiday - Golgafrincham or Ankh-Morpork?

Ankh-Morpork- 'cos... um, you know... the young ladies? Plus it sounds just like a combination of NYC and London.

Who would be your ideal travelling companion - Death or Marvin?

Death, oddly he's much less morose, and knows where to find a good curry.

What's more useful - a magical trunk or a computer that knows how to make a decent cup of tea?

The magical trunk that knows how to find you anywhere and will eat anyone who threatens you. Obviously.

And a simple one - giant turtle or pan-dimensional mice.

The turtle could save it's world from almost omnipotent cosmic accountants armed with comets, the mice couldn't even save their supercomputer from bad poets with a space demolition ball.

I vote Douglas Adams! Not only do I love HHGTG, but Starship Titanic is one of the funniest computer games I've ever played. :)

Terry Pratchett.

Everyone one of his books that I've read I've enjoyed a lot more than the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I like my entertainment with anthropomorphic personifications thanks. And aggressive traveling cases. And wizzards.

I vote Douglas Adams! Not only do I love HHGTG, but Starship Titanic is one of the funniest computer games I've ever played. :)

Can you get that for Mac?

Can you get that for Mac?

Indeed, DNA was a great Mac fan (although it being old now I suspect it would be very hard to find, though you could try Ebay)

Indeed, DNA was a great Mac fan (although it being old now I suspect it would be very hard to find, though you could try Ebay)

Damn, that involves money. ;)

Pratchett really bores me... as a matter of fact I fell asleep trying to read one of his books, and I can't even remember the title of that book. So my vote goes to the very funny and dead Douglas Adams.

I'm sorry but he is, true true evil

Any reason why you say that?

Nooo... you can't make me choose, i won't... :(

Adams, simly because the adaption to television is better than the discworld one.

Difficult one to call.

Adams wrote one of the top ten greatest modern books. And two of the top hundred. (The Dirk Gently books)

Pratchett hasn't written anything that would be good enough to put in my top ten, but a large number of his books (Good Omens, Night Watch, Lords And Ladies, Jingo) would happily sit in my top hundred.

For sheer volume of work Pratchett just edges it for me.

But damn you for making me choose!!

Douglas Adams all the way.
'Just as discretion is the best part of valour, cowardice is the best part od discretion. Zaphod valiantly hid in a cuboard.' I laugh every time i read that, and the dozens of other hilarious bits in his books.

I'm cruel at making you choose arn't I... anyway.

Magicians have calculated that million to one chances happen 9 times out of 10.-Mort

Any reason why you say that?

Because he is. ;)

Bump

TP by far.
He has a whole 1% of the UK book market to himself....quite an achievement:D

TP by far.
He has a whole 1% of the UK book market to himself....quite an achievement:D
I'd say more than that. :)

i have only just started reading the witches trilligy and it is great. i read durk gently which was good but pratchet it better.

post 58 said that milion to one chaces happen nine out of ten times (or somthing similar but thats in equal rites not mort, is 58 wrong or prachet repeating himself.

N.B. pratchets similies and metophors are inspired brilliance.

post 58 said that milion to one chaces happen nine out of ten times (or somthing similar but thats in equal rites not mort, is 58 wrong or prachet repeating himself.

He's not so much repeating himself, it's just one of many running jokes in the books - it forms a major part of the ending of Guards Guards, for example.