Saddest Terry Pratchett Discworld book

[WelshMoth]

What's the book that's provoked the most sadness in you?

I have to do a work-based project on Empathy. Too long to explain here.

TP is my No 1 author and his last book (Shepherds crown) when Granny dies, is the one that provokes the most tears in me.

What's yours?

Night Watch for me.

When he knows that many of his colleagues are going to die for pretty much nothing and tries to stop it, but can see it happening anyway.

I came on to say Nightswatch or Thud. Both make me cry

Shepherds Crown made me cry. Granny was such a huge character that, even though I knew it was going to happen, it was still sad.
Most TP books are fairly happy and tend to make you laugh rather than cry. Good Omens (not strictly Tp I know) is very thought provoking.
The book that is guaranteed to make me cry is a book called Scattered Seed by Maisie Mosco. It’s the middle one of a trilogy about a refugee Jewish family setting up hone in Manchester. Towards the end of the second book, a central character knows he is about to die. His wife has asked him to oil the gate. He goes to do so and she watches from the window, knowing it is the last thing he will ever do for her. It’s so incredibly real. I’ve actually made myself cry just by typing this.

@Grannybags. Thank you. So touching to read.

@ClashCityRocker and @flashingbeacon yes, re Nightwatch. That makes sense to me.

@flashingbeacon which part of Thud?

@Grannybags I pre-ordered Shepherds Crown from Ama*on and it was delivered at 1am the morning of its release. It stayed, in the brown packaging, for about 3 months before I could face opening it and reading it (knowing that it was The Last). When it and to her passing, I felt winded, despite knowing it was going to happen - and I had to put the book down while I sobbed.

That said, a reader has had to follow the series I think, in order to love the character and feel the loss.

Ahem, I actually meant Snuff. I can never keep them straight. The goblin pleading for “just ice” (justice) just really spoke to me.

Night watch for me. All the little angels... sets me off every time. It’s the futility of the revolution for me and Vimes being powerless to stop the events.

The Shepherd's Crown felt like one long goodbye to me. Cried throughout.

Night Watch for same reason as above. Vimes tries so hard to make it all turn out better by doing the right thing, even though it might affect his future with Sybil, and then the heavy weight of inevitability falls. Night Watch is probably my favourite Pratchett.

@flashingbeacon Snuff! One of my favourites.

When I try to convert tell people to give Discworld a try, it's really hard to describe how a 'fantasy fiction' genre can provoke so much emotion in the reader. I wish I'd highlighted all sections that touched me so that I could flick back and appreciate them once more. He was amazing at weaving decency and humanity into all his main characters. Even death itself.

I think I'm going to have to read them all again!

I haven't had the nerve to read Shepherd's Crown, I know I will one day but I can't yet. TP was incredible. If I think about the fact that when he died, so did all my favourite characters, it makes me so sad. I love Thief of Time, I know it's not the saddest, but Unity and the vat of chocolate gets me every time.

Thus makes me cry as well, when he's underground and can't get to his son to read his bedtime story. It ought to be ridiculous, but it isn't.

Nightwatch, when young Sam is commenting on the all the little angels song.

"That's a nice song," said young Sam, and Vimes remembered that he was hearing it for the first time.
"It's an old soldiers' song," he said.
"Really, sarge? But it's about angels."
Yes, thought Vimes, and it's amazing what bits those angels cause to rise up as the song progresses. It's a real soldiers' song: sentimental, with dirty bits.
"As I recall, they used to sing it after battles," he said. "I've seen old men cry when they sing it," he added.
"Why? It sounds cheerful."
They were remembering who they were not singing it with, thought Vimes. You'll learn. I know you will."

Thud, not thus ffs.

Shepherds Crown was intensely sad for me as it was so tied up with TPs death and my own mums dementia so I'm not sure its the book implicitly.
Snuff and the goblins, Monstrous Regiment with the girls histories and Nightwatch are prob saddest for me. But TP wove empathy into all his books, we feel for the vampires, the trolls, the beggars and the clowns. Everyone has a story, and a life bigger than their public face - even Death himself

The Vimes books are all really moving, he is my favorite character and I love the way he develops through the books. I have memories of Monstrous regiment being quite sad but I'm afraid I can't remember which bit. May be time for a re read!

Agree about Nightwatch. The audiobook read by Tony Robinson when the dis-organiser's imp reads off the to do list;

"...Seven eh em...Organize Defenders at River Gate...Seven twenty-five...Hand-to-Hand Fighting in Peach Pie Street...Seven forty-eight eight eight...Rally Survivors in Sator Square...Things To Do Today: Build Build Build Barricades...bingeley...Eight oh two eh em, Death of Corporal Littlebottombottom...Eight oh three eh em...Death of Sergeant Detritus...Eight oh threethreethree eh em and seven seconds seconds...Death of Constable Visit...Eight oh three eh em and nineninenine seconds...Death of death of death of...Death of Constable Dorfl...Eight oh three eh em and fourteenteenteen seconds...Death of Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson...beep...beep...Things To Do Today: Die..."

Night watch and Shepherd's crown. Mainly for reasons already given.

Also agree somewhat with Thud and Snuff.

The watch are my favourite subset of books, followed by the Witches (including Tiffany's series)

They're all very thought provoking.

I agree with all of the above! There's one moment in Men at Arms that always gets me too; when Cuddy has been killed and Detritus is just sitting there holding the helmet he'd made to help him... That picture of big, tough Detritus bent over something his friend had made him breaks my heart!

Shepherds Crown for sure. It was a goodbye to Terry Pratchett for me and is the one book I can't bring myself to reread.

I haven’t read Shepherd’s Crown yet either. My dd1 has. I need to read all the Tiffany Aching books again from the start but I still can’t bring myself to read Shepherd’s Crown.

Also think Snuff and Thud are tremendously sad. I think Vimes is my favourite character.

Yes, I would go along with Night Watch, but would also put in a word for Reaper Man : ‘ What can the harvest hope for but the care of the reaper man?’

The disorganised organiser is from Jingo - one Vimes gets on the boat to rescue Angua, the other stays behind.

The Shepherd's Crown still makes me sob, every time I read it.

Agree with all the above, but would also put a vote in for Detritus holding his dwarf friend’s helmet and staring at it at the end of Men at Arms, and Reaper Man - both the little girl living on “borrowed time” and Death looking for the perfect gift and taking Miss Flitworth dancing before she realises she’s died.

@LBOCS2 ah thanks! I did have an argument with myself about which book of the two it was

They're both fab, to be fair 😁 I know it's Jingo because it's one of my favourites so I've read it quite a few times...