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Right, I have just started sourcery again with the unabridged version as im only half way through that one, and I'll go back to the start after, thanks for the advice!
Nah, go through the rest of the books, then go back to start again. You won't have missed anything crucial to following stories, and this way the re-run won't feel quite so samey.
I mean I agree, but also there’s no reason to stop immediately when you’re already in the middle of a book you’re enjoying. Let them finish sourcery and they can go back after.
I think they were saying to continue the series from wherever they are at then start from square one after finishing them all. After all, how many people talk about catching things on their 5th reread?
Tony Robinson did abridged audio versions for all the books. They're around a third to half the length of the full versions. They were started back in the days when there was some benefit to being able to carry the compete story on a couple of cassettes.
Yeah, I made the mistake of grabbing the abridged version of small gods... I knew something wasn't right. The story didn't seem to flow from one page to the next. I just delete the book and grabbed the unabridged version and started over. I've now gone through all TP's audiobooks three times.
When I first started on audio books in the early 90's, they were usually 1-2 cassettes. The spendy ones were up to four! Within a couple of years, you could get unabridged versions. Cassettes were still the norm up until mp3 players filled the market enough to shift over to CDs.
I have audio books that I bought in both levels of abridgment and unabridged.
This was Pratchett's view. The narrator, Tony Robinson, thought he hated him, but it was just that when they abridged them 'they took out all the funny bits'.
I get why Pterry would dislike getting abridged. I'd hate having my name on published texts that had changes made without my explicit and specific consent.
The abridged audiobooks are less than half the length of the full ones, I think – you've definitely been cheated!
Like [this person](https://www.reddit.com/r/discworld/s/iRGYhlaNLu) found out that the real Small Gods is over 9 hours... Their version was *3 hours!*
I really wanted to like the new versions, but I tried several and couldn't take to them. Not sure how to explain the issue I had. Too much acting maybe for me.
Don't sweat it. You will go back and re-read (or re-listen to) all of the books eventually anyway. The stories in each book are wonderful, and then there are storylines and characters that span multiple books, so you will go back and read them all again and again and again.
Each time you will catch new things or find parallels with other books that you didn't notice at first... Discworld holds up over multiple reads. Don't worry about missing anything or reading them out of order or anything... you'll be back again. Many times!
I've basically just made peace with the fact that I'll be listening to discworld audiobooks while doing chores/trying to sleep for the rest of my life.
My attention span really isn't made for audiobooks so I constantly miss stuff anyway
I did the same but as I liked the older ones I was actually ok until I got tricked by Eric being short irl so the next one I assumed was also short and it turned out it was abridged! I think most of them have a full audio book version! I’m planning to do them all again once I finish to pick up on Easter eggs so maybe you can do the same :)
Go back and just listen to the real audiobooks, or go buy the actual books. It is well worth it to have physical copies as discworld is a series that you can revisit again and again and gain something new each time. Terry was a genius and has jokes that take a while to sink in, some of which won't make sense unless you actually do a little digging or stumble across it in the "wild" of real life.
Oh, you can either start again, or continue with the next one unabridged - you've certainly missed out, but the nice thing about discworld is you can start (almost) anywhere and enjoy it. And if you're like me and the other nuts on here, you'll do a relisten sometime after you've finished the series anyway 😂
I'd say carry on from where you are with the full versions. With Wyrd Sisters and Guards! Guards! in the next few books Pratchett is really starting to hit his stride. If you want you can always go back and redo the first few later.
You haven't been cheated... you've been given bonus Discworld material for the future.
Well apparently Terry himself said of those versions that "they took out all the funny bits". So don't listen to us, listen to him - time to start over.
I listened to dramatized versions of one of the witch books. Ruined. Got nothing out of it and the dramatization was very...old fashioned...? Idk but was super difficult to follow and listen to. Go back and get the full story!
You know, I started out writing this whole big post on Pratchett's thoughts on "abridged" versions of his work, but, simply... YES, you've been cheated. Start over.
No no, don’t start over if you’re enjoying it; listen to the whole series abridged, and then, when you get the itch to start again, come back and hear loads of lovely details and jokes you’ve never heard before. Stretch out that sense of something new, because sadly there’s a finite amount of it.
I can't comment on the abridged versions as I've never tried them.
Obviously start again if you have the time, money and inclination - and obviously most hardcore fans here will say that, because why wouldn't you want the full versions?! But that might not be the best solution for you.
Maybe it's worth listening to two of the books you've already listened to in full-length - one that you loved and one that you were less enamoured by. That might be a good way of working out if you want to start from the beginning with the full versions or just pick up where you left off.
Cassettes! When everything was physical it made more sense to have something that fitted onto a single cassette rather than have to lug around a half dozen.
I was literally just about to ask why the Tony Robinson version was 4 hours while the Sian Clifford was 11 hours. Wasted £14 on two abridged audiobooks 👍
Tony Robinson versions are never a waste! I used to love his narration as a kid, I sometimes still like to put his version of small gods on (when i can get the old cassette player to work)
Firstly welcome :)
Secondly, you have absolutely been cheated. As others will have said, do yourself a favour and go back. It will absolutely be worth it to hear them as they were written.
There may be books that would suffer more from being abridged but I can't think of any right now.
Of the older audiobooks my preference is for Stephen Briggs but lots of other people live the Nigel Planer versions.
Of the newer ones, I think Indira Varma and Sian Clifford do a great job.
It's a very welcoming forum so feel free to let us know what you think / ask questions and so forth.
I have reread DW books over 10 times and still found things I was missing. They are the gift that keeps on giving so don't ever think you are the only one missing things.
It will work itself out. I have all the books, in various states of tatty (even a lot that have been dropped in the bath 😂). A few of the cassettes, and now working through the Audio books. I love Tony Robinson, but do not like abridged versions. I bought them because as someone said earlier, they were all you could get at the time. I then got the ones read by Stephen Briggs. I love those too. Penguin then started a project to re-record all books, using the same actors for the characters. This was, according to the guy responsible for the project, so that actors coming to the characters in any future projects or work would have a template and understand that Carrot, for example has a Welsh accent, as do many other dwarfs - Welsh, miners. I'm slowly getting used to those. STP's work was so incredible and sometimes quite subtle. Again, as someone said earlier, how many times have you heard someone say they missed something in the first reads of a book, they picked up later? This is one reason why they stand up to being re-read so many times. The man was a genius, and I still miss him. Enjoy in whatever format 😊
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Yes start again The story itself will make sense but you will miss sooooo much
Right, I have just started sourcery again with the unabridged version as im only half way through that one, and I'll go back to the start after, thanks for the advice!
Nah, go through the rest of the books, then go back to start again. You won't have missed anything crucial to following stories, and this way the re-run won't feel quite so samey.
I mean I agree, but also there’s no reason to stop immediately when you’re already in the middle of a book you’re enjoying. Let them finish sourcery and they can go back after.
I think they were saying to continue the series from wherever they are at then start from square one after finishing them all. After all, how many people talk about catching things on their 5th reread?
Oh, fair enough. Read quickly
Yep! It was in response to this bit: >and I'll go back to the start [presumably *Colour of Magic*] after Not about restarting Sourcery.
I’ve been careful to avoid them, so no ideas what is cut. From the half of sourcery so far what is the biggest thing you’ve noticed that was cut?
There are abridged versions?! Why would anyone do that? It's not frikkin Moby Dick. Yes, it's worth starting over.
Tony Robinson did abridged audio versions for all the books. They're around a third to half the length of the full versions. They were started back in the days when there was some benefit to being able to carry the compete story on a couple of cassettes.
Ah, OK, I can understand the reasoning now. Thanks
Yeah, I made the mistake of grabbing the abridged version of small gods... I knew something wasn't right. The story didn't seem to flow from one page to the next. I just delete the book and grabbed the unabridged version and started over. I've now gone through all TP's audiobooks three times.
When I first started on audio books in the early 90's, they were usually 1-2 cassettes. The spendy ones were up to four! Within a couple of years, you could get unabridged versions. Cassettes were still the norm up until mp3 players filled the market enough to shift over to CDs. I have audio books that I bought in both levels of abridgment and unabridged.
So thankful for being in the digital era. I have 80 Terry Pratchett audiobooks in my collection!
Cassettes :')
This was Pratchett's view. The narrator, Tony Robinson, thought he hated him, but it was just that when they abridged them 'they took out all the funny bits'.
They’re *all* funny bits!
"*The Colour of Magic* by Terry Pratchett. The End."
I get why Pterry would dislike getting abridged. I'd hate having my name on published texts that had changes made without my explicit and specific consent.
I think I heard him say once that was also why he didn’t want films made, and they instead made the longer miniseries(es?) for sky
The abridged audiobooks are less than half the length of the full ones, I think – you've definitely been cheated! Like [this person](https://www.reddit.com/r/discworld/s/iRGYhlaNLu) found out that the real Small Gods is over 9 hours... Their version was *3 hours!*
*Smaller Gods
Magnificent. Take my upvote.
Brilliant! I´m still LOL!
The more recent version of Small Gods read by Andy Serkis was fucking great.
I really wanted to like the new versions, but I tried several and couldn't take to them. Not sure how to explain the issue I had. Too much acting maybe for me.
Whhaaattt
I’d say it probably would be worth starting again, or at least redoing a couple. Or going back and relistening after you’re done.
yes, definitely start again. you *have* been robbed :)
Don't sweat it. You will go back and re-read (or re-listen to) all of the books eventually anyway. The stories in each book are wonderful, and then there are storylines and characters that span multiple books, so you will go back and read them all again and again and again. Each time you will catch new things or find parallels with other books that you didn't notice at first... Discworld holds up over multiple reads. Don't worry about missing anything or reading them out of order or anything... you'll be back again. Many times!
I've basically just made peace with the fact that I'll be listening to discworld audiobooks while doing chores/trying to sleep for the rest of my life. My attention span really isn't made for audiobooks so I constantly miss stuff anyway
I just started a reread after probably 15 years. There’s so much in there that I just can’t remember. I am going to enjoy this thoroughly.
I did the same but as I liked the older ones I was actually ok until I got tricked by Eric being short irl so the next one I assumed was also short and it turned out it was abridged! I think most of them have a full audio book version! I’m planning to do them all again once I finish to pick up on Easter eggs so maybe you can do the same :)
>I think most of them have a full audio book version All of them have at least one unabridged version!
Nothing else for it, start over.
Go back and just listen to the real audiobooks, or go buy the actual books. It is well worth it to have physical copies as discworld is a series that you can revisit again and again and gain something new each time. Terry was a genius and has jokes that take a while to sink in, some of which won't make sense unless you actually do a little digging or stumble across it in the "wild" of real life.
Start again. Abridged books are ridiculous to begin but Pratchett? It's a crime.
Oh, you can either start again, or continue with the next one unabridged - you've certainly missed out, but the nice thing about discworld is you can start (almost) anywhere and enjoy it. And if you're like me and the other nuts on here, you'll do a relisten sometime after you've finished the series anyway 😂
I'd say carry on from where you are with the full versions. With Wyrd Sisters and Guards! Guards! in the next few books Pratchett is really starting to hit his stride. If you want you can always go back and redo the first few later. You haven't been cheated... you've been given bonus Discworld material for the future.
Well apparently Terry himself said of those versions that "they took out all the funny bits". So don't listen to us, listen to him - time to start over.
I listened to dramatized versions of one of the witch books. Ruined. Got nothing out of it and the dramatization was very...old fashioned...? Idk but was super difficult to follow and listen to. Go back and get the full story!
You know, I started out writing this whole big post on Pratchett's thoughts on "abridged" versions of his work, but, simply... YES, you've been cheated. Start over.
No no, don’t start over if you’re enjoying it; listen to the whole series abridged, and then, when you get the itch to start again, come back and hear loads of lovely details and jokes you’ve never heard before. Stretch out that sense of something new, because sadly there’s a finite amount of it.
I can't comment on the abridged versions as I've never tried them. Obviously start again if you have the time, money and inclination - and obviously most hardcore fans here will say that, because why wouldn't you want the full versions?! But that might not be the best solution for you. Maybe it's worth listening to two of the books you've already listened to in full-length - one that you loved and one that you were less enamoured by. That might be a good way of working out if you want to start from the beginning with the full versions or just pick up where you left off.
Just jumping in to say WHY tf are there abridged versions of Discworld books!?! They aren't that long!
Cassettes! When everything was physical it made more sense to have something that fitted onto a single cassette rather than have to lug around a half dozen.
I was literally just about to ask why the Tony Robinson version was 4 hours while the Sian Clifford was 11 hours. Wasted £14 on two abridged audiobooks 👍
Tony Robinson versions are never a waste! I used to love his narration as a kid, I sometimes still like to put his version of small gods on (when i can get the old cassette player to work)
just another reason to actually read the books first :)
I was filled with rage about there even being abridged versions before someone reminded me about cassettes. I'm 38. 😂 OP: relisten. It's worth it!
Was it just the story without the footnotes?
You can find tons of unabridged in you tube.
Firstly welcome :) Secondly, you have absolutely been cheated. As others will have said, do yourself a favour and go back. It will absolutely be worth it to hear them as they were written. There may be books that would suffer more from being abridged but I can't think of any right now. Of the older audiobooks my preference is for Stephen Briggs but lots of other people live the Nigel Planer versions. Of the newer ones, I think Indira Varma and Sian Clifford do a great job. It's a very welcoming forum so feel free to let us know what you think / ask questions and so forth.
I have reread DW books over 10 times and still found things I was missing. They are the gift that keeps on giving so don't ever think you are the only one missing things.
>is it worth starting again??? It is. It always is. Whether now, or when you finish. Or the next time you finish.
It will work itself out. I have all the books, in various states of tatty (even a lot that have been dropped in the bath 😂). A few of the cassettes, and now working through the Audio books. I love Tony Robinson, but do not like abridged versions. I bought them because as someone said earlier, they were all you could get at the time. I then got the ones read by Stephen Briggs. I love those too. Penguin then started a project to re-record all books, using the same actors for the characters. This was, according to the guy responsible for the project, so that actors coming to the characters in any future projects or work would have a template and understand that Carrot, for example has a Welsh accent, as do many other dwarfs - Welsh, miners. I'm slowly getting used to those. STP's work was so incredible and sometimes quite subtle. Again, as someone said earlier, how many times have you heard someone say they missed something in the first reads of a book, they picked up later? This is one reason why they stand up to being re-read so many times. The man was a genius, and I still miss him. Enjoy in whatever format 😊
It’s ok! You still have at LEAST 10 read/listen throughs of each one in your future…