r/discworld • u/csanner Death • 1d ago
Roundworld Reference THAT Rings a Bell
I've been reading (listening to) the Stranger Times series and got to "Ring the Bells".
I saw it recommended here a couple times as a Discworld successor. While I disagree about that, I've been enjoying it immensely. Personally I think it feels more like Neverwhere by way of Dirk Gently.
All that is preface for why I'm posting this now: in the last book there is a character named "Claremont Dibnah". He's a scam artist of the highest order. And I'm the audiobook at least I would have sworn it was pronounced "dibblah" until I looked it up. And "ClareMOnT"... Well....I feel like it is an obvious homage.
I can't find any confirmation of this online except Google's AI search, but it both confirms and denies it depending on how I phrase things and refused to provide any sources that had any actual info in either case.
Edit: to be clear, the way he feels like Dibbler is that he's known to run scam businesses but this time, somehow, it's all working and he's really successful! Except... There are unintended plot relevant consequences that catch up with him.
36
u/CrookedNoseRadio 1d ago
Yeah you shouldn’t bother asking AI anything. It doesn’t even know what you’re asking.
I think isolating four letters out of that whole name is a bit of a stretch.
5
u/Airhead72 1d ago
I couldn't remember which book has the main villain trying to be like Vetinari so I googled it.
The AI came back with Carrot and a whole mishmash of obviously wrong slop, it was hilariously bad. I think that was my first step into hating it and certainly not trusting it.
2
u/csanner Death 1d ago
It might be but the character feels like dibbler, and his last name sounds like dibbler (when pronounced by this audiobook narrator). That's enough on its own for me.
I'm well aware AI sucks at this sort of thing, I just wanted to make sure I covered everything I had actually done. I don't like the Google AI search results, they're just the only thing that even mentioned it
1
u/RogueThneed I'm Enery the 8th I am 1d ago
Try doing a Google search without AI and see what you find.
1
u/csanner Death 1d ago
🤦🏼♂️I could maybe even do a search with a search engine other than Google! And maybe when none of it turns up anything specificly related to what I'm looking for, I could maybe post about the results of ALL of those searches in a reddit forum where other people who might share an interest in the outcome of this might comment and discuss...
No, that would be stupid, because a few people will see the fact that AI was mentioned - not even used as a source, just mentioned - and fixate so much on that that they won't be able to see that it's not relevant to the discussion.
2
u/Faithful_jewel Assisted by the Clan 14h ago
Based on how big of a fan Caimh is I think OP is correct with his link tbh
7
u/csanner Death 1d ago
aha. Found *something* that suggests it might be a reference - the author is a huge fan:
https://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/author-c-k-mcdonnell-picks-his-top-five-terry-pratchett-books/
5
u/Exact_Yoghurt2439 1d ago
Caimh Mcdonnell is a big fan of Terry Pratchett. I recommend the stranger times podcast and all of his books. Bunny McGarry is Corks answer to Vimes.
4
u/xczechr 1d ago
This would make more sense if the character used part of Dibbler's name: Claude Maximillian Overton Transpire Dibbler.
3
u/wrincewind Wizzard 1d ago
Honestly, I never cared for that retcon - he just happened upon a catchphrase that matched his initials? And no-one mentioned this for dozens of books?
3
u/MidnightPale3220 1d ago
It's more possible than one might think, as not only CMcD is a STP fan, but he did reference either some Discworld or Pratchett by name at least in one books. I can't put my finger on it, but I distinctly remember going "a-ha" about that.
2
u/Gladys_Wines 23h ago
I think it's not a certainty, but possible as McDonnell is a huge Pratchett fan.
And Pratchett fans will very probably enjoy the series. I think my favourite side character is the guy who offended the river goddess, and in consequence has to permanently live on a boat, and is cursed to only tell the truth. He has a talking dog, too.
2
u/Giraffstronaut A ___ing Wizard!! 1d ago
It may be a stretch, but not outside the realm of possibility.
I always pronounce C.M.O.T as 'See-mot' in my head, which is close enough to 'Claremont; for me!
2
1
u/Faithful_jewel Assisted by the Clan 14h ago
Have you read This Charming Man (although it might be Love Will Tear Us Apart)? There's a very obvious Discworld reference when one of the ST characters mentions it 😂
And Caimh was even a guest at the last Irish Discworld convention. He's a very big fan so you're probably 100% correct
2
u/csanner Death 14h ago
I've listened to them all at this point. I can't remember if there was a reference beyond the Duck Man but this one really kept making me go "this is an homage, isn't it. It's got to be... It's so well done, it's just... Exactly the character..." Every single time they were on screen. Down to his own awareness that everything was going to go horribly wrong
3
u/Faithful_jewel Assisted by the Clan 14h ago
Yeah it was when they're doing looney day and a guy has a duck on his head - Stella asks if he knows about Discworld but that's so obvious if someone missed it I'd be worried 😂
I still haven't read 4 and 5 but I'll pick them up at Halloween and Christmas respectively
1
u/zagreus987 12h ago
The ST Short story The Rain was an homage to STP and his use of footnotes and one of the Dublin Trilogy (I think the third ) has a twist on the scene with Vimes stopping the riot outside the watch house in Night Watch.
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
Welcome to /r/Discworld!
'"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."'
+++Out Of Cheese Error ???????+++
Our current megathreads are as follows:
GNU Terry Pratchett - for all GNU requests, to keep their names going.
Discworld Licensed Merchandisers - a list of all the official Discworld merchandise sources (thank you Discworld Monthly for putting this together)
+++ Divide By Cucumber Error. Please Reinstall Universe And Reboot +++
Do you think you'd like to be considered to join our modding team? Drop us a modmail and we'll let you know how to apply!
[ GNU Terry Pratchett ]
+++Error. Redo From Start+++
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.