Hi!
I thought we'd make a thread where we collect, and, if possible, try to explain - both in Discworld terms and in real-life terms - all inconsistencies in the books that we can possibly think of. This is not an attempt to criticize Pratchett, not at all, but rather a way to try to expand the understanding of his wonderful universe for all of us.
First, I'll try and make an explanation for Discworld inconsistencies in general. When Terry started the series, it wasn't as in the cases of J.K.Rowling and the Harry Potter books, or J.R.R. Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings, where the authors had an idea of what the whole series would look like, from beginning to end. Rather, Terry started to write one book, then the next, and the next, and so on, and eventually started to feel that the books would be better if he changed some things in some ways. And by that time, it was to late to go back and change what was written in the older books.
Anyway, here's an inconsistency: The river Ankh.
In the early books, it's an actual river, with water in it. Boats go in and out of it, and when there's a major fire, the gates to the river are closed so the river can flood the city and put the fire out.
In the later books, the river is so full of mud you can walk on it and leave footprints that last for days.
How can one explain this? Well, I don't know how much time elapses from The Colour of Magic to, i.e., Feet of Clay, but it's possible that in that time, the environment changes so that a lot of mud clogs up the river.
Ok, your turn!
I thought we'd make a thread where we collect, and, if possible, try to explain - both in Discworld terms and in real-life terms - all inconsistencies in the books that we can possibly think of. This is not an attempt to criticize Pratchett, not at all, but rather a way to try to expand the understanding of his wonderful universe for all of us.
First, I'll try and make an explanation for Discworld inconsistencies in general. When Terry started the series, it wasn't as in the cases of J.K.Rowling and the Harry Potter books, or J.R.R. Tolkien and the Lord of the Rings, where the authors had an idea of what the whole series would look like, from beginning to end. Rather, Terry started to write one book, then the next, and the next, and so on, and eventually started to feel that the books would be better if he changed some things in some ways. And by that time, it was to late to go back and change what was written in the older books.
Anyway, here's an inconsistency: The river Ankh.
In the early books, it's an actual river, with water in it. Boats go in and out of it, and when there's a major fire, the gates to the river are closed so the river can flood the city and put the fire out.
In the later books, the river is so full of mud you can walk on it and leave footprints that last for days.
How can one explain this? Well, I don't know how much time elapses from The Colour of Magic to, i.e., Feet of Clay, but it's possible that in that time, the environment changes so that a lot of mud clogs up the river.
Ok, your turn!
