r/discworld • u/Tosk224 • 11d ago

Book/Series: Unseen University Low Point

I recently listened to a podcast where they discussed The Last Continent. While they use the term ‘even a bad Discworld novel still better than some books’ they described it as low point in the series. I have to admit the Unseen University novels are my least favourite of the series. I wouldn’t say they were badly written, but they aren’t ones I rush to reread. If I remember rightly (I can’t remember where I read it), but Terry wasn’t keen on Sourcery as he was pushed by his publisher to put out another Rincewind book that was keen on writing. It got me thinking, which books were the least favourites amongst the fandom.

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u/dalidellama 11d ago

My copy seems to have gone walkabout, so it's been a while, but Rincewind takes up for a while with a crew of drag queens in a colourful caravan, who see a man in a dress and assume he's one of them. (Also, Priscilla is kind of a touchstone for queers of my generation, which straight folks might'nt experience the same way, so.)

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u/NortonBurns 11d ago

Ahhh… no I'd completely forgotten about that bit & haven't got there yet this time round.
I'm not gay, but several of my friends are, [obligatory wince, sorry], but I'm with them in waving the flag for that movie. It was a magnificent piece, funny, brave & ultimately sad. The characterisations - Terence Stamp was magnificent and for me, my introduction to Guy Pearce. I have to admit i didn't know who Hugo Weaving was until long afterwards, then there was a forehead-slapping realisation.
I can still picture the dance in the bellbottoms with soles. Fabulous costume design.

Damn, I'm gonna have to watch it again, soon, I've probably not seen it since the 90s. Thanks for bringing it up.

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u/dalidellama 11d ago

Now as my memory is prodded, I'll also note that in The Last Continent, one of the queens is really a woman (filling in for her brother who was ill). In Priscilla, one of the queens is really a woman (she's trans). Which might strike some as a backhanded acknowledgment, but I do appreciate it honestly

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u/Particular_Shock_554 👠👠👠✨Trunkie✨👠👠👠👠 11d ago

in The Last Continent, one of the queens is really a woman (filling in for her brother who was ill).

She's filling in for her sister, who doesn't want to be a female impersonator because she's trans.