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Only You Can Save Mankind
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A brilliant read
- By John Crowhurst on 26-07-17
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Brilliant, unique story. Not all that long.
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Fantastic book, well read
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Fantastic!
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Very enjoyable
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Strata - where DiscWorld probably began
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Johnny and the Dead
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A brilliant read
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Johnny and the Bomb
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Johnny Maxwell and his friends have to do something when they find Mrs Tachyon, the local bag lady, semi-conscious in an alley...as long as it's not the kiss of life. But there's more to Mrs Tachyon than a squeaky trolley and a bunch of dubious black bags. Somehow she holds the key to different times, different ears: including the Blackbury Blitz in 1941. Suddenly, now isn't the safe place Johnny once thought it was as he finds himself caught up more and more with then.
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Brilliant, unique story. Not all that long.
- By Bob Twain on 02-01-17
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Somewhere in a place so far up that there is no down, a ship is waiting to take the nomes home, back to wherever they came from. And one nome, Masklin, knows that they've got to try and contact the ship.
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Fantastic book, well read
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Fantastic!
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A bright new dawn is just around the corner for thousands of tiny nomes when they move into the ruined buildings of an abandoned quarry. Or is it?
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Very enjoyable
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Strata
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The Company builds planets. Kin Arad is a high-ranking official of the Company. After 21 decades of living, and with the help of memory surgery, she is at the top of her profession. Discovering two of her employees have placed a fossilised plesiosaur in the wrong stratum, not to mention the fact it is holding a placard that reads "End Nuclear Testing Now", doesn't dismay the woman who built a mountain range in the shape of her initials during her own high-spirited youth.
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Strata - where DiscWorld probably began
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Truckers
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To the thousands of tiny nomes who live under the floorboards of a large department store, there is no outside. Things like day and night, sun and rain are just daft old legends. Then a devastating piece of news shatters their existence: the Store, their whole world, is to be demolished.
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Made me smile from start to finish
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Dragons at Crumbling Castle
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Dragons have invaded Crumbling Castle, and all of King Arthur’s knights are either on holiday or visiting their grannies. It’s a disaster! Luckily, there’s a spare suit of armour and a very small boy called Ralph who’s willing to fill it. Together with Fortnight the Friday knight and Fossfiddle the wizard, Ralph sets out to defeat the fearsome fire-breathers. But there's a teeny weeny surprise in store.
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Great fun
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Dodger
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Dodger is a tosher – a sewer scavenger living in the squalor of Dickensian London. Everyone who is nobody knows Dodger. Anyone who is anybody doesn’t.But when he rescues a young girl from a beating, suddenly everybody wants to know him.And Dodger’s tale of skulduggery, dark plans and even darker deeds begins.
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What's not to love
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Nation
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Finding himself alone on a desert island when everything and everyone he knows and loved has been washed away in a huge storm, Mau is the last surviving member of his nation. He's also completely alone - or so he thinks until he finds the ghost girl. She has no toes, wears strange lacy trousers like the grandfather bird and gives him a stick which can make fire. Daphne, sole survivor of the wreck of the Sweet Judy, almost immediately regrets trying to shoot the native boy.
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Amusing
- By Robyn on 09-11-16
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The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner
- And Other Stories
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Poor Mr. Swimble is having a bad day. Rabbits are bouncing out of his hat, pigeons are flying out of his jacket and every time he points his finger, something magically appears - cheese sandwiches, socks...even a small yellow elephant on wheels! It's becoming a real nuisance - and he's allergic to rabbits. His friends at the Magic Rectangle can't help, but the mysterious vacuum cleaner he saw that morning may have something to do with it....
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Turn your kids on to the world of Terry Prattchet
- By Mister B on 30-08-16
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Mrs Bradshaw's Handbook
- By: Terry Pratchett
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- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Authorised by Mr Lipwig of the Ankh-Morpork and Sto Plains Hygienic Railway himself, Mrs Georgina Bradshaw’s invaluable guide to the destinations and diversions of the railway deserves a place in the luggage of any traveller, or indeed armchair traveller, upon the Disc.
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A Whistle-Stop Farwell to the Discworld
- By Jonathan on 05-12-15
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The Colour of Magic
- Discworld 1
- By: Terry Pratchett
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- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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The Colour of Magic, the first novel in Terry Pratchett's wildly imaginative Discworld series, takes the listener on a remarkable journey. The magical planet of Discworld is supported by four massive elephants who stand on the back of the Great A'Tuin, a giant turtle swimming slowly through the mysterious interstellar gulf. An eccentric expedition sets out to explore the planet, encountering dragons who only exist if you believe in them, and, of course, "The Edge" of the planet.
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Audio - white noise
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Father Christmas's Fake Beard
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Random House presents the audiobook edition of Father Christmas's Fake Beard by Terry Pratchett, read by Julian Rhind-Tutt. Have you ever wanted Christmas to be different? Turkey and carols, presents and crackers - they all start to feel a bit...samey. How about a huge exploding mince pie, a pet abominable snowman, or a very helpful partridge in a pear tree? What if Father Christmas went to work at a zoo, or caused chaos in a toy store, or was even arrested for burglary!
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Wow
- By Stuart on 11-06-18
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The Science of Discworld
- Revised Edition
- By: Terry Pratchett, Ian Stewart, Jack Cohen
- Narrated by: Stephen Briggs, Michael Fenton Stevens
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In the 'fantasy' universe of the phenomenally bestselling Discworld series, everything runs on magic and common sense. The world is flat and million-to-one chances happen nine times out of ten. Our world seems different - it runs on rules, often rather strange ones. Science is our way of finding out what those rules are. The appeal of Discworld is that it mostly makes sense, in a way that particle physics does not.
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Science and The Short Story
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Unseen Academicals
- An Audible Original Drama
- By: Terry Pratchett
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Football has come to the ancient city of Ankh-Morpork - not the old fashioned, grubby pushing and shoving but the new, fast football with pointy hats for goalposts and balls that go gloing when you drop them. And now, the wizards of Unseen University must win a football match, without using magic, so they're in the mood for trying everything else. The prospect of the Big Match draws in a street urchin with a wonderful talent for kicking a tin can, a maker of jolly good pies, a dim but beautiful young woman who might just turn out to be the greatest fashion model there has ever been, and the mysterious Mr Nutt.
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Terrible adaptation of a wonderful book
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Terry Pratchett: BBC Radio Drama Collection
- Seven BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisations
- By: Terry Pratchett
- Narrated by: Martin Jarvis, Sheila Hancock, Anton Lesser, and others
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Original Recording
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Somewhere on the frontier between thought and reality exists the Discworld, a parallel time and place which might sound and smell very much like our own, but which looks completely different.... Collected together for the first time are seven full-cast BBC Radio dramatisations of Terry Pratchett’s novels, with star-studded casts including Martin Jarvis, Sheila Hancock, Anton Lesser, Philip Jackson, Alex Jennings and Mark Heap.
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Excellent radioplay renditions of Pratchett's work
- By Amazon Customer on 02-11-18
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The World of Poo
- By: Terry Pratchett
- Narrated by: Helen Atkinson-Wood
- Length: 2 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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From Snuff: "Vimes looked at the cover. The title was The World of Poo. When his wife was out of eyeshot he carefully leafed through it. Well, okay, you had to accept that the world had moved on and these days’ fairy stories were probably not going to be about twinkly little things with wings. As he turned page after page, it dawned on him that whomever had written this book, they certainly knew what would make kids like Young Sam laugh until they were nearly sick. The bit about sailing down the river almost made him smile.
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Excellent
- By J. M. Braines on 08-09-17
Summary
As the mighty alien fleet from the very latest computer game thunders across the computer screen, Johnny prepares to blow them into the usual million pieces. And they send him a message: We surrender. They're not supposed to do that! They're supposed to die. And computer joysticks don't have 'Don't Fire' buttons. But it's only a game... isn't it. Isn't it?
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- Miss Alison Shipley
- Sunderland UK
- 31-05-15
Fun and enjoyable
I love this book, like every other Pratchett book before and after it, all though it's not set on the disc it's still well written and the plot is interestingly enjoyable.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful
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- A L Bishop
- 02-01-19
Superb!
We and our 7 year old twins loved this. Excellent narration. There are a few minor swear words from one character, but nothing too serious. It does cover some serious topics, like car theft by children who are then in a crash and parents splitting up, but in a sensitive way; the main topics are war and when/ whether fighting is appropriate and acceptable, plus lots about race and gender equality and friendship. It's all cleverly woven into a fun story about entering a computer game and becoming a hero.
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Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 03-07-18
Not great would not recommend it
It was ok but i was a bit bored because the story moves very slowly
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- Anonymous User
- 21-12-17
Johnny is amazing
It is exiting and it is weird because there is alians and stuf it is so sad that terry pratchett is dead yes R.I.P terry
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- Amazon Customer
- 21-06-12
Another Terry Pratchett delight
I always enjoy Terry Pratchett so it is no surprise that I enjoyed this one very much. I love how his thought process turns things sideways. My only complaint was the length - too short! Share this with your video games obsessed teenagers. :)
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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- kristina
- 26-03-12
Toy story for the digital age!
What did you love best about Only You Can Save Mankind?
This story does for digital gaming what Woody and Buzz Lightyear did for toys. It is a real mind bender to think that the things that are killed in video games are really dying some where. Do we take killing too much for granted in the electronic age???.
What about Richard Mitchley’s performance did you like?
His voice made listening easy and did not detract from the story.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
yes.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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- JonnyB
- 25-05-18
Almost as if he knew, even then.
weird to hear a bit of the gulf war news from the British teen perspective, and from years in the past, same for games, especially considering how current gaming is actually approaching this level
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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- Phred TE
- 15-07-18
Awesome real world book
I figured this would be about video games, but it’s a head-fake. It’s really about how people need to get along and that sometimes you have to lose to win. The narrator was very good, the voices were well done and it was very easy to understand.
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- Got My Book
- 05-11-16
What is Real?
A fun little MG Paranormal SF that may require some explanation of history.
BOOK DETAILS:
Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett, read by Richard Mitchley, published by Random House Audio (2011) / Length: 4 hrs 11 min (this is the Unabridged version)
SERIES INFO:
This is Book #1 of the "Johnny Maxwell" trilogy. All of them are available on audio.
SUMMARY:
Like most Pratchett book, this one is a pleasure to read for people who love interesting characters.
Note: It takes place during the first Gulf War; so you might need to explain who "Stormin' Norman" is, and other such things, to children who are going to read it. It isn't absolutely necessary though. The book has some interesting commentary on how the war is just another "show" to kids who have grown up with lots of different screens in their lives, and yet they can't help but be affected by it.
CHARACTERS:
Johnny: On the surface, he's an absolutely normal tween kid in a home that is breaking up. And yet this is just the first of the weird things that end up happening to him. He isn't sure if he's crazy or this is real, or even what "real" is. I think his character can be summed up by the fact that he's the only one who listened and was willing to answer.
Kirsty: She's used to being the best at everything she does. But she also expects things to be the way they "should" be. Her character can be summed up by saying that Sigourney Weaver is her hero.
There is a fun cast of quirky supporting characters that includes Johnny's 3 best friends (this is definitely the "left-overs" clique) and the Scree Wee captain.
WORLDBUILDING:
This is Gulf War era small-town England. And it is video game space ship interiors. One of the best bits of worldbuilding is the way Johnny's fighter comes with all sorts of smells, sounds, and tastes he didn't expect when he is "in" the game. Real life (even a virtual version) just has so many additional dimensions.
PLOT:
It starts with Johnny having died 6 times already (and it isn't even 5 o'clock). I was pulled right in by him, his likeable ordinariness, and the baffling situation he now finds himself in.
Although there are 3 books in this series, they are each completely separate adventures. The ending wraps up everything with a typically quirky (and entirely satisfactory) detail.
HIGHLIGHTS / CAUTIONS:
--The food delivery run (and the alien's way of describing human foods)
--The changes that take place inside the game world once Kirsty enters.
I COULD HAVE DONE WITHOUT: The game pirating (enabled by a father who copies the instruction manual at work) / Parents who try to be "friends," but don't make sure that their children have clean clothes and something to eat. / A couple of small vulgarities
OTHER CAUTIONS(?): Johnny & his friends sometimes do each others homework. / Big Mac is a self-proclaimed skin-head, but one of his best friends is black (sorry, I don't know the British equivalent of African American), and he spends a night in their home with no problems. I think it is all part of his effort to look tough to the people in his bad area of town.
NARRATION:
Character voices differentiated = Yes. The captain's voice sometimes approached irritating. But I think he did an excellent job with Kirsty "actually." / Opposite sex voices acceptable = Yes / Accents = Mid-Atlantic? Sound good to me / Phrasing, Pacing & Pronunciation = Good / Emoting = Good / Speed = listened on 1.25, my usual
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- LineMo
- 23-09-16
The best anti hero.
Terry Pratchet was a master at telling stories.
Johnny is my favorit anti hero.
Great story.
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- Mikey
- 10-04-15
If not me, then who else?
Loved the book. I'd listen to it over and over again. I recommend this book to whoever likes video games and a good story.
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- Kylie
- 08-01-15
Great story and excellent narration
Terry Pratchett's kids books are always funny, well written and with a gorgeous message. The Johnny Maxwell stories are a wonderful mix of poignant and hilarious, and always worth a listen. Highly recommended!
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- Alex
- 27-08-12
Another Excellent Pratchett Delivery!
What did you love best about Only You Can Save Mankind?
Terry Pratchett's humor
Who was your favorite character and why?
The ScreeWee Captain. I love her rationality and her alien sarcasm.
Which scene was your favorite?
I feel that my favorite scene would be a spoiler, but it involves perception changing depending on the pre-disposition of the player.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
If not you, who else?
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- Charmaine
- 12-04-11
Lots of fun.
This one was enjoyed by myself and my 13yr old daughter. Lots of humour and pace.