Carpe Jugulum Discussion *spoilers*

[LilMaibe]

CMN, please, refrain from even hinting -this and that book is 'stealing' from that and that other.
Twilight is a badly written heap of cliches, cliches Pratchett mocks.

[Tonyblack]

I think it's a fair comment though. Terry has taken all the vampire cliches that we know and put them into this book. We all know that vampires can't stand sunlight, holy water, garlic, holy symbols etc. Terry has actually made vampires ever scarier than the vampires we know from books and films, because these ones are not only breaking with tradition, they are also justifying the horrors that they commit.

As I said, just about any book or film about vampires will have at least some base in vampire mythology. Twilight isn't so much copying ideas from Terry as tapping into the vampire myth, which coincidentally Terry is doing too.

In a way, this book is rather like The Last Continent in that it draws on what everyone knows about vampires or, in the case of TLC, Australia.

[Cool Middle Name]

Hey, just stating what came up in my mind.

I used to love reading Smeyer books.

Then I read Unseen Academicals.

[Cool Middle Name]

...In a way, this book is rather like The Last Continent in that it draws on what everyone knows about vampires or, in the case of TLC, Australia.

Which makes Ponder Stibbons' tutoring of Invisible Writings legible.
Yes, this comment makes an excellent point - I have not read any other vampire books apart from these two, and they both undermine the weaknesses of Vampires, but in different views and methods. Not all vampires can be stabbed in the heart, but we may just end up with another Carrot equivalent - a vampire that has a normal human diet. In fact I am expecting this from terry.

[Tonyblack]

That's been done - Count Duckula, the vegetarian vampire.

[LilMaibe]

Hey, just stating what came up in my mind.

I used to love reading Smeyer books.

Then I read Unseen Academicals.

And the price for the oddest statement goes too...
ad hey, at least soemthig UA is good for *dodges*)

As for the -don't mention stealing-
What I meant is that to some people such simple statements are fuel to the fire Dx
(Luckily none of those folsk are on this board. Which is great )

[Cool Middle Name]

That's been done - Count Duckula, the vegetarian vampire.

Weren't McDonalds' doing a Happy Meal with this lot several years ago? I remember winning something like him on my seventh birthday party there... :s

[Tonyblack]

Could be. I suspect that MacDonald's wouldn't see the irony of having a free vampire vegetarian duck in their happy meals.

[Cool Middle Name]

Jeff, I’m afraid that I must disagree with your initial premise, that Terry uses deux ex machina(s) in either Lords & Ladies or, more importantly in Carpe Jugulum. I’ll leave my discussion of L&L and why I think it’s much weaker than CJ til we get to L&L, and go directly to what I think is what is really going on in CJ.

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Where I have a problem with this book is with what follows – what it says about Granny and Oates, and to a lesser extent about the other witches, but I’ll save that for another post.

What's wrong with posting now? It's not like some big secret or something?

[Tonyblack]

When we decided to do these discussions we decided to avoid spoilers for other books. If you have read the book we are discussing, that's fine because reading this thread won't spoil any of the plot. But if you are reading this discussion on Carpe Jugulum and haven't read Lords & Ladies, and someone posts a major plot detail for that book, then it is likely to spoil your enjoyment.

[hattie]

There was some cartoon on television when I was about 12 called Die Ketchup Vampire. It was about vampires living solely off ketchup...another vegetarian option.

[ChristianBecker]

Oh, I had forgotten about those.
I think I didn't like the series much... but I'm not sure.

[jackiew]

Just to let you know that Leytonstone based theatre group the Woodhouse Players are presenting Carpe Jugulum in November. 4/5 and 11/12. See www.woodhouseplayers.co.uk for full details. It would be great to see you there.

[KamexKoopa]

This was the first Witches book I read, and I remember at the time wishing I'd read the others first, so Magrat being Queen and not third witch etc would have more significance. However, I looove Carpe Jugulum The copy I have was my mother's, who borrowed it from Dave Hodges(arghh), who'd gotten it signed

But a vampire who is fascinated with a girl whose mind he can't read? I wonder if Stephanie Meyers read this at some point!

[raptornx01]

I've said before watching Twilight was like watching a parody in reverse. so much of that reminded me of this book. Agnes being a fat bella. The good looking but obsessive teen vamp. the weird, creepy vamp sister. the controlling vamp father. the whole idea of reformed vamps.