Product Description

It starts with whispers.

Customer Reviews (32)

Pratchett Just Keeps Getting Better...
I love anything this man writes, but, the Discworld novels are beyond amazing! His sense of humour and a keen insight into human nature make his books unique. This is the third book in the Tiffany Aching series her friends the Wee Free Men a.k.a. Nac Mac Feegle are 6 inches high, blue with red hair and love nothing more than drinking, stealing and fighting. They are sworn to help Tiffany whether she wants it or not. This is the best Tiffany book yet, as she's growing up, nearly 17 now her life becomes more complex and this is a fabulous read!

You Shall Read Midnight...
First off, I'm a huge Pratchett fan; he's got to be in at least in the top three when it comes to my favorite authors. But of his books, the Tiffany Aching series wasn't my favorite, until now. It's like this story is the point Tiffany, and the reader, were being prepared for throughout the series. It's more mature, Tiffany is considered an adult witch, and being the witch of the Chalk isn't pretty. It's messy, and confusing, and just plain difficult. But for those like Tiffany, it's worth it. I wouldn't have thought TP's books could deliver deeper insights and wisdom than they already have, but this is in a class by itself (or with Nation).The messages about death, gossip, hate, love, and following your dreams are just incredible. Yes, this is the last book in the series, at least it's written like it is; everything is wrapped up very nicely, very believably, but also leaves enough to the imagination. I liked Tiffany a lot better now that she's an older teen/adult (in the Chalk, a medieval-like town, those are pretty much the same thing) because she was easier to relate to. All the characters are well-developed, including two who at first seem very weak and become very powerful in their own way. Many characters have small parts, including Angua, Carrot, Vimes, Eskarina (Equal Rites), and of course, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg. Even Oats (Carpe Jugulum) is mentioned.This is a stunning, amazing book, and whether Pratchett fan or not, you should read it, because if you don't, you're missing something that's at the least very enjoyable, and at the most life changing.

The witch as social worker
Terry Pratchett is able to take the most unpromising characters--in the case of "I Shall Wear Midnight, it is a pregnant-out-of-wedlock 14-year-old--and give them dignity, originality, and sometimes even a dose of that sacred fire, magic.It's one of the many reasons I love his Discworld novels

Alas, in this fourth Tiffany Aching adventure, Pratchett also scrags a character and a relationship that he had been carefully building through the previous three novels, then blames the resulting casualties on witchcraft.

Tiffany survives this book intact, and stronger than ever.Much of her energy is directed toward tasks that in our nonmagical world, would be palmed off on social workers.Even so, people are turning against witches.There is even talk of burning them.

"I Shall Wear Midnight" doesn't have much of a plot to glue together the separate stories, and although the villain gets a tremendous build-up, he really didn't live up to his bad PR, so the story's end seemed anticlimactic.

This is a book with lots of talk but little action.Even the Feegle, who tend to act without much preliminary discussion, reveal a tendency toward wordiness, especially after their showdown with Wee Mad Arthur.

However, we Discworld fanatics get to meet lots of our favorite characters, even if most of them are in cameo roles, and the Feegle unleash mayhem where ever they butt heads (their mayhem is on a very short leash).

I enjoyed this further adventure of Tiffany Aching, although 'Midnight' is the least of the four books about this young witch and her little blue 'helpers.'Her character isn't so much further developed as it is hardened along lines suggested in previous novels, but I'm still looking forward to a fifth installation in this Discworld subseries.

Crivens!A real winner!
Wow.That's all I can say.Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching novels have been the best of the bunch so far, and this is the best of them yet!It has some of his patented absurdity (esp in the form of little blue men wearing kilts!), but also with real meaning, and characters of real depth.Right up there with the Fifth Elephant as my favorite Discworld novel.

I hope his health continues, because I would love to see more from him!If this unfortunately turns out to be his last book, it's one he can be very proud of.

What happeden to Esk?
Discworld fans will enjoy this last book in the Tiffany Aching series because of all the loose ends it ties together.Finally learning what happened to Esk, from "Equal Rites," was the most satisfying loose end because we haven't heard from her since 1987. ... Read more

Product Description

The wizards at Ankh-Morpork's Unseen University are renowned for many things—wisdom, magic, their love of teatime—but athletics is most assuredly not on the list. So when Lord Vetinari, the city's benevolent tyrant, strongly suggests to Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully that the university put forth a football team composed of faculty, students, and staff—or lose the funding that pays for their nine daily meals—the more-than-usually-at-sea UU wizards find themselves in a quandary. To begin with, they have to figure out just what it is that makes this sport of foot-the-ball so popular with Ankh-Morporkians of all ages and social strata. Then they have to learn how to play it. Oh, and on top of that, they must somehow win a football match without using magic.

Customer Reviews (105)

Keep going Terry
In his latest book, Sir Terry Pratchett (knighted in 2009) takes a cynical look at the world of football, how the game is played, its rules and its organization, from a Discworld point of view. No knowledge of real football is required to understand this story. Pratchett's style is typically sarcastic, but once again he develops extremely compelling characters, who will hopefully reappear in future books. Although this is not Pratchett's best work, it was still a very pleasant read and well worth the time. We can only hope that Pratchett will continue to write Discworld novels for a long time.

Football, cooking and magic
I've loved the Discworld books since I was a kid, and recommended them to my own children and to my husband. There are one or two books that are less favorites, and the rest are my favorite books in the series. There aren't many series you can say that of.
The last few books have been dealing with more and more serious themes and I like that. Things change, people change, and it feels like these books have matured with me. This one is in some ways the most serious to date. A lot of themes that have been lightly touched on in other books are a lot more explicitly touched on in this one.
But saying it's serious doesn't mean it's not funny. Mr. Pratchett is a master of satire. He can poke fun and make you think at the same time.
I loved the characters in this book, identified with some of their traits. The main character seems in some ways to be Mr. Nutt who is trying to be worthy, trying very hard to matter, but a lot of the point of view is Glenda's, the cook who rules the Night Kitchen at the Unseen University.
You can say the book is about racism, about war, about politics and about football, and it is about all those things. But it's also about not feeling like you belong and trying to find or make a place for yourself in the world.

View From the Peanut Gallery
In the "Star Trek:The Next Generation" series there was an episode called "Lower Decks" that focused on a group of young people serving in minor positions on the Enterprise instead of the usual group of head honchos.That is essentially what happens in "Unseen Academicals" which focuses on the people who work in the Night Kitchen and the candle vats of Unseen University, the school for wizards in the city of Ankh-Morpork.

Ostensibly though the book is about the game of foot-the-ball or football (or soccer as we call it across the Pond).In Ankh-Morpork, the game of foot-the-ball is actually more like rugby, with a lot of tackling and fighting and very little scoring.Young Trevor Likely's father was a legend because he scored 4 goals.

Trevor works in the candle vats of Unseesn University with Nutt, a very learned goblin who talks like a shelf of self-help books.Nutt has a Mysterious Past that not even he remembers.Eventually though Trev and Nutt go up to the Night Kitchen, where they meet the plain, fat Glenda and the beautiful, ditzy Juliet.

As it happens Juliet is from the Stoops family, who are sworn enemies of Trev's family because of their foot-the-ball allegiances.Trev & Juliet doesn't play out like Romeo & Juliet because tragedy is not ever really on the menu in the Discworld.Nutt does a little Cyrano in writing a poem to help woo Juliet, which would work better if Juliet could read words of more than one syllable.

Oh yes, there is a football game in there too.The wizards of Unseen University discover that they have to play a game of football in order to keep a bequest that keeps their Night Kitchen stocked.(If there's one thing wizards really like it's their kitchen.)When some new old rules are "discovered" from a museum, a new brand of foot-the-ball is born with Nutt taking the lead as coach.

This book utilizes two recurring theme-like items in the Discworld series.One is equal rights/tolerance, which is embodied by Nutt.Goblins (or what Nutt really is) being the latest in a line that includes dwarfs, trolls, werewolves, vampires, and golems who break the racial barrier in Ankh-Morpork.The other theme-like substance is modernizing the city.The police force, post office, bank, and Unseen University itself have all been dramatically remodeled since the earliest Discworld novels.As well football joins other modern things like newspapers, movies, the Internet, and rock music to become part of the fabric of Disc society.So really while the book is entertaining (as most Discworld books are) it's not anything fans of the series haven't really seen before.

What bugged me about the previous book "Making Money" was that there was no money made in it; the actual printing of money seemed like it would be taking place off the pages.I feared that Pratchett was going to do the same here and have the football game take place off the page, but he does at least manage to get it in, even if it is a bit underwhelming.While it was nice to see Rincewind (with a cameo by The Luggage) and the Librarian again, I wish they could have been used more.

That the book doesn't focus on any of the major characters in the end means that this can be filed away as "Minor Discworld" along with one-offs like "Pyramids," "Small Gods," "The Truth," and "Monstrous Regiment."Since football (soccer) hooliganism isn't a big thing here in the States, I'm sure some of the jokes in this one went over my head; British readers would then probably enjoy this more.

Still, it's not a bad entry in the series, but not an overly important one either.You could do a lot worse.

That is all.

For Discworld Fans
As most fans know the author is ill and I believe it has affected his work for some time. This is actually pretty good and will satisfy his readers.There hasn't been a book focused on Unseen University in some time so it was good to visit with the faculty and see some old friends from previous works.There are some laugh out loud moments which are par for the course for the author's earlier works but not for the last handful.It was a relief not to be disappointed.However if you want to see what all the fuss is about read any of the author's earlier books. As long as he keeps writing I'll keep buying.

Gloing!
Unseen Academicals is a Discworld novel in the Wizards sub-series, although the main character is a very well-learned goblin named Mr. Nutt who works as candle-dribbler in the vats of Unseen University. Nutt's best friend is his coworker Trevor Likely (son of football legend Dave Likely) who is expert at tossing an old tin can in the air. Trev is in love with Juliet Stollop, the lovely and soon-to-become-dwarfish-fashion-model assistant of Miss Glenda, the night-kitchen cook, who makes the best pies.

And in the meantime, the wizards discover that according to an old tradition, they are to play a game of football every twenty years (and that means about now) or they will have to reduce their meals to only three a day and only so many cheeseboards too. Only the football that is currently played in the streets of Ankh-Morpork looks more like a mob riot.

The book describes how the Wizards, advised my Nutt, Trev, Glenda, Juliet and Lord Vetinari, set out to write down new and more civilized rules for football, and finally gather the UU team.

I really enjoyed Unseen Academicals as a whole, but especially I found the four main characters very endearing, particularly Mr. Nutt who is always striving to "be worthy" (as he was taught by Her Ladyship in Uberwald) and Miss Glenda, who is very down-to-earth but learns that sometimes, just sometimes, you have to follow your impulses. ... Read more

Product Description
Teen witch Tiffany Aching returns for a new Discworld adventure -- along with her ever-present allies, the Nac Mac Feegle.

Tiffany Aching, the young witch from The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith is back in a new adventure featuring Discworld characters both familiar to fans (like Granny Weatherwax) and new (meet Wee Mad Arthur, the Nac Mac Feegle on the City Watch). Oh, and there's a shambles, a twist through time, a Cunning Man -- and a Giant Man of chalk. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Evil Haunts the Chalk
I Shall Wear Midnight (2010) is the fourth Fantasy novel in the Tiffany Aching series, following Wintersmith.The initial volume in the series is The Wee Free Men.

In the previous volume, Tiffany danced with the Wintersmith.The Nac Mac Feegles trained Roland as a Hero and he rescued Summer from the underworld.Then Tiffany kissed the Wintersmith.

In this novel, Tiffany Aching is the witch of the Chalk steading.She is young and idealistic.Moreover, she swings a mean frying pan.

Roland de Chumsfanleigh is the son of the Baron.His old man is highly respected and well liked in the Chalk.At one time, he and Tiffany had thought that they would be married, but they learned better.

Jenny is the kelda of the local Nac Mac Feegles or, as they are also known, the Wee Free Men.Naturally, Jenny is the mate of Rob Anybody, the clan chief.

Letitia Keepsake is betrothed to Roland.She is a very weepy girl with a wicked mother.

Amber Petty is a very young woman with a tailor boyfriend and a violent father.She is pregnant by her boyfriend and her father is angry.

In this story, Tiffany is visiting the annual scouring fair.She sees many people that she has met while witching and, of course, they recall her.OTOH, the towed broom and the pointed hat are a dead giveaway.

Tiffany is moving toward the cheese roll.She is not competing in the roll this year, for a witch can neither win nor lose without causing comments.But she notices Horace in the group rolling down the hill.

Horace is a strange cheese wheel.She had made him much like her other cheeses, but he was the only one that ate mice and -- if not staked -- other cheeses.He is rolling down the hill and then back up it while bumping other cheeses and causing pandemonium.

Tiffany takes Horace and sticks him in her bag.She calls for Rob to show himself and finds him sitting on her shoulder.He says that Jenny wanted him to find her and says that she hasn't been to the mound in two weeks.

Tiffany mentions that she has much to do and suggests that he should not take Horace out again in public.She reminds him that Horace gets excited.She also tells him that she is doing well, but is now needed to bandage some of the boisterous crowd.

Then a coach rolls up and Roland steps out.From inside the coach, an unpleasant voice tells him that he should have waited for the footman to open the door, but he hurries into the crowd.He immediately asks about the commotion.

Tiffany explains the situation and he responds with a compliment.Then Letitia appears and suggests that they get going before her mother gets more vexed.The coach drives off to the castle.

After returning home, Tiffany is awakened with bad news.Mr. Petty has beaten his daughter and caused Amber to miscarriage.The terrified Mrs. Petty ran to the village pub and spread the news.Now the people are angry and coming to get the malefactor.

Tiffany goes to the Petty farm, where she drags Mr. Petty from his bed and down the stairs.As he is puking on the kitchen floor, she advises him to pack and run away.The mob enters the farmyard and Mr. Petty runs out the back.

Tiffany takes Amber to the Nac Mac Feegle mound and puts her in the care of Jenny.The kelda performs some soothings and Amber calms down.But she definitely doesn't want to go home again.

This tale has Tiffany confronted by the Cunning Man.He is no longer corporate, so he possesses other people.He hates witches with an extreme passion and his hatred is contagious.Now he is stalking Tiffany.

Tiffany also meets Preston, a young man with insight.Unfortunately, this is the last volume in the series, unless fans can convince the author to write more about Tiffany.Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Pratchett fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of witch magic, troublemaking ghosts, and brave young women.

-Arthur W. Jordin

As Tiffany Aching grows up, so do the lessons
I felt like this book in the Tiffany Aching series went faster than the others. While the first is still probably my favorite because of all the Granny Aching lessons and wisdom, this is the natural progression. Tiffany is now back in the Chalk in her own steading and is certainly growing up. I began to notice that Terry Pratchett is writing as a woman instead of a child, and I think in general, I may have a problem with it, but in the Discworld, witches are so different from regular women that the writing really works. Witches are so practical in the Discworld that we are finally beginning to see that Tiffany was not just a gifted child, but instead she and the other witches are just humans wired differently.
I did not feel this story had the suspense that the others had, but the magic, the myth, the progression are all perfect. Her relationships with humans take the wheel rather than her relationship with the magic, which makes the story a little more painful at times. Painful in a good way, of course, but really aren't human relationships more painful anyway? The bad guy is truly the personification of human evil. The ending is superb and I pray there are more on the way.

Criven!
Great book. Nice connection to (I believe) Equal Rites. Dual at the end a little anti-climax.

Notice that I belive there are TWO kindle editions. The one I bought was the more expensive one, which was available for download earlier.

The rough music comes
Tiffany Aching is the witch of Chalk, which means that she has to do all the messy rural stuff that witches do. But witches aren't always as appreciated as they should be, and Terry Pratchett's "I Shall Wear Midnight" flings the sensible young girl -- and the Nac Mac Feegles -- against a threat that really, really doesn't like witches.

Tiffany is doing the usual witchy rounds in Chalk -- nursing the sick, burying the dead, watching cheese races, and rescuing the occasional girl from an abusive father. Then the local Duke expires after a long illness, and it's up to Tiffany to tell his son Roland and his "watercolour-painting wife-to-be" about what happened.

The problem is, she's being stalked by a creepy eyeless man with a vile psychic stench, who is inspiring people to hate and distrust witches. Suddenly stones are being thrown, accusations are being made, and Tiffany even finds herself in the Ankh-Morpork jail. And if Tiffany doesn't find a way to stop the Cunning Man, things will get very toasty for the witches...

Due to having Alzheimer's disease, Terry Pratchett had to dictate "I Shall Wear Midnight" instead of the usual computer typing. As a result, the book's beginning is very rambly and scattered, as if Pratchett hadn't fully thought out how the plot was going to go -- but after the Duke's death, things start to tighten up and move faster.

And Pratchett hasn't lost any of his delicious wit, whether it's poking fun at cliches (the cackle box!) or sharp dialogue ("Have you boys got no shame?" "I couldnae say, but if we have, it probably belonged tae somebody else"), or his knack for writing truly chilling moments, such as Tiffany seeing the Cunning Man's holes-where-his-eyes-should-be.

But unlike authors who talk down to "young readers," Pratchett doesn't shy away from realistically dark moments, like Tiffany caring for a girl who was badly beaten by her father until she miscarried. These parts -- and the "rough music" -- are more horrifying than the Cunning Man.

Tiffany herself is a very realistic depiction of a sensible, mature, no-nonsense young lady (like a younger version of Granny Weatherwax). While Pratchett occasionally reminds us that she IS still young (and prone to little stabs of jealousy), she grows up a great deal in this book. And there are some hints of romance with a young guard (who can pronounce the word "marvelous").

"I Shall Wear Midnight" is another excellent entry in Terry Pratchett's Tiffany Aching series. It starts out rather slow, but soon kicks into stride.

A masterpiece
An absolutely beautiful book.It actually brought me to tears on three separate occasions (I will admit to being a bit of a sap)

I have been reading Terry Pratchett's books for 16 years since I first discovered 'Sourcery' in my high school library and then went back and caught up with the others and I truly believe this is his best.At least, it resonated the most with me.

Considering at the point he wrote it his Alzheimer's had reached the point where he could no longer type but needs to dictate his words, this is an incredible achievement.The man is still sharp as a whip and an incredible storywriter to boot.

I haven't loved one of his books this much since I read 'Maskerade' and I loved that book an awful lot.. as I did 'Witches Abroad' so maybe I'm just partial to the witch related stories?Nevertheless if you are a fan, you owe it to yourself to read this.After reading the previous three Tiffany Aching books of course as they all tie in together.

Once again, I love this book and it has made my top ten of favourite books ever.

As far as the Kindle edition goes, it was just fine.Formatting was great, easy to read, all the illustrations translated quite nicely and only one spelling mistake. ... Read more

Product Description

When last seen, the singularly inept wizard Rincewind had fallen off the edge of the world. Now magically, he's turned up again, and this time he's brought the Luggage.

But that's not all....

Once upon a time, there was an eighth son of an eighth son who was, of course, a wizard. As if that wasn't complicated enough, said wizard then had seven sons. And then he had an eighth son -- a wizard squared (that's all the math, really). Who of course, was a source of magic -- a sorcerer.

Customer Reviews (59)

There is something sour within sourcery
Still on my way through Pratchett, taking it easy, reading one book a month or so, trying to cast a new light (at least for myself) on these novels. Nothing has changed with this one, it remained exactly as I remembered it, almost dull and uninspiring. Sure, there are wizards of Unseen University there (which reminds me so much of my faculty that their appearance always draws a tear in the eye), there are Shades of Ankh Morpork, Barbarians as hair-dresser wannabes, and young, droopy-eyed individuals as barbarian-wannabes. And of course, there is Rincewind, character I liked when I was 11, who today is nothing more then a giant bother in Discworld body of work. And, as you might have noticed, we have every element of Discworld novel here (Death and the riders of the Apocralipse included) but somehow it's all mixed together wrong. It feels like I'm reading "Equal rites" all over again but without any metaphorical value (or in the best-case scenario with repeated metaphor) mixed with Twoflower lookalike, and recurring trope of world being in peril. Somehow, Pratchett disengaged himself from more serious topics which he handled in Mort or Equal rites, and once again wrote a mere fantasy parody - novel that will mean something to avid readers of fantasy dime-novels, but to others, slightly less versed in the Lore, whole thing might appear a bit too much.

And there's this trouble with ideology once again. Things you don't notice when you're young and believe in whatever your author says. Let's put it like this. The whole book revolves around wizards (with a little help from a sourcerer) trying to take over the world, remodeling the constant chaos of Discworld into something much more decent. Now, in the world of Disc wizards function as a scholars, researchers of all kind, depositories of arcane knowledge and all such things. Somewhat senile silly old men which sit in their ivory towers all day long, sipping sherries and arguing about metaphysics and all that. Do you see a resemblance with the real-world Academics of all kinds? Now, problems arise when Wizards decide to leave their ivory towers and actually do something with all these knowledge that they have. Which, driven by ambition, inevitably, at least according to Pratchett, leads to nothing less of the end of the world. Question that we have to ask ourselves is this one - is end of the world really bad thing? On one hand we have colorful chaos of Discworld (our everyday life), which is nice and all but we all feel that there is something wrong with the way things are, and on the other hand we have a change - driven by science and logic, and idea that things can be better, which, quite naturally lead to destruction of current world order, destruction of system itself which can be interpreted as end of the world. Pratchett is advocating status quo, stasis of some kind, pushing academics back to their ivory towers and sentencing them on fruitless arguments in scientific magazines that no-one reads anyway and thus shutting down entire part of population which could actually contribute in making human world a bit more safer and/or enjoyable. I don't know, this isn't really a critique of the book, that has been covered in first paragraph, it's more of an observation, one that troubles me a bit these days when thinking about Pratchett and his work. A common notion or a feeling that is present in all of the opening Discworld books, something you often miss but it feels somehow important.

Better than the first two, but not one of the best
I recently repurchased and re-read this book. I'd have to say that while I did still like it over the first two in the discworld series, it is not one of my favorites. It has some good elements though; and you can tell Terry Pratchett is starting to really get into his groove.

I do think it is one of the best early books he did. I especially enjoyed the scene with the genie and the lamp, and Conina.

Unlike the Light Fantastic and Color of Magic, which are just on my shelf for getting the complete series, this one I repurchased because I enjoyed it and wanted to read it again.

One of my favorite Discworld books
One of the great things about the Discworld novels at this point in the series (SOURCERY is the fifth book) is that the increasingly rich group of supporting characters that populate Terry Pratchett's insane universe make good stories even better.Rincewind is the main character in three of the first five novels (as well as making a brief appearance in MORT).He would not continue to be the main character in the Discworld novels, but he definitely helped hold up the series early on.The conceit of having a wizard who has virtually no magical abilities is a delicious one, as is his status as a survivor's survivor.With other returning characters like Death, the librarian (Oook), and the luggage made of sapient pearwood, along with the daughter of and the disciple of a previous character, Cohen the Barbarian, a good time is had by all, especially the reader.

Honestly does anyone read Terry Pratchett for the story?I don't, at least.I read him for his absolutely nutty collection of characters, his delightfully weird inversion of ideas and concepts, and his wonderful word play.I rarely laugh when I read Pratchett.He isn't that kind of comic writer.I find myself smiling a lot.In fact, nearly the whole time that I read him.In short, he makes me happy.

This has been an interesting undertaking.I've read a bunch of novels in the series over the years, but not in order and omitting entire groups of books.For instance, I've not really read much in the wizards and the Unseen University.I've read all of the books dealing with the Watch along with a few other random odds and ends.All of the first five books are new for me.In fact, the first novel that I will reread will be GUARDS! GUARDS after a couple of more books.But I have enjoyed these first five books immensely and I already know that i love the ones to come.My only regret is that Pratchett's physical condition might prevent him from writing many more books in the series.We can hope for a miracle treatment that will enable him to maintain his creative faculties for the longest possible time.Nothing would be better than for him to continue writing books as long as he would like.

One of the greatest fantasy stories every written!
This is the fifth book in Terry Pratchett's series on the Discworld - a flat world, supported on the backs of four massive elephants riding on the back of a planet-sized turtle. Anything hilarious can happen here, and eventually does.

A dying wizard looks back over his life, including his crime of falling in love. You see, he's the seventh son of a seventh son, which makes him a wizard, but *his* seventh son is something special, a sourcerer - a true source of magic in a world grown old. The very existence of this sourcerer is going to undermine all of the basic rules of the Discworld, and even threaten its very existence. And now the fate of the Discworld is in the hands of Rincewind...oh boy, are we in trouble!

This is another example of the genius that is Terry Pratchett. This is one of the best of the Discworld books, one that I highly recommend to everyone. I liked the interesting characters, including Rincewind and Conina, and the twisted, funny and yet threatening magic. This is a great book, one of the greatest fantasy stories every written. Buy it and read it today!

When a dying wizard comes to a smithy in a small town in the Ramtop Mountains, to pass on his great powers to the smith's eighth son he little realizes the affect he will have on the life of that baby...er, girl. Men become wizards, and women become witches, everybody knows that. But, Eskarina Smith now has a wizard's staff and a wizard's powers. A real shakeup is coming to the Discworld, and Granny Weatherwax, witch extraordinaire is right in the middle of it!

This is another great Discworld book, being the one that actually introduces Granny Weatherwax to Terry Pratchett's fans. It has all that great, rather skewed humor that you expect from the great man. (I have always said that his mind works like no other human I have ever heard of!) Terry Pratchett is the king of fantasy-comedy, read this book and find out why!

Pratchett's writing skills continue to improve
There was an eighth son of an eighth son who was, naturally, a wizard. But, for reasons too complicated to get into now, he also had seven sons. And then another one: a source of magic, a sourcerer. The Discworld hasn't seen a sourcerer for thousands of years, since the Mage Wars almost destroyed the world and caused an awful racket which annoyed the gods. Soon enough the re-energised wizards of the Disc are engaged in all-out warfare and the Apocralypse draws nigh (provided the Four Horsemen can get out of the pub in time). It falls to a wizard who doesn't know any spells, a box with lots of little legs, a mighty barbarian warrior of three days' experience, a timeshare genie and a homicidal hairdresser to save the day.

Sourcery sees the return of Rincewind and the Luggage as the Disc faces its greatest threat so far. Whilst previous books seemed to have end-of-the-world plots tacked on, this one embraces the concept to the fullest and is probably as 'epic' as the series ever gets. Fortunately, Pratchett seemed to get the end-of-the-world-is-nigh story out of his system with this book and whilst dire consequences would still abound in later books, things would never quite get as huge as this again.

Still, Pratchett has fun with the concept. Deep in the heart of every fantasy author is the burning desire to unleash a story with magical duels, vast magical towers exploding, evil grand viziers twirling their moustaches and unreconstructed, mighty-thewed barbarian warriors smiting legions of disposable extras with a broadsword so huge that it had to be forged from a gantry. There's some nice typically Pratchett twists on the concept though, and the humour is well-constructed throughout, particularly involving the Librarian who gets one of his biggest starring roles in the series. However, there are only a few new introductions to the Discworld mythos here, most notably Wuffles (an elderly dog).

As entertaining as it is, Sourcery is also a little bit obvious as a story, and as with Equal Rites it does feel that this story should have had much more long-lasting ramifications for the history of the Disc, even moreso given the epic scale of the novel. These problems can be borne for the strong characters, entertaining humour and the unexpectedly sad ending (which remains effective even when you know what happens in later books, particularly Eric).

Sourcery (***½) is a strong comic novel which showcases Pratchett's growing confidence and ability. It is available in the UK and USA right now. ... Read more

Product Description
A Young Dwarf's Dream

Corporal Carrot has been promoted!He's now in charge of the new recruits guarding Ankh-Morpork, Discworld's greatest city, from Barbarian Tribes, Miscellaneous Marauders, unlicensed Thieves, and such.It's a big job, particularly for an adopted dwarf.

But an even bigger job awaits.An ancient document has just revealed that Ankh-Morpork, ruled for decades by Disorganized crime, has a secret sovereign!And his name is Carrott...

And so begins the most awesome epic encounter of all time, or at least all afternoon, in which the fate of a city--indeed of the universe itself!--depends on a young man's courage, an ancient sword's magic, and a three-legged poodle's bladder.

Amazon.com Review
Another wild romp through Discworld!Corporal Carrot, a young dwarf, is newly in charge of the recruits guarding Ankh-Morpork.Edward,the 37th Lord d'Eath, has just discovered that Ankh-Morpork, kingless forgenerations, has a sovereign ruler, who must be convinced that he is, in fact,the King.The fate of Ankh-Morpork rides on a young man's courage, anancient sword's magic, and a three-legged poodle's bladder. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (81)

What's not to like?
This is my second Pratchett read, and I'm convinced that it will be unlikely to find one of his books that I won't enjoy. This one follows the City Watch, which is basically the police, as they try to unravel the mysterious murders that are suddenly happening in Ankh-Morpork. They are an organization in decline, without much real work to do or skills to practice, until now. Many colorful characters are enountered, and there are a surprising number of relevant and keen observations about the life of law enforcement personnel in general. One particular character, Carrot, is a fine example of that rare person who attracts and inspires people, without seeming to try. The book is witty, fun, and funny. There are a lot of different types of characters, including dwarfs, trolls, dogs, werewolves, thieves and assassins, and it makes for a story that is never slow or dull. One minor distraction for me was the often-encountered passages where I could not readily identify the character who was speaking. it required a little sorting out at times. But there is a lot to enjoy and recommend, in this very non-traditional humorous fantasy.

HarperCollins needs to get with the times
Why is the publisher setting the price for the Kindle version the same as the paperback?Apparently they live in some fantasy world where either paper is free, or duplicating bytes is expensive.

Guns come to Discworld
The Night Watch is called into action to investigate a long distance killing machine and along the way we are reminded under what circumstances trolls can be geniuses, the ways of talking dogs and werewolves, and the true king of Ankh-Morpork. Like most of the Nightwatch stories in Pratchett's series, MEN AT ARMS is a great time for all; where we find the gruff and angry Vimes preparing to retire and then being thrust into what might prove to be his last investigation. This one has enough action, comedy and even the death of a copper to add a bit of pathos (Not too much however, as the deceased's responses to DEATH's inquiries are very funny) to satisfy any fan of the series.

The book itself gets 5 stars
...but for the money, they need to do a better job with the footnotes in a Terry Pratchett book. At some point there is a bookmark that gets embedded in the text, so all following footnotes are off by one and you have to do prev page to see the right one. Also part of another footnote or 2 get embedded the same way...kind of ruins the effect.

Pratchett at his best
Captain Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is retiring and getting married in a few days. But an explosion at the Assassins' Guild attracts his interest, and soon a trail of bodies is forming. The Guilds don't want his help, the Patrician has ordered him to lay off and his fellow Watch members seem more concerned about the new intake of ethnic minorities (Lance-Corporal Cuddy of the dwarfs and Lance-Corporal Detritus of the trolls) than the mystery. But somewhere in Ankh-Morpork a killer is on the loose with a very powerful new weapon...

Men at Arms is the second Discworld novel to focus on the City Watch, introduced in the classic Guards! Guards! As told in that volume, the City Watch saved the city from a marauding dragon and at the end of the book the Watch gained fresh resources from a grateful city government. However, it is still regarded as a joke, as Men at Arms makes clear.

Pratchett once again uses the cliches and ideas of police procedurals to generate humour and satire, although this volume is much more of a hard-bitten (in some cases, literally) mystery novel. Sam Vimes is portrayed as the cynical, weathered old cop doggedly pursuing his case in the face of all opposition, whilst Corporal Carrot is his enthusiastic young sidekick. Of course, that would be a bit too cheesy, so Pratchett subverts this idea earlier on and takes the story in a more interesting and original direction.

The city of Ankh-Morpork comes to life in this book more successfully than in any prior volume, to the extent that Pratchett's playwright and friend Stephen Briggs was able to use information in this book (and the prior ones) to map the city so everything tracked and made sense (the results can be found in the spin-off product, The Streets of Ankh-Morpork). The city's ethnic make-up, the political structure of the guilds and the office of the Patrician are all portrayed convincingly. In addition, Pratchett aims high with his characterisation, with the most affecting death of a Discworld character to date and some brilliant development for Carrot and Vimes. There is even a reasonably well-portrayed romance and some (tastefully off-screen) sex, a first for the series. Men at Arms is Discworld aimed at a slightly maturer level than arguably any of the previous books bar Small Gods.

Which isn't to say that Pratchett doesn't bring the funny. The Colon/Nobbs double-act is excellent, the return of Gaspode the Wonder Dog (from Moving Pictures, but much better-utilised here) is genuinely funny and there is some fantastic material to be mined from the Cuddy/Detritus relationship.

Men at Arms (*****) is Pratchett yet again firing on all cylinders, delivering a novel that is by turns brilliantly funny, genuinely thought-provoking and consistently entertaining. The novel is available now in the UK and USA. ... Read more

Product Description

When a giant wave destroys his village, Mau is the only one left. Daphne—a traveler from the other side of the globe—is the sole survivor of a shipwreck. Separated by language and customs, the two are united by catastrophe. Slowly, they are joined by other refugees. And as they struggle to protect the small band, Mau and Daphne defy ancestral spirits, challenge death himself, and uncover a long-hidden secret that literally turns the world upside down.

Customer Reviews (147)

Nation Audiobook by Terry Pratchett
Nation
By Terry Pratchett
(Audiobook)
Read by Stephen Briggs


Story Title: 5/5
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Ending: 4/5


Synopsis:
Mau had been getting ready to trade his boy soul in for his man soul when a tsunami destroyed his home. Coming back to carnage instead of a warm greeting from his village, he finds death and destruction... and Daphne.
Daphne had been on a Schooner at sea when the tsunami hit, breaking her ship upon the island. Alone and afraid, she discovers Mau burying his dead, and, after one attempt at foolishness, decides he's not so bad, and that they must communicate.
Together, they forge a friendship that will take them from childhood to adulthood, and surpass prejudice to form a Nation.

Character Likability:
Mau: Possibly the most conflicted character in this story, Mau has to deal with having no soul, having no gods, drowning out the voices of the past, dealing with the voices of the present and figuring out how to make a future. By having his people washed away, he finds out more about them than he ever would have had life continued on as it always had. He's a pretty heavy character, and often has to take on serious endeavors.
Daphne: An incredibly likable girl, Daphne had been sick and tired of her role in society...so while at first she makes a hasty choice, she quickly realizes how wrong she was, and that now all the rules have changed.
Ataba: Foolishly holding on to the ways of the past, even though greater things are being uncovered all around him... rushing to keep those things hidden, even if it results in his death... he is an excellent example of what can happen when one closes ones eyes to the evidence around them and instead chooses to blindly follow what they have been told is right.
Other Characters: There are a plethora of interesting supporting characters in this story, all of whom are appropriately wicked, or appropriately pleasant. All of them are enjoyable.

Quality of Writing:
This work has been touted as some of Pratchett's finest... and while the topics are serious, often dark and much heavier than your normal Pratchett novel (honestly, Pratchett often plays with some heavy topics, but he manages to do it so humorously that you're able to laugh at the subject matter without being weighed down entirely by it... he often makes us laugh at ourselves before we know what we're doing) they are still interesting and the story flows smoothly.

Ending:
This one had a bittersweet but realistic ending.

Plot:
This plot deals with a lot of heavy issues. Religion, Individual vs. Society, Civilized vs. Barbaric, the transformation from Child to Adult and where exactly those boundaries lie... and who defines them. It plays with the concept of what actually makes a Nation, and with the ambiguity of defining things like that in the first place. The gods and adulthood are all very similar to the concept of 'Nation' in this novel, all of them being difficult to define. Daphne, herself, goes a long way to debunk a lot of the mysticism behind Mau's culture... when she works out that while there are traditions, like spitting in the beer and then singing the "beer song"... that really, the spit defuses the poison (the beer is poisonous unless it's spit in and sung to) and the song... well, it doesn't really matter which song you sing, so long as it's a specific length, ie, the length of time needed for the spit to react and de-poison the beer... there is a lot of that sort of thing in this book, and at the same time, there are magical elements that cannot be explained away through science. I don't think Pratchett was out to say religion is hokum and science can explain it all away, I think he was just pointing out that it's a wavering line and sometimes things that should be solvable with religion actually require science, and sometimes things that should require science really require some belief. Really, there is a lot to think about in this book, for those who care to really dive into what an author is trying to say... and for those who don't? It's still a really good, touching story about two people who have lost everything, only to find so much more.

Believability of World:
This is Pratchett's first non-Discworld novel since 1996... so a knowledge of his other works is not necessary. You can pick this one up and dive in, it is a stand-alone... and the world it exists in is an alternate version of ours, around the 1860's (It is mentioned that the Origin of Species was recently published)

Audio Quality:

Stephen Briggs does another fantastic job. This is the 3rd Pratchett book I've listened to as read by him, and they have all been amazing.


Overall Grade: B+

Knowing more than I did then, I'm afraid to reread this book
When I first read Nation, I adored it. Being of an atheistic bent myself, Mau's struggle with faith rang very true to me, and there were moments where I laughed out loud - I know people say that, but I actually did! - and parts where I cried because the real world wasn't [i]like[/i] that. I would have LOVED having it as a young adult.

Then I learned more about Native religion and philosophy, and now I'm afraid to reread it. Sensitivity towards indigenous issues is, alas, not one of Mr. Pratchett's writing strengths, and here I think that he flubbed it. The 'question of evil' that Mau struggles so hard with is a penultimately Christian idea: With an all-powerful all-good God, how do you explain why bad things happen? I admit that I'm anything but an expert on Polynesian religions (or at least that's where I always thought Nation was situated?), but I'm pretty sure that's just not a valid [i]question[/i] in them, lacking omnipotent gods who must also be entirely good.

Yes, it's fiction, so yes, Mr. Pratchett can make a fictional religion any way he wants it, but considering the [i]rest[/i] of the book is a thinly-veiled fictionalization at best... ...well, there's something unsettling in the idea that Mr. Pratchett is comfortable making up Polynesian culture out of whole cloth, but leaves British culture alone. (Well, other than brushing aside the British historical urge to colonize and dispossess. ...which is more than a little unsettling in its own right, come to think of it.)

So, yeah. Great testimony to humanistic/atheistic fiction, unfortunately pastede on yey to an indigenous setting.

Destined to become a classic
'Nation' is one of those books that will stay in your mind for a very long time.The characters, plotting and pace are excellent, but the most important parts of the book are the questions I've been asking myself ever since reading it .Although Pratchett never directly asks the questions, they are there in the story:What makes a boy a man?Does everything I've been taught to believe make sense in this new situation?How dangerous is it to question what I've been taught to believe?If I have guns and you don't, and I plant my flag on your island, does that make it my island?

This is an important book.

Relevant and Readable
Terry Pratchet has synthesized his strong socio-political work from the Discworld series into an amalgam of thought.The story of Mau is really the story of humanity as it emerges from the dark of superstition, fear and brutality.It is a tale in which the discovered place in our universe is revealed as neither too small or overly large, but just right.A great book for middle schoolers to read and discuss.Mau and his counterpart Daphne (Ermintrude) interact charmingly as each struggles with the preconceived notions they have been bred to believe.

My one complaint is that a portion of the work seems to rely on critical events which occur outside the story and seem to be introduced as a convenient plot device.Nevermind that the reader can adequately adapt and digest this turn of events, it interrupts hte flow of the work and causes some confusion.Nonetheless, the work is a fantastic read.

"Nation"
A side of Prachett I hadn't seen before -- one of his books geared toward young readers. As with any good writer though it didn't matter. Anogher great book from one of my favorite authors. As usual it made me laugh out loud, think deeply and be glad I read it. I recommend it for readers of all ages. ... Read more

Product Description
Here there be dragons...and the denizens of Ankh-Morpork wish one huge firebreather would return from whence it came. Long believed extinct, a superb specimen of draco nobilis ("noble dragon" for those who don't understand italics) has appeared in Discworld's greatest city. Not only does this unwelcome visitor have a nasty habit of charbroiling everything in its path, in rather short order it is crowned King (it is a noble dragon, after all...). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (108)

Good, but not great Discworld story.
I have been making my way through the Discworld series, and I have really enjoyed it.I thought this book was the weakest of the series.I started and stopped reading this one several times before reading all the way through this time.By no means is this book bad.This book is witty, amusing, and sometimes laugh-out-loud-funny, but it is not as funny as the other Discworld novels.

Guards Guards introduces several new characters: the men of the Night Watch, including their dispirited captain, Vimes; Lady Ramkin, a mountain of a woman who raises swamp dragons and has designs on the captain; and Carrot, a giant young man who was raised by dwarves.A few familiar characters also make an appearance, such as the librarian of Unseen University, who is an orangutan.

An enjoyable story, but I cannot rate it any more highly in comparison with the other superb Discworld novels.

A Literary Masterpiece of the First Order
This is quite possibly one of the finest works of fiction / humor / satire / philosophy ever written in the English language. It is both laugh out loud while reading Funny - and a philosophical treatise on Right and Rong and Good and Ungood and Evil that holds its own with anything published by lamestream professoriate of modern Academentia.

Guards Guards is the Very Best of Terry Pratchett, who is darn good to begin with, and is one of those rare books that continue to unfold surprises even when it is re-read.

The Rank
Terry Pratchett's introduction says it best when he dedicates Guards! Guards! to "those fine men" who get sent to "rush into the room, attack the hero one at a time, and get slaughtered." If you want to make it in the night watch of Ankh-Morpork--big, dirty, corrupt city that it is--you have to have the survival instincts of a small rodent. You have to learn when to be blind, deaf, or stupid. You have to learn when to sidle away, and when to sprint. Those who get too zealous in their duty, die. There are three survivors in the watch at the beginning of the book: two "incompetents commanded by a drunkard." A step below the rank and file, these are just the rank. These men don't get hot warrior chicks or sage old men popping up out of nowhere to make heroes out of them. All they get is a fresh, idealistic young recruit who hasn't figured out yet (and they don't have the heart to tell him) what an ignominious job it is. These men don't get encouragement from any prophecies. All they have, when the flaming dragon attacks the city, is a nagging conviction that no one else is going to take care of it. They don't get any magical weapons, cloaks, or jewelry. All they have is a deep-rooted sense of possession. As Captain Vimes put it, "No bloody flying newt sets fire to MY city!"

Having said all that, this book is hilarious. I don't know how Terry Pratchett manages to touch your heart while he's making you turn blue in the face from laughing , but he does. I've never met characters I fell in love with more deeply, and this the first and least of his City Watch books.

The Night Watch comes into its own...
When we first meet the Night Watch, it is in a state of decay. Captain Sam Vimes spends most of his time in taverns, bars, saloons, etc. and Sgt. Colon and Cpl. Nobbs spends most of their time avoiding anything that might lead to police work and Nobbs looking for chances to partake in the exact opposite. Enter Constable Carrot, a human raised as a dwarf and a new recruit and the appearance of the first "real" dragon in hundreds of years and you now have the birth of one of Discworld's best components.The storyline works as both adventure (some thrilling battles with the dragon) and comedy (Nobbs and Colon's becoming heroes in spite of themselves and Carrot's steadfast adherence to the laws of Ankh-Morpok) and Vimes' growth as an individual over the course of the novel is gratifying. This is a must read book for any Discworld fan as it sets the stage for many adventures to come and brings a lot of Discworld's characters into focus for both Pratchett and the reader.

The brilliant beginning to the City Watch
My main introduction to the Discworld came through the books concerning the Watch, initially Captain Vimes, Nobby, Colon, and the new recruit, a 6'6 dwarf who may be the true heir to the Ankh-Morpork.In later books the Watch will expand to include some of the best characters in Terry Pratchett's nutty universe, as the equal opportunity force makes room for werewolves, trolls, (normal) dwarves, zombies, and vampires.But this book is the bare bones beginning, with Vimes unmarried (though he meets his future wife in this book), the group with only the tiniest number of members.Seven subsequent Discworld books (or around a third of all following novels) would deal with the Watch primarily, and they make minor appearances in several others.While the most popular character in Pratchett's books is almost certainly Death (followed by the Librarian), the City Watch books are probably the most popular series of books.

I love this book as much for the many deliciously whacky twists as for the introduction of my favorite group of Discworld characters.The whole conceit of a dragon becoming the King of Ankh-Morpork is simply delicious.And the wonderful way that the Librarian is utilized ranks among his best appearances in any of the books.He even briefly becomes a member of the Watch!

The thing that most fascinates me about the Discworld books is that while no one book is all that great, as a group they simply get better and better and better.As you delve more and more deeply into the books, the more delightful they become.Before embarking on this complete reading of the Discworld books in order of original publication, I had read about a third of all the books, all of the Watch books and a few odds and ends.I had always sensed a deep background in the books that I was definitely missing a lot and it has been a lot of fun having all the nooks and crannies filled in. ... Read more

Product Description

Once, in a gods-forsaken hellhole called Koom Valley, trolls and dwarfs met in bloody combat. Centuries later, each species still views the other with simmering animosity. Lately, the influential dwarf, Grag Hamcrusher, has been fomenting unrest among Ankh-Morpork's more diminutive citizens—a volatile situation made far worse when the pint-size provocateur is discovered bashed to death . . . with a troll club lying conveniently nearby.

Customer Reviews (119)

Love it!
I've read them all, and this is my favorite Pratchett book. He writes wonderful books, but this is my ultimate favorite.

Not the best introduction to Discworld but enjoyable entry in the series
Thud by Terry Pratchett
Harper Collins, 2005
373 pages
Fantasy; Discworld
4/5 stars

Summary: Sam Vimes is the Commander of the Watch is seeing increasing tensions in the city of Ankh-Morpork between the trolls and the dwarves before the pending anniversary of the Koom Valley battle. A lot of other stuff happens in typical Discworld fashion.

Thoughts: It took me FOREVER to read this; I've had it since it came out; one of my friends told me it was her favorite three years ago but still I didn't read it until I started my personal read my own books challenge.

I wish that I had read more of the Discworld novels before I started this one as there were references to many previous books. Of course that just provides more encouragement for me to go back to all of them, sooner rather than later.

I liked Sam Vimes: He's a devoted family man, fiercely protective of his city, and has a sensible attitude toward bacon (as in more is better). Then there were the trolls and the dwarves.
I definitely need to read some of the other Watch novels especially if any feature Sam's courtship of his wife Sybil or the birth of their son. It looks like I should read Guards! Guards and Men at Arms; I will try to do so later this year. I also want to read more about Lord Vetinari-does he have any books devoted to him? But DEATH is still my favorite character and he makes a brief appearance here.

Overall: This should not be your introduction to Pratchett's writing or Discworld but if you've read some of the others, it's a fine addition to the oeuvre.

Cover: It's not my favorite; the club is representing the trolls and apparently Thud is also a game so...meh.

A Discworld murder mystery
A dwarf is found dead from a blow to the head given with a weapon favoured by trolls. The problem is the body was found in a location no troll could possibly have reached unnoticed. To Commander Vimes, it smells of a cover up.

He investigates, but is hampered by being forced to take on his staff a Black Ribonner, i.e. a vampire who's taken the pledge and forsworn human blood (or dwarf blood for that matter, and let's not even think of troll blood). He's also got an auditor nosing around the place to make sure everything is done properly.

While Discworld novels are always hilarious comedies, Pratchett also uses them to make discrete social commentary. In "Thud!" he explores the consequences of racial intolerance. No one is comfortable around vampires even if they've given up their favourite drink; trolls and dwarfs hate each other and periodically go to war; werewolves are a social embarrassment.

Oh, and Pratchett makes the point that some things are more important than anything else. There are some duties which must be performed no matter what because to miss them even once, for even an excellent excuse, would lead one to miss those duties again perhaps for a lesser excuse. So get out of my way, thinks Commander Vimes, it's nearly six o'clock and there's something I've GOT TO DO!

Vincent Poirier, Tokyo

I wanted to like it more than I did
I've always been a fan of the Discworld books, but there are a few that just miss, and this is one of those. The sad thing is that all the right elements are there, but it felt as if Pratchett let his brain wander off somewhere when it came to pulling them all together. The resolution of the plot depends upon numerous things that are logically improbable, even for the Discworld: ancient dwarfs and trolls encased in stone (who, despite having supposedly been washed to their location by a flood, are frozen in the act of playing a game that hadn't been invented yet); a demonic creature who keeps appearing in brief snippets, but whose purpose remains confusingly vague until it becomes a sort of warped deus ex machina; an answer to the "Rascal" mystery that doesn't jive with the known facts; and Sam Vimes' sudden, inexplicable ability to shout the words of his son's favorite book so they can be heard 10 miles away from underground. It feels as if Pratchett took one of those drugs-that-start-with-S as he got near the end of the book. The result is a story with a lot of good bits in it, but which fails, in the end, to come together into a coherent whole.

Loved it!
Although his sense of humor may not apply to everyone, I find Terry Pratchett's work to be clever and very funny- I think that 'Thud!' may be his best work as he parodies issues of discrimination and the nature of 'history'- plus a vampire and a werewolf have to work together- what's not to like? ... Read more

Product Description

Terry Pratchett's profoundly irreverent novels are consistent number one bestseller in England, where they have catapulted him into the highest echelons of parody next to Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Carl Hiaasen.

In this Discworld installment, Death comes to Mort with an offer he can't refuse -- especially since being, well, dead isn't compulsory.As Death's apprentice, he'll have free board and lodging, use of the company horse, and he won't need time off for family funerals.The position is everything Mort thought he'd ever wanted, until he discovers that this perfect job can be a killer on his love life.

Customer Reviews (127)

Great storyline, clever observations, but ending falls short of epic.
So many reviewers have already given such great detail in review about this story that I will not follow suit. I admit that I was very enthralled through the book. I found Pratchett's observations, puns and absurdity very fun. I like the story that as I got closer and closer to the ending I found myself slowing down my reading to savor it.

Unfortunately, the ending was a let down for me. The final conflict was rushed, chaotic and not very satisfying. In the end of this story I was left pondering what would be a better way to wrap it all up and could not find anything suitable to do differently. It had all the tell tale signs of a Doctor Who episode where great leaps in logic are needed by the protagonist in order to try and wrap up the story in a semi-plausible way. So, I just have to accept it for what it is: a funny vignette into the world of Death and the people that cross his pathof his existance.

There is so much good about this book that I cannot give it a more harsh review. It is definately worth the read. It is fast paced and funny. If you want an amusing quick read then this is the one for you.

Death: I SIMPLY - FEEL I WANT A CHANGE
I fondly got to know more about Death in this one. A skeleton figure wearing hooded- robe, and eye sockets filled with blue flames. Oh, he was funny and adorable in some ways. Here, he was like a grandfather whom in his old age suddenly got the urge for a change. He wanted to learn more about human's ordinary life. So, Death hired an apprentice, a boy named Mort. Once he thought Mort could do his work, Death took a holiday.

Death then tried fishing, dancing, gambling, and drink, allegedly four of human life's greatest pleasure. But he failed to grasp the fun in any of it. Finally, after he visited a job broker, he got a new job he could enjoy, cooking. There were so many hilarious moments during his experiencing human's activities and job interviewed. ("It would seem that you have no useful skill or talent whatsoever. Have you thought of going into teaching?" Death's face was a mask of terror. Well, it was always a mask of terror, but this time he meant it to be).

Meanwhile, during his adventure, Mort, Ysabel his daughter and Albert his servant tried crazily to manage the world's balance. Everyday there were sand clocks to set and souls to be ushered into the next world. After sometime, Albert performed a rite to summon Death back. Death was still wearing an apron and holding a small kitten when this summon happened, so he wasn't amused! ("Why did you have to spoil it all?")

But at the end, it ended well. Death was back to doing his job, and Mort deciding to live a mortal life with Ysabel.

When human's behavior, thoughts, emotions, were played through Death's thoughts, it does look absurd. Mr. Pratchett is a genius. He got me thinking more seriously about humanity now, but I still feel satisfied and humored by his writing. A good read and highly entertaining!

Apology of the system
Earlier this year, I have started to re-read Pratchett again, hoping to refresh my memory and to catch-up with some of the newer titles. I have gotten as far as Mort up 'till now (have tons of other stuff to read), and by now everything was as I remembered it do be. First two books of Discworld series are deconstruction of fantasy paradigm, hilarious in it's moments but hardly anything more than that. Third book introduced us with Granny Weatherwax and notion of headology and just for that it stands out from the crowds, but is hardly more than story about equality between genders. Fourth book i.e. Mort, took a grasp on somewhat bigger scale. It took Death as it's main character, provided different viewpoints on matters of life and death from diverse characters, and gave us a few more insights about the exact manner in which Ankh-Morpork functions. Rincewind has sort of a cameo here, faculty staff and Shades have noted appearance, and rest of it is sort of a colorful background for an exercise in metaphysics. Ideas of justice, death, destiny and fairness are all being explored on these pages, as does the notion of power. And now we have a problem.

I remember reading "Reaper man" as a sort of an allegory that contrasted the pastoral picture of an English village with modern-day consumeristic frenzy of big town and it's inhabitants. Now in it, Death as a character has more profound depth than in Mort were it is presented as a mere function - "Destroyer of the worlds" (etc.), ultimate reality who happens to have sense of humor. Now, upon reading "Mort" again, I look differently upon the events and ideas from "Reaper man". Because "Mort" is all about balance, The Way Things Are Supposed To Be, in which anything that disrupts this preordered scheme is instantly judged as a destructive force that should be banished from existence. You can't mess with a higher purpose and the final way, because if you do, all sort of bad things could happen. Now, that is all well and correct if this higher purpose is something to be admired, something we should strive for. But, as Death constantly repeats - "There is no justice, there is just me". And doesn't this sound pretty conservative and totalitarian in the same moment?

If we change the meaning of Death and put a word 'system' instead of it (and as far as it may sound farfetched, the notion of death being the final frontier is the systematic notion) than the entire novel suddenly transforms itself into an apology of the system. Individual cannot mess with it and if he does the entire thing falls apart and we can't have that can we? In the end system can be benevolent but only if he chooses to be so, it cannot be forced or manipulated, and its benevolence is some kind of merciful approach to weaknesses of the individual. This idea is the disturbing one, the idea that advocates status quo and disqualifies any attempt towards any kind of the change. Suprisingly, many of the Discworld novels, chose to make ridicule of that kind of totalitarianism (e.g. Equal rites), and seeing it rise between these pages is troubling thought indeed.

"Mort" is still Discworld in a way - With funny remarks, great observations on ways that make people go, the absurdities of life and it's rule, and everything else that makes the continuing story of Discworld so good - but in the same way it's a strange Discworld, one that I'm not comfortable in, and one that I wouldn't want to be a part of. Maybe this musings are too abstract, but the feeling of dread that overcame me was factual and unsettling. Wonder what lies in store with upcoming books. This new way of looking at stuff seems promising enough. After all, we should always question the ideas we had at some point of our life. I'm questioning "Disworld". Wonder what answer will come out of it.

One of the best of the early Discworld books
I'm currently reading/rereading the entire run of Discworld books, in order.I previously had read about a third of all the books, but nowhere close to any order.Death probably appears in more books than any other character in the series, and plays a major role in five of the titles in the series, this being the first.This is the first one where we learn much about Death, where he lives, what rules governs his vocation, and his associates (like Albert).And, we learn the delightful name of Death's fearful steed:Binky.

Like all of Pratchett's books, I find myself less interested in the plot of this novel than in the way it builds up a little bit of the Discworld universe.I like out each book allows you to explore a little bit more of Discworld, of having the characters you know from one book interact with characters from another book, of learning a bit more about the mythology of the books.I can recall hundreds of little details about characters, ideas, places, species, guilds, and the like, but I am not sure I can remember more than one or two plots or any of the books.Pratchett is hardly the only writer of whom something like this holds true.Pretty famously Raymond Chandler is not regarded as very good at plot.You don't read FAREWELL MY LOVELY or THE GOODBYE LOOK in order to find out "what happens next."You read Chandler for his extraordinary characters, the amazingly seedy Los Angeles he describes, and his absolutely astonishing prose.Interestingly, I think the main reason we read Pratchett is for his delightfully odd characters, the way he describes the Discworld, and his hysterically funny prose.I don't think calling him the Raymond Chandler of comic fantasy would really help anyone understand his work, but they do share some similarities and virtues.

I'm not sure how long it will take me to read all the books in the series.I'm reading several books in between each Discworld book, so it may take me well over a year.So far I'm only reading a couple of Pratchett's books a month.But in a way this is a great thing.For the next year and a half I'll be able to visit Pratchett's nutty creation again and again.

Not as original as Discworld deserves
MORT is not one of Pratchett's stronger entries in the Discworld series. Taking the old "Death takes a holiday" premise and putting the Discworld spin on it is not quite enough to make this more than an afterthought in the series. Mort, whose constant restating of his name when called "boy" or lad" becomes his most memorable characteristic, (Showing just how poorly drawn a character he is.) becomes Death's apprentice and mild amusement ensues. Pratchett is always funny but this one lacks the originality found in so many other Discworld stories and pales in comparison. ... Read more

Product Description

Lost in the chill deeps of space between the galaxies, it sails on forever, a flat, circular world carried on the back of a giant turtle--

DISCWORLD

--a land where the unexpected can be expected. Where the strangest things happen to the nicest people. Like Brutha, a simple lad who only wants to tend his melon patch. Until one day he hears the voice of a god calling his name. A small god, to be sure. But bossy as Hell.

Customer Reviews (143)

"Small Gods" is literature
I expected a lesser Douglas Adams; after all, it was only a Terry Pratchett novel, one of those things with pages that you read quickly, laugh a couple of times and change for any other book on those second-hand stores.
But "Small Gods" is a thing of beauty, of seemingly superficial thoughts that nevertheless takes you to the depths of the human condition.Pratchett mayve even did not intended to reach the heights of art, but here the attempt has succeded, and we could well be in the presence of a minor classic.
Here you have a book that explains how Gods are made and destroyed, not in a fantasy world, but in our very real one, deux-ex-machina and all.

Humor and Religion
Religion isn't a concept that is touched on in any significant way in most fiction/fantasy books. Usually it's something along the lines of a Great Divine Goddess that some people pray to, while most people get on with their lives. Or perhaps the book has a generic set of Earth God, Sky God, and Food God. This is odd, because if you look at any history book most of the events of the Medieval and Renaissance periods were dominated by religion.

So it's nice to see that religion is the main focus of Small Gods (as you could probably guess), even if it is in a satirical way. Small Gods focuses on the large, zealously religious, crusading nation Om. Their God is also called Om. The religion is Omnia, and the main character is named Brutha.

Novice Brutha is the kind of person who really Believes. Not in the go-to-church-every-Sunday way, but the Om-is-watching-you-always way. So it comes as a surprise when Om appears to him in the form of a small, one-eyed turtle, asking for help. It comes as an even bigger surprise that nobody else can hear the God.

Small Gods takes the idea of belief and turns it inside out. It doesn't make fun of religion, or try and poke holes in anyone's actual beliefs. But themes such as "Belief vs The Structure of the Church", "Atheism Being Almost As Good As Belief", and "What Happens When People Stop Believing" show up throughout the book.

Sure, you could read it just for the laughs. Oh, the God is a vulgar turtle, ha ha. The book is certainly funny enough for that to satisfy people. But if you read the book for the larger themes, instead of reading it joke-by-joke, you'll see that Small Gods actuallyprovides a pretty smart and thorough commentary on what religion is, and what it can make people do.

Its not a waste of time to read this book.
Although I did not love this book, I did get something from it.It was an okay read.Fast enough, Cute enough, Smart Enough. But it was not a book that I fell in love with or would even recommend.

I have read a few others books by Pratchett and I can not say that I have enjoyed any of them.This was the one that I had the easiest time with.I do not plan on reading any other, I gave it a chance and after 3 books and this one I decided its not my taste.Its just not for me.

One of the best Discworlds
Love it, need I say more?This one covers a lot of discworld and is just hilarious.

The books just get funnier and funnier
Although I had read around ten of the Discworld books (mainly the Watch books along with a couple of others), I had not read them in order.This time I am reading all of them from beginning to whatever is end at the moment.While I enjoyed this series from the very first book, at this point in the series the books just get funnier and funnier.WITCHES ABROAD was a complete stitch and SMALL GODS was, if anything, even funnier.The great god Om, who has very much against his will been incarnated in the body of a wee little tortoise (there's good eatin' on them), is one of the funniest characters that Terry Pratchett has ever created, which is saying quite a lot, while Vorbis is one of the most delightfully evil ones.There are countless delicious lines, wonderful ideas, enticing twists, and hysterical scenes, enough to make this one of the funniest of all the Discworld novels.

I'm now at approximately the one-third mark in my reading of all the books (UNSEEN ACADEMICALS was #37 in the series, but given that I started reading the series in September 2009 and that Pratchett, despite his illness, is bravely pushing forward with new books, I figure that he'll have published #38 and #39 by the time I get to #37, praying to God that his health remains good) and I'm delighted that they just seem to be getting better and better.I'm about to start hitting most of the books that I've already read once, but I look forward to working through them again, especially now that I am familiar with so many more secondary characters.Since Pratchett is English and I'm American, I can't claim him as a national treasure, but surely I can claim him as an international one.I can't say for certain that he has made the world a better place, but he has certainly made it a more entertaining one, and surely that an improvement of sorts. ... Read more

Product Description

The denizens of Ankh-Morpork fancy they've seen just about everything. But then comes the Ankh-Morpork Times, struggling scribe William de Worde's upper-crust, newsletter turned Discworld's first paper of record.

An ethical joulnalist, de Worde has a proclivity for investigating stories -- a nasty habit that soon creates powerful enemies eager to stop his presses. And what better way than to start the Inquirer, a titillating (well, what else would it be?) tabloid that conveniently interchanges what's real for what sells.

But de Worde's got an inside line on the hot story concerning Ankh-Morpork's leading patrician Lord Vetinari. The facts say Vetinari is guilty. But as William de Worde learns, facts don't always tell the whole story. There's that pesky little thing called the truth ...

The Truth is satirical, British, and full of sly jokes. Althoughthis cake doesn't rise quite as high as it did in previous volumes, even ordinary Pratchett is pretty darn good, and those who haven't read aDiscworld novel before can start here and go on to that incrediblebacklist. --Nona Vero ... Read more

Customer Reviews (103)

My favorite Discworld novel!
I have to say, this is my favorite of all of the Discworld novels. Even 'Going Postal' doesn't match it on the list & I loved Postal. I can't put my finger on exactly what it is about this book, although I do have to admit that it's partially because of Otto Chriek.

The plotline of this book surrounds the character of William De Worde & his attempt at forming a newspaper. Meanwhile the Patrician has been framed for a crime & been kidnapped. (Wisely, the people framing him knew that nobody would question the Patrician if he were still around.) With exploding vampire photographers, a room full of printing dwarves & a lovely young reporter, De Worde seems to be the only one who can save the day.

I freaking love this book. Unconditionally. It could eat crackers in bed & I wouldn't throw it out. (OK, so I'm being a little facetious there.) But I do love this book. I love the idea of vampires who are trying to refrain from drinking blood. I like the idea of people cussing by saying --ing. I'm sure that there are some who may not like this book, but I'm not one of them. I actually read this one out of order, having picked it up & mistaken it for one earlier in the series & I really didn't feel that out of place. (The great thing about Discworld novels is that you don't necessarily have to read them in order.)

A Wonderful Introduction to Terry Pratchett's Discworld
A world where you find vampires, werewolves, and trolls can sound spooky but take heart for these are just regular law abiding citizens of Discworld.

This is the first Discworld book I read though I have read many of the 25+ books Mr. Pratchett has written since.It is a wonderful book, full of humor, interesting characters, a plot which keeps the reader involved and it is a book that leaves one with a desire to read more . . . and more.Fortunately, there is more, a lot more.

As a writer, Mr. Pratchett inspired me to write and publish my first novel, "Hamilton Swoop Wizard of Green Ridge."For that, I will be forever grateful.

Pratchett takes on the media and news; millions entertained.
A rare stand-alone piece from Pratchett (albeit one with a fairly large supporting cast of regulars) taking on the press and the human obsession with news. As always, Pratchett's satirical points are dead-on, thoughtful, insightful, and genuinely funny, ranging from "light" news to the dangers of offering a reward for missing objects. But, as usual, it's the rich and wonderful characters that Pratchett creates that make the book such a wondrous joy, and the fact that both Vimes and Vetinari play such major roles is just icing on the cake. If there's a weak point, it's the recurring Pulp Fiction parody; sure, it's funny, but it seems to add little to the book, and ultimately feels a little distracting, especially as those two characters come towards their bizarre fates. Regardless, they're enjoyable characters, and fit nicely into Pratchett's wondrous, magical, hilarious world, and watching him control his marvelous plots so nicely is a joy, as always.

One of the best!
I love Pratchett's books and their ability to combine current events, serious social commentary and humor. "Truth" is Pratchett at his best. It is the story of how a changing Ankh Morpork with its influx of immigrants from Uberwald and elsewhere make it a hotbed of innovation. A book that promotes the idea of social mobility and openness. The story is enlivened by newspaper comedy reminiscent of the movie from the '30s "The front page".

Satire at its best
William de Worde can hardly imagine what he unleashes when he gives birth to his latest idea: let's publish a paper that actually tells everyone what is happening in Ankh-Morpork and abroad, certainly when it concerns vegetables that grow in a shape that is similar to the reproductive system of humans. Until now only the rich people got informed about things that might or might not have occurred last month. That is all about to change. For the better. Or the worse. When William and his reporter Sacharissa Cripslock unveil a murder attempt on Havelock Vetinari, not everyone is happy to read this in movable type. On top of that, the stone carvers cannot accept to lose their job because people simply start to recycle letters. Some measures need to be taken. Immediately.

When Terry Pratchett makes fun of something as influential as moveable type, it cannot be anything but hilarious. And indeed, The Truth proves to be one of the better episodes of the whole Discworld saga. In one go he guides us through a complete history of the printed press. From the early problems with the printing process, the struggle for independence of news gathering till the trend of printing what the people want even if it has not that much similarity with the truth. It is really funny to see the similarities with cases like Watergate. As an extra plus, also the city guard, under supervision of Commander Vimes, gets to play an important role. The Truth is a great example of great satire. It can even be fully enjoyed without knowing anything about the previous novels. Highly recommended. ... Read more

Product Description

Although they may feature witches and wizards, vampires and dwarves, along with the occasional odd human, Terry Pratchett's bestselling Discworld novels are grounded firmly in the modern world. Taking humorous aim at all our foibles, each novel reveals our true character and nature.

It's a dreamy midsummer's night in the Kingdom of Lancre. But music and romance aren't the only things filling the air. Magic and mischief are afoot, threatening to spoil the royal wedding of King Verence and his favorite witch, Magrat Garlick. Invaded by some Fairie Trash, soon it won't be only champagne that's flowing through the streets ...

Customer Reviews (79)

Elves by any other name
Nanny, Granny, and Magrat deal with an infestation of elves, and a wedding, in great style.Magus in love, travel to Lancre and a librarian at large.Gosh but Terry is great fun to read and better to hear.The quality of the recording is less than stellar as it puts the narrators voice as elves almost too soft for hearing.And do not miss the intro of Cassanunda, the worlds second best lover!

A great foray into the disc world

Not as good as the previous two, but still outstanding
The two novels that preceded LORDS AND LADIES -- WITCHES ABROAD and SMALL GODS -- are among my favorite in the entire series, so it isn't a terrible thing at all to say that this was not quite excellent as either of those.Nonetheless, the book is further testimony of how extraordinarily consistent (in a completely excellent sort of way) Pratchett is.Through the first fourteen novels there really isn't a clunker in the bunch and based on the eight or nine other novels in the series that I've read, the probably aren't any.

The one really sad part for me in my project of reading all of the Discworld novels from beginning to end is that I now have read over half of all of them, whether factoring in the young adult novels or not.I've now read the first fourteen novels as well as all of the City Watch and Moist von Lipwig novels, which means that pretty soon I'm going to run out.Now, mind you, I love the Discworld books the second time through as much as the first time, but there is nothing quite the same as reading a book for the first time.So even though I have over half the series in front of me in this reading/rereading, I have a decreasing number of first-reads, and the sadness is setting in.

One last comment on how much I love Terry Pratchett.A couple of years ago I had to spend a few days in the hospital.One of my closest friends offered to pick up some reading material at the local Borders.I asked her to pick up a few Discworld books.They were the only books I could think of that I felt would cheer me up while in the hospital.

Carpe Jugulum done right
For anyone who reads the Discworld books out of order (like me), Lords and Ladies will probably remind you a little of Carpe Jugulum(even though it came first, and Jugulum should really remind you of Lords, but let's not argue over chronology, shall we?). And yet, while Jugulum is good but a bit muddled, Lords takes what is essentially the same story (a malevolent force attempts to take over Lancre and the witches are all that stand in its way) and does it better, tightening the focus and giving the characters more room to breathe. It doesn't hurt things that the threat here is handled more strongly; while the vampires in Jugulum seemed like ineffectual boors, the elves here seem legitimately malicious, and Pratchett does a masterful slow burn working up to their appearance. Add to that a fascinating look at Granny Weatherwax's one true love, more wonderfully surreal philosophical conversations between Ridcully and Stibbons, more Librarian, and a great Shakespeare riff, and you have another wondrous Discworld novel. It's my favorite novel of the witches so far, and while I don't love them the way I love the Watch, there's no denying that even Pratchett's minor characters are more fully realized and complex than some writers will ever manage in their whole career, and the witches are no exception.

Superb
Returning to their home kingdom of Lancre after various misadventures elsewhere, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg are disconcerted to discover a new, younger and more hip coven of young witches has arisen in their absence. Whilst they deal with the situation with their traditional patience and thorough levels of understanding, Magrat finds that arrangements for her marriage to King Verence are steaming ahead and the invitations have been sent out already. One recipient is Mustrum Ridcully, Archchancellor of Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork who decides to attend on a whim (and the prospect of excellent fishing), dragging the terminally confused Bursar, the simian Librarian and the very keen young Ponder Stibbons (whose favourite word is 'quantum') along for the ride.

The wedding suffers a series of complications of the kind that are to be expected and some that are not, most notably a full-scale invasion by beings from another dimension. Naturally it is up to the witches of Lancre (plus an annoyed orang-utan, a legion of ninja morris dancers and a terminally frisky dwarf in a wig) to rise to the occasion...

Lords and Ladies is the fourteenth Discworld novel and the third featuring the Lancre witches' coven (and the fourth to feature Granny Weatherwax). Despite the novel working perfectly well as a stand-alone, Pratchett was sufficiently concerned about the book's continuity ties that he provides a thorough synopsis of Wyrd Sisters and a somewhat briefer one of Witches Abroad before cracking on with the tale, which is a nice touch but unnecessary.

One interesting device Pratchett starts employing in these middle-era Discworld books is taking a concept or idea mentioned very briefly earlier in the series and fleshing it out into a full-sized novel. For example, a running-gag in Reaper Man about a con artist and his trained mice eventually turned into The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents whilst the Hogfather was mentioned a few times before finally getting his own book. Similarly, Lords and Ladies builds on a very brief mention in The Light Fantastic where Twoflower starts dreamily talking about beautiful elves and Rincewind reacts the same way you would to someone saying, "Well, Hitler wasn't a completely bad person..." And of course, fans had been asking for a while where the Disc's elves were, since the dwarfs and trolls had been very much in evidence. With this book Pratchett delivered the answer.

It turns out that the Discworld's elves are a bunch of merciless and easily-amused homicidal maniacs with a perchance for toying with their prey before killing them. This leads to some of Pratchett's most effective horror and tension-filled sequences, not something he is renowned for but given how good he is at them it may be a style of writing he should have tried employing more often. Magrat's running battle with a bunch of elves in Lancre Castle stands out as one of the series' best action sequences, though still laced with some brilliant moments of humour (such as the introduction of the Schroedinger's Greebo paradox).

Granny Weatherwax, one of Pratchett's most complex and interesting characters, gets some very fine character development in this novel as we see some more of her past and also get a glimpse of the other lives she could have lived if things had turned out differently. Ridcully, hitherto one of Pratchett's more straightforward creations, also gets some much-needed depth to his character as well. The Bursar provides some amusing comic relief, but is thankfully not over-used. Some later books, most notably Interesting Times, are actually bogged down by his mindless babbling, but here it is more restrained. The return of Casanunda the permanently horny dwarf is also welcome and gives rise to several sequences which are among the funniest in the whole series (his lowwayman hold-up of Ridcully's coach is a classic scene).

After Small Gods, the best book in the series, Pratchett could have been forgiven for resting on his laurels and maybe bashing out a quickie Rincewind travelogue comedy or something. Instead, he cracked on and produced a book that is a strong candidate for the most relentlessly funny and entertaining book in the series, with a twisted dark side (possibly influenced by his then-recent collaboration with Neil Gaiman, Good Omens) and some great character development thrown in for good measure.

Funny at times, but heavy-handed
This is my first Pratchett book, and, judging from the book and some of the other reviews, perhaps that wasn't such a good choice. If one likes Tolkien, the Wizard of Oz, Hitchiker's Guide (which I don't like _that_ much), and Monty Python (really not my favorite) then Lords and Ladies could be good. It pokes fun at these other imaginary worlds, and does get you thinking about witches, magic, and even feminism in history. Very slow start, though -- no action for the first 140 pages or so. I almost gave up. Then it got exciting, albeit with drama at the level of a BBC comedy series. Satirical, but the narration, though implicit, is just too heavy-handed. If I try Pratchett again, I'll choose more carefully. ... Read more

Product Description

One moment, Sir Sam Vimes is in his old patrolman form, chasing a sweet-talking psychopath across the rooftops of Ankh-Morpork. The next, he's lying naked in the street, having been sent back thirty years courtesy of a group of time-manipulating monks who won't leave well enough alone. This Discworld is a darker place that Vimes remembers too well, three decades before his title, fortune, beloved wife, and impending first child. Worse still, the murderer he's pursuing has been transported back also. Worst of all, it's the eve of a fabled street rebellion that needlessly destroyed more than a few good (and not so good) men. Sam Vimes knows his duty, and by changing history he might just save some worthwhile necks -- though it could cost him his own personal future. Plus there's a chance to steer a novice watchman straight and teach him a valuable thing or three about policing, an impressionable young copper named Sam Vimes.

Customer Reviews (116)

The origins of the Night Watch

The great thing about Discworld is that time is of little consequence to Pratchett's universe and because of this fans are treated to a little history lesson in how the Night Watch became an important part of how Ankh-Morpork functions. Vimes in hot pursuit of maniacal killer is transported back to the watch of his youth and he in essence becomes his own mentor. A young Nobby Nobs, who becomes a much more sympathetic figure when Pratchett reveals his past, a rookie Sam Vimes, and a young assassin named Havelock all play a role in this adventure as Vimes desperately tries to keep time from fraying by playing the role of the hero of the events that are to come. This Ankh-Morpork is different than the one the readers are familiar with, it has a darkness that ways heavily on the novel. This ones for the real fans who want a glimpse of Ankh-Morpork's past and while a few loose ends are tied a bit too quicklyNIGHT WATCH is another enjoyable addition to the series.

A Different Yet Successful Discworld Novel
Night Watch is part of the extremely successful Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. Though it is still satire and fantasy comedy, it has a noticeably different tone from any other novel of his. While the majority of the books are fairly light in tone, and sometimes quite fantastic in plot, this novel is very different. There is a darker shade to this story, and some more violence than is common in these novels. There are less full on laughs here, mainly serving as off-shoots from the generally serious plot.
This of course is a good thing to my mind. Discworld, and satire in general, can be serious while at the same time being good.

Most of all though, this is a story about Vimes. He's really the only main character here, and the fact that I like the character makes that a good thing.
On characters, the villain of the piece, Carcer, is a bit of a cardboard cutout. Unlike Vimes he has no real motive, personality or story, except to be the stock maniac. In an odd way this almost works, since it allows the reader to focus entirely on Vimes.
The portrayal of the city thirty years before is one of the best things about this story. The change between the two is highlighted, as is the subtle brilliance of Vetinari in both past and present.

Overall, I like this the most of any of the Discworld books for its story. It's not the funniest of them, but I think it's the one I've enjoyed the most.

Mixed
Certainly one of the stronger Discworld books, and plays with some more potent emotions than usual. As well, the whole device of using the city past as dystopia was interesting, quite different from the norm for genre writers showing an oppressive setting. There's a lot to like scene to scene, with atmosphere and direct moments. The book also benefits from one of Pratchett's epiphanies (Vimes's recognition of Ankh-Morpork as a process, and then later ensuring Carcer would get a fair trial in the same spirit) and, in Carcer himself, one of the series' more creepy and plausible villains.

One implicit strand on this novel is that while earlier versions of most of the usual Ankh-Morpork cast show up as younger versions--Vimges, Colon, Nobbs, Vetinari--Carrot is completely absent. This makes sense, after all he arrived at the city in Guards! Guards! and this work obviously needed to be set before that, but it also fits with the general atmosphere of the piece. This is an environment where naive optimism gets hammered out more than it changes the world, where political change derives from back stage political decisions that doesn't alter essentials.

Still, for the hype I've heard of this book I was left a bit disappointed, and it perhaps indicates some of the aesthetic limits of the Discworld, that for all of Pratchett's good comedy and neatly rendered ideas he's not on the level of writers like Mieville, Valente or Kiernan. It seems Pratchett holds back at crucial points, and will go for the bit of satire or historical parallel over full emotional commitment to his invented situation. Specific things that bugged in Night Watch:
-It seems Pratchett gave in too much to the temptation to make cute continuity references. Was it really necessary for Vimes to encounter younger versions of as many people as he did?
-Vimes himself has grown to be a bit tedious, post Men at Arms. Too self-assured and self-righteous for it to be great fun spending a few hundred pages in his head, and his struggle with his urge to rage is rendered over-simplistically ('the monster inside him stirred')
-Vetinari's presence was largely a wasted opportunity, making a lot of jokes on invisibility and rendering him as unexplainedly helpful rather than showing him developing towards the political thinker seen in other books. Given the most looming contrast between the Night Watch era and "modern" Ankh-Morpork is Vetinari's role as Patrician, that seems to leave a bit of a void at the heart of the politics in this work.
Still, overall quite enjoyable and interesting, and I found it far more satisfactory than Unseen Academicals.

Similar to and better than: Terry Pratchett's Thief of Time
Similar to and worse than: Yevgeny Zamyatin's We

Pratchett's Masterpiece
A Discworld novel that goes beyond mere comedy fantasy.This is Terry Pratchett at his literary best.When Pratchett is reassessed by critics and writers in the future, not just as a satirist or a fantasy writer but as a novelist, this will be regarded as his best achievement and the quintessence of his psychological story-telling style.

The best of Terry Pratchett
I am a fan of Discworld and I honestly believe this is the best of the Watch books and of all of Pratchett's work. Night Watch hits all the proper notes: it's funny as heck, has great character work (especially with Sam Vimes), and can get quite emotional. ... Read more

Product Description
The Unadulterated Cat is becoming an endangered species as more and more of us settle for those boring mass-produced cats the ad-men sell us - the pussies that purr into their gold-plated food bowls on the telly.But the Campaign for Real Cats sets out to change all that by helping us to recognise a true, unadulterated cat when we see one. For example: real cats have ears that look like they've been trimmed with pinking shears; real cats never wear flea collars ...or appear on Christmas cards ...or chase anything with a bell in it; real cats do eat quiche. And giblets. And butter. And anything else left on the table, if they think they can get away with it. Real cats can hear a fridge door opening two rooms away ... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (29)

Not the Discworld but still Pratchett
You can't go wrong with Terry Pratchett...Not the Discworld and not the same amount of laugh-out-loud humour but still a good read.

The true cat
A marvelous book.Easy to read and a laugh from beginning to end.The only experience I felt he missed was the 'bathing the cat' experience but ... do real cats have baths?

So, you think you own a cat?...

Somewhere in the limitless possibilities of reality and consciousness there is a young man named Schrodinger in a box with a vial of radioactive material and a device which may - or may not - break the vial and immediately end the consciousness of the young man.He is both alive and dead, and is doubtless bleeding from the back of his heels, because somewhere in his future he had (purposeful shift in tense) proposed a thought experiment that begins with the extremely hazardous suggestion that an individual place a cat in a box.

And cats hold grudges, even if you haven't angered them yet.

In The Unadulterated Cat, Pratchett endeavors to define a Real cat (as opposed to those fluffy, squished-faced monstrosities that can apparently eat their food out of crystal dishes without tipping them over).Punctuated with telling cartoons by Gray Jolliffe, Pratchett provides a 150+ page description of those horrible beasts, and even provides some analysis as to why we (cats and their roommates) tolerate each other.I have long been under the impression that my own cats are just horribly uncatlike beasts, especially when forced to consider such adorable and friendly examples in literature and the Facebook photo albums of (childless) friends, but Pratchett has shown me otherwise.My cats are undeniably Real cats.

While I certainly enjoy Pratchett's writing style, I believe my partner enjoyed The Unadulterated Cat far more than I.But that's really to be expected, because my partner is the true cat lover in our household.After reading what my Real cats are truly capable of I think I'll stay loyal to my ridiculous cat-sized dog.

not his best work, but fun
If you're a cat lover, you will like this, but it is not Terry Pratchett's best work by a long shot.It seems more like something he wrote over a weekend.

Too funny and too true
This book is very funny and a great read. It is very typical of his other work but shorter. If you have ever been owned by a cat you will understand this book immediately. If you have never had a cat, this will give you a good sample of what it would be like. ... Read more

Product Description

Everyone knows that the world is flat, and supported on the backs of four elephants. But weren't there supposed to be five? Indeed there were. So where is it?...

When duty calls. Commander Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork constabulary answers. Even when he doesn't want to. He's been "invited" to attend a royal function as both detective and diplomat. The one role he relishes; the other requires, well, ruby tights. Of course where cops (even those clad in tights) go, alas, crime follows. An attempted assassination and a theft soon lead to a desperate chase from the low halls of Discworld royalty to the legendary fat mines of Uberwald, where lard is found in underground seams along with tusks and teeth and other precious ivory artifacts. It's up to the dauntless Vimes -- bothered as usual by a familiar cast of Discworld inhabitants (you know, trolls, dwarfs, werewolves, vampires and such) -- to solve the puzzle of the missing pachyderm. Which of course he does. After all, solving mysteries is his job.Amazon.com Review
Terry Pratchett has a seemingly endless capacity for generating inventively comic novels about the Discworld and its inhabitants, but there is in the hearts of most of his admirers a particular place for those novels that feature the hard-bitten captain of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, Samuel Vimes. Sent as ambassador to the Northern principality of Uberwald where they mine gold, iron, and fat--but never silver--he is caught up in an uneasy truce between dwarfs, werewolves, and vampires in the theft of the Scone of Stone (a particularly important piece of dwarf bread) and in the old werewolf custom of giving humans a short start in the hunt and then cheating.

Pratchett is always at his best when the comedy is combined with a real sense of jeopardy that even favorite characters might be hurt if there was a good joke in it. As always, the most unlikely things crop up as the subjects of gags--Chekhov, grand opera, the Caine Mutiny--and as always there are remorselessly funny gags about the inevitability of story:

They say that the fifth elephant came screaming and trumpeting through the atmosphere of the young world all those years ago and landed hard enough to split continents and raise mountains.

No one actually saw it land, which raised the interesting philosophical question: when millions of tons of angry elephant come spinning through the sky, and there is no one to hear it, does it--philosophically speaking--make a noise?

As for the dwarfs, whose legend it is, and who mine a lot deeper than other people, they say that there is a grain of truth in it.

All this, the usual guest appearances, and Gaspode the Wonder Dog. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Customer Reviews (99)

Probably the best Pratchett
Except for I shall wear midnight which is on my shelf winking at me, I have read them all and this one is probably my favorite.
Among my all-time preferred you would also find
- A hat full of sky
- Jingo
- Guards guards
I liked a lot the hat full of sky, equal rites, wyrd systers and the wee free men, so I am bracing for a blast with I shall wear midnight, but for now the fifth elephant still remains my preferred one.
Ever.

Abridged audioCD was unacceptable
In this abridged audio version, the story line became disjointed. The clues to
characters and plot, and the setup for sudden puns and allusions that make Terry Pratchett books
astonishing were wiped out of context. Also, I was disappointed that the reader didn't use a range of voices and accents. The experience was like eating dry toast.
I returned this product and bought the book. I am a HUGE Terry Pratchett fan.

Review of the Audio Book Narrated by Stephen Briggs
Briefly, Sam Vimes is appointed Ambassador for Ankh-Morpork to Überwald to attend the installation of the new Low King of the Dwarfs.Lord Vetinari appoints Sergeant Fred Colon as the acting Commander of the Watch of Ankh-Morpork while Vimes is engaged in his ambassadorial duties.Angua, the werewolf on the Watch, is drawn back to Überwald to deal with a conspiracy involving her family.Carrots follows her.Meanwhile a replica of the Scone of Stone, an ancient and revered Dwarf bakery product, is stolen and a the owner of a company that produces rubber products is found dead in a vat of his own rubber.

All of these part combine to create a not quite top of the line, but still very good Discworld novel.Further, it is read by Stephen Briggs who has a connection with the series dating back to a production of Wyrd Sisters he staged in 1991.His voices, including that of the Clerk Inigo Skimmer, mhm-mhm, assigned by Vetinari to the Ambassadorial retinue, are entertaining, easy to understand and consistent, both inside this book and with the other Discworld books he has narrated.

The copy I listened to ran for about 11 hours.A very good entertainment value. The Audible download link goes to the abridged Tony Robinson version which I do not recommend because I don't like abridged audio books, but the Briggs version is available on Audible with a bit of exploration.

Funny, as usual
Terry Pratchett has done it again - as expected.His tour-de-force performances with practically every volume of his Discworld series has become the defacto standard that he has set for himself.

Once again, Sam Vines, Commander of the City Watch of the magnificently squalid city of Ankh-Morpork, finds himself in an awkwardly uncomfortable situation.Once again, Sam Vines, Commander of the City Watch of Lord Vetinari's personal chessboard, manages to overcome all odds and finesse his way out of a mess.In the course of all this, there is the whole gamut of humor, ranging from amused smiles, past sudden, surprised guffaws, to helpless outbursts of uncontrolled laughter.Mr. Pratchett has managed to do it again.

What can I say?Nobody does the satirical fantasy humor genre nearly as well as Terry Pratchett.May the gods (and goddesses) that inhabit Dunmanifestin save us if anyone ever does: we'd probably all expire from an overdose of laughter!

Terrific continuation of an ongoing saga
One of the things I like best about the Discworld series is that you don't have to take it in order.Terry Pratchett has created a full world with diverse citizenry and wonderful stories.In this story Commander Vimes gets sent out on a diplomatic mission by Lord Ventinari. I enjoyed getting to know Lady Sybil a little better. ... Read more

Product Description

Amazingly, former arch-swindler-turned-Postmaster General Moist von Lipwig has somehow managed to get the woefully inefficient Ankh-Morpork Post Office running like . . . well, not like a government office at all. Now the supreme despot Lord Vetinari is asking Moist if he'd like to make some real money. Vetinari wants Moist to resuscitate the venerable Royal Mint—so that perhaps it will no longer cost considerably more than a penny to make a penny.

Customer Reviews (128)

funny & lively
Not my sort of book at all, I read it because my book club chose it, but it was exceedingly clever, witty, sharp, very good allegory & superb dialogue.Whacky, original, fun.It's still not my sort of book, but I enjoyed romping through it.

Cold cash
Moist von Lipwig, tired after making the Post Office such as success in "Going Postal", is itching for a new challenge - Vetinari sees this and turns Lipwig onto the banks and currency. Thusly Moist enters into a similar story to his last one where instead of the post, he is tasked with rejuvenating the money. The usual cast of new characters who seem familiarly like some previous new characters are present as are stock favourites, Vetinari, Vimes, Carrot, and a cameo by Death.

As others have pointed out the similarities to "Going Postal" are glaring and this is the problem with "Making Money" in that it has the feeling that we've been here before, not 2 years ago in fact! Sadly, it's very predictable fare. As Nobbs points out to Colon in the first third of the book: "Odds, sarge?" "You're running a book, Nobby. You always run a book" "Can't get any takers, sarge. Foregone conclusion. Everyone thinks he'll win" (p.132). And he does. A foregone conclusion. Yawn.

It wouldn't be so bad if Pratchett had made some interesting villains or obstacles but what we get is a rich guy who wants to be Vetinari, and something ominous but vague about golems which is quickly resolved in a paragraph at the end. Hardly edge of the seat stuff. Even the "secret" of Mr Bent, one of the new characters, is poor stuff. It's built up throughout the book and then revealed in a very weak punchline at the end. Vetinari disappointingly is present through much of the book when before he would have a couple of pages at the beginning and a couple at the end. His menace and mystique goes from interesting and dark to being that of a stern headmaster who is nonetheless approachable.

Also, there isn't much satire here. What exactly is he lampooning? Pratchett's always very sharp on his targets in Discworld but there doesn't seem to be a target here except that he wanted to introduce paper money to the citizens of Ankh Morpork which, really, he could have mentioned in a throwaway line in a better Discworld book ("What's this paper money for? Where's the gold?" "Y'know that Lipwig fellow? Vetinari put him in charge of the banks, so that's what we've got now" "Oh").

Who'd have thought it with Pratchett's ingenuinty - a by-the-numbers Discworld book? And it's hinted at the end that Moist will reappear to re-do the Ankh Morpork tax system! Dear me, I sincerely hope that book never materialises. The character of Moist was good for one book, two is stretching it, three is too much.

I can't bash this too much being a lifelong Discworld fan. It's well written and has enough going on to hold the interest even if you can see what's going to happen a mile off. Still, a visit to Ankh Morpork is always welcome and it's fun to see the familiar characters once again. Ideally a new Death book would be best but hey ho I guess Terry's lost interest in him and is content to churn out Young Adult Discworld like the atrocious Tiffany Aching/Nac Mac Feegle books. I just hope Terry goes with two of his other ideas "Snuff" featuring Vimes, and/or "Scouting for Trolls" a riff on "Scouting for Boys" instead of rounding off the trilogy of Moist (Moist! That name!) books.

What happened to my favorite book series?
I own all of the Discworld series novels, both the young adult books and the adult ones.
I guess you could say that this is my favorite book series.
There are so many memorable characters, so many twists and turns to the plots, and everything always works in the end.
Besides a few initial novels, the books are very well written, extremely witty, and worth rereading especially during a finals week when your brain needs some relaxation time.
HOWEVER, throughout this series there have been two books that I have NOT enjoyed, one was "Eric" (in which I never laughed once) and the other was "Making Money."

As I read "Making Money," the book felt like a rough draft not a completed work.
Story tellers have to capture their audience's attention and weave a tale that keeps them spellbound and wanting more.
The flow of the story, the drive to the end that keeps you unable to set a book down, and (when you did put the book down) the excitement of hardly being able to wait for the ending - all that was missing from "Making Money."
All the pieces for a great plot were there, and there were glimpses of greatness in it (like Cosmo's ending), but somehow it all fell flat.

Many of the jokes, gags, and supposed silliness in Making Money, were just not that funny.
It felt like the author was looking for cheap laughs or his humor just failed to be well humerus (which is not something I usually associate with this author)
Old men having as much sex as possible before they died leaving behind closets full of sex toys, or old men without teeth goggling at scantily clad women - that is not funny; its disgusting and sad.
A chain smoking women who puts high heels through peoples feet - not funny.
A wealthy family out to kill each other and sue each other at the drop of a hat - how is that funny?
The man slowly dying from an infection in his finger spreading all over his body, was frankly gross.
Eating sheep a sheep's head - yuck.
A man who was frequently attacked by his dentures and killed by them - was gross.
In fact, the number of times I thought "gross" or "sad" in this book was pretty high.
Not at all what I was hoping to read when i picked up this book.
A clown does show up and throw pies in people's faces - but so what?It was not enough to save the book.


I know this review seems pretty harsh, but come on, this author can write so much better than this and this book was not worth my time or my money.

The idea is the same but author is different
The biggest mistake I made was of nor paying attention or being lazy to double cheeck and purchase paper-back. Book is of inferior quality. About the subject it keeps
you on your toes but by the middle it becomes apperent book was written by some one very familiar with Terry's style but not the knowledge. Language of this book to compare to his previous works would be as to compare Modarne author to authors of 19th century.

Pratchett's Dry Humor Delivers Again
As one of the Discworld series, the book follows the continuing adventures of Moist von Lipwig, "reformed" con man, as he takes over Ankh-Morpork's banking industry. With his usual flair for sadistic characters and dry humor, Pratchett has produced another book that makes you laugh out loud! ... Read more

Product Description

When her dear old Granddad -- the Grim Reaperhimself -- goes missing, Susan takes over the family business. The progeny of Death's adopted daughter and his apprentice, she shows real talent for the trade. That is until a little string in her heart goes "twang."

With a head full of dreams and a pocketful of lint,Imp the Bard lands in Ankh-Morpork, yearning to become a rock star. Determined to devote his life to music, the unlucky fellow soon finds that all his dreams are coming true. Well almost.

In this finger-snapping, toe-tapping tale of youth,Death, and rocks that roll, Terry Pratchett once again demonstrates the wit and genius that have propelled him to the highest echelons of parody next to Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Carl Hiaasen.

Customer Reviews (82)

Not one of his best, odd formatting
For some reason they changed the formatting of Death's dialog from previous Discworld books, even though it's the same publisher.It used to be printed in a small caps font that fit in well with the rest of the book, now it is big ALL CAPS formatting that jumps out of the page and is a little overwhelming.

This is the 8th or 9th Discworld book I've read and the others were better, the characters were more developed.

Thoroughly entertaining and lots of fun
This wouldn't rank among my favorite Discworld books, but it is still a heck of a lot of fun.And if you love rock and roll, it is a lot of fun, with endless rock and roll references and bad puns.When Death bums some change so that he can continue his drinking binge, Pratchett writes of "the grateful Death."We learn of a band previously known as The Whom and Lead Balloon (actually Led Zeppelin allegedly got tis name from Keith Moon, who told Jimmy page that his new band, tentatively named The New Yardbirds, was going to go down like a lead balloon).The main band in the book, loosely modeled on the Beatles, with Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler serving as their Brian Epstein, has them play in The Cavern, which anyone who loves the Beatles knows was the name of the Liverpool club where they established themselves in Great Britain.

The other main plot concerns Death deciding to try to forget his memories of things that haven't happened yet and his granddaughter Susan temporarily takes over.She even has THE VOICE!Any Discworld book that features significant quantities of Death, C.M.O.T. Dibbler, and the Librarian is going to be at least minimally decent.The book doesn't have the gravitas or a sufficiently satisfying plot to be among the elite Discworld novels, but it is still an utterly delightful book. I'm convinced that there are no completely bad Discworld books (though ERIC comes close).As a group they have to be not merely the finest long series of comic fantasy novels, but are the best series of comic novels of any kind.At present I'm working my way through all of the Discworld books in order of publication, after having read about a dozen in random order.There are a few I may not reread later (like ERIC), but this is definitely one I'll read again at some point.

Entertaining, but not one of the best books in the series
Imp y Celyn, trained as a musician in a druid society, arrives in Ankh-Morpork ready to seek his fortune. Instead, the city rapidly deprives him of the few riches he already has. Teaming up with the dwarf horn-blower Glod and the troll drummer Lias, Imp braves the wrath of the Musicians' Guild by playing without a licence. When he acquires a special guitar from a back-alley shop, Imp learns that he and his band are meant for greatness, for sex and drugs and Music With Rocks In (well, one out of three isn't that bad).

Meanwhile, Susan, the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Sto Helit, is rather perturbed to learn that she is the granddaughter of Death, and when her grandfather decides to take some time off she has to step in and do the job. Which would be fine except that when it becomes time for her to collect the soul of a certain musician, she learns that music doesn't want him to die. At least, not until it decides the time is right...

Soul Music is the Discworld's take on rock music, essentially doing for music what Moving Pictures did for movies. In fact, Pratchett lampshades this a couple of times, with references to the events of that earlier book informing events (such as Ridcully becoming convinced horrible Things from the Dungeon Dimensions are about to break through the walls of reality at any second). The problem is that whilst he does this amusingly, Pratchett never really breaks away from the basic concept. He throws some great new ideas and characters into the mix, with the introduction of HEX (the Discworld's first AI-based computer), the Duck Man and the excellent character of Susan, who recurs in several future books, but overall it does feel like Pratchett is retreading old ground here. The Death storyline is also somewhat under-developed, with no real reason for Death suddenly taking a few weeks off being given. In fact, it feels very odd he would after the chaos this caused last time in Reaper Man (the events of which are also referenced several times, making Soul Music one of the most continuity-heavy books in the series).

Of course, as has been said in these reviews before, Pratchett on autopilot is still better than most writers at the very top of their game. Pratchett has a huge knowledge of music and lets the reader know it with references (both overt and subtle) to Buddy Holly, Elvis, the Beatles, the Stones, the Who, Meat Loaf, punk rock and The Blues Brothers roaring past the reader like bullets from a machine gun. The pace is fast, the narrative is tight and some of the cliches of rock 'n' roll are very cleverly used to set up and further the storyline.

The problem is that Soul Music, whilst entertaining, lacks the spark of greatness that infused the three books that preceded it, and if read in close conjunction with the earlier volumes it does feel like a slight step down in quality. The new characters are not quite as memorable as those in the books which preceded it and the running gag with the Bursar's insanity and dried frog pills is starting to wear pretty thin by this point. Pratchett also has a slight problem with the cameos from the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, who in their own books get involved whenever something crazy happens in the city and eventually sort it out, but in other characters' volumes simply come across as useless and somewhat pointless, which seems a bit disrespectful of them after their fine achievements in Men at Arms.

Still, these are really minor problem. Soul Music (****) remains a very entertaining and readable novel, and is available now in the UK and USA. An animated movie based on the book is also available in the USA (in a double-pack with Wyrd Sisters) on DVD, although it is currently out-of-print in the UK.

A little disappointing
A little disappointing
SOUL MUSIC introduces the reader to Death's grandaughgter Susan (Maybe Pratchett saw Mort as a losing proposition as I did) and gives her chance to step into the family business as Grandad's gone missing again and she's called into duty. While there are a lot of clever bits here (I particularly like the Death of Rats a wickedly funny idea) and Susan is a nice addition to Discworld, this is another example of Death takes a holiday that I found to be a bit tired. I also wasn't enamored with the birth of rock and roll in Discworld which just seemed a bit lame in execution. Pratchett is always a fun read but I didn't find this up to his usual standards.

Music & Death
Masterful puns, entertaining characters, family business, wizards, guilds, music and Death -- it'd have to be Pratchett -- who else could weave such a collection in any one book. I found this a hard slog at times, but all-in-all it was great fun and I loved the exploration of Death and the Death business. ... Read more

Product Description

When the Spirit of Winter takes a fancy to Tiffany Aching, he wants her to stay in his gleaming, frozen world. Forever. It will take the young witch's skill and cunning, as well as help from the legendary Granny Weatherwax and the irrepressible Wee Free Men, to survive until Spring. Because if Tiffany doesn't make it to Spring—

Customer Reviews (96)

The Lord of Winter and the Lady of Sumner
This is the third in Terry Pritchett's wonderful"YA" Fantasy series.I put the "" around "YA" as this book (and the entire series) is suitable for all but the youngest readers, and I heartily recommend it for the older crowd- of which I am part.

Tiffany Aching is a Witch.Well, no, she doesn't actually cast hexes or curses or sell love potions or tell fortunes- and in fact few Witches on Discworld do any "real" magic at all.Mostly what they do is tend to their "flock"- usually a small rural village. They use herbals, "headology", give advice, help with the lambing, sit with the dead, visit the elderly, and so forth.Mind you, they do wear pointy hats and ride a broomstick now and then.

Tiffany has made a mistake- when invited to watch the Black Morris (performed at the start of Winter- and in all other ways the opposite of the Morris dance) she intervenes and takes the place of the Lady Of Summer who dances with the Wintersmith. This intrigues the Lord of Winter, who decides he now needs to become "human" and woo our young heroine. What's interesting here is that the "villain" is not in any way "evil"- he just makes some bad decisions out of ignorance- he thinks eternal Winter won't really be all that bad!

How Tiffany solves this problem as well as handling all her duties as a "Witch"- as well as growing up, it the crux of this delightful and often humorous book.

Lots of fun..
If you are a Terry Pratchett fan, you know what to expect.If you have not read a disc world adventure yet, watch where you read this because you may find yourself laughing out loud.All of the sudden, you look up and people are looking at you strangely.You might have just entered disc world...

Another great Tiffany Aching book!
I always try to space out my Terry Pratchett books now that I'm finally catching up to the latest books, so when I saw that the newest Tiffany book would be coming out, I decided it was time. Needless to say, this book once again reaffirmed my love for Pratchett.

Since there's so many reviews out there already, I'm going to skip the description paragraph. If you're a Terry Pratchett & Tiffany Aching fan, you'll know what this book is about. If you aren't aware of either, I really do suggest that you start with the previous books. You could probably read this without reading the previous once, but you'd miss out on a lot of fun & backstory.

There's a lot to like in this latest book. It's interesting to see what makes up the majority of witch training (mostly housework, if you were curious) & as always, I love seeing the interactions between Tiffany & Granny Weatherwax. Readers will also enjoy seeing Tiffany mature- she's starting to move past her childhood years & is starting to gain more confidence in herself as well as start noticing (reluctantly so) the opposite gender. Especially fun is the advice Nanny Ogg gives her as far as dealing with the opposite sex in general. (On a side note, Nanny's home is called Tir Nanny Ogg- how cute is that?)

While the book does have a few scenes that dragged a bit, overall this was an entertaining read that fans of Tiffany Aching in particular & Terry Pratchett fans in general will absolutely adore!

Wintersmith Recording very pleasant to listen to on way to work and back.
It's typical Terry Pratchett and is read very well.Enjoyed the whimsical story and the lightness it brings to my very stressful job.If you like tongue-in-cheek humor, sarcasm, and a little bit of ridiculous fantasy you will feel at home in this book. Just know that it is not about amazing story with intricate plot twists--it is purely entertainment that leaves you feeling good and with a feeling of liking and knowing the characters.

Wintersmith
this is one of the three about Tiffany Aching and the Wee Free Men - typical of Terry Pratchett's style. I was sorry to finish them - Pratchett's sense of humour and bizarre imagination can be relied on for a great read.

They seem to be classified as children's books, but apart from the fact that it is about a young girl, the stories are as entertaining as all of the other Terry Pratchett stories. The idea of the Wee Free Men is brilliant and their speech, a brogue, is perfect. I hope there are more in this series. ... Read more

Product Description
Most of us grow up having always known to touch wood or cross our fingers, and what happens when a princess kisses a frog or a boy pulls a sword from a stone, yet sadly some of these things are now beginning to be forgotten. Legends, myths, fairytales: our world is made up of the stories we told ourselves about where we came from and how we got there. It is the same on Discworld, except that beings which on Earth are creatures of the imagination - like vampires, trolls, witches and, possibly, gods - are real, alive and in some cases kicking on the Disc. In The Folklore of Discworld, Terry Pratchett teams up with leading British folklorist Jacqueline Simpson to take an irreverent yet illuminating look at the living myths and folklore that are reflected, celebrated and affectionately libelled in the uniquely imaginative universe of Discworld. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great but not everything I was hoping for
Being very familiar with the books, I guess I was hoping for a bit more here.It's about 3/4 covering what we already know from the books themselves, with some background on context from US folklore, mostly consisting of here-they-believe-that.I was hoping for disc folklore beyond what's in the books (surely they can make stuff up :-) I mean, Pratchett is listed as an author!).But it's quite readable and entertaining and I do recommend it highly; and some interesting information, such as the origin of the name Sator Square and the King of the Bean.

Informative and entertaining!
I've always found myself fascinated by some of the customs and beliefs I read about in the Discworld series. Some of them, like the Names Have Power trope or Baba Yaga's hut, are common to most fantasy. But others are, like the idea that standing stones get up and move around or the magpie rhymes, ones I've never come across outside of the series.

So it was with great glee that I ordered this book from Amazon's UK site at the same time as I was placing an order for other things (note to Americans: if you want books and DVDs and the like you can't get here, you can't beat Amazon UK or Amazon Canada. The shipping fees are even pretty reasonable!). I was looking forward to a good read and was not disappointed.

The book is surprisingly dense. I hadn't expected much more than a basic overview of some of the folklore from the series, but what I got instead was a thick, detailed tome describing in great detail not just what the people in Discworld believe, but how it relates to customs and beliefs here in the real world.

This book covers all the Discworld books, including the most recent, "Unseen Academicals". I'd recommend it for fans who had have read most, if not all, of the books, but I'd also recommend it to people who just have an interest in folklore, since you'll find quite a lot here.

very interesting if you love history
this book takes you in to the history of our world. As well as disk world. It's quite a read.

Nineteen versions??
Folklore, ancient or modern, is one of the major foundation stones of the Discworld books.Human nature being another, one assumes.Discworld folklore is a trivia test among Discworld fans who will slyly ask one another [generally over a pint], if they can identify the origins of a certain figure or idea.With some slight discrepancies between UK and North American versions, such exchanges can become, well, spirited."Elves or elfs?" is always good for starting an evening.

Pratchett and Simpson sort all this out - and much else besides - in this delightful work on matters folklorish.Typically, the prompt for the book was Pratchett chanting as he signed a previous release: "How many versions of the Magpie Song do you know?"A distinguished-looking lady gave the query a moment's thought and responded "about nineteen"Thus began the wonderful collaboration leading to FoD.It's typical also of the theme of the book.Discworld and Roundworld [Earth] are linked by the universal presence of narrativium, which Dimitri Mendeleev inexplicably omitted from the Periodic Table.Pratchett knows all about narrativium, carefully explaining how it drifts between universes, carrying ideas or stimulating new ones.Folklore on the Discworld compared to that of Earth may demonstrate strong similarities, or just vague likenesses that have been severely modified.The process is unhelpful, the authors note, in determining which world is the source of the story, which is sometimes a let-down.

The book's organisation is appropriate for what it must cover - it begins with the entire universe.From there it works its way through Dwarfs and Elves, giving us an interesting account of how the Elves, feared and despised on Discworld for their dark and evil ways, have somehow become transformed in modern times into charming little creatures who make toys for children.Drifting through space, narrativium must form some bizarre isotopes.The two witch types - those from Lancre and the Witches of the Chalk Downs are described.The Nac Mac Feegle are given a full chapter, which might be viewed as insufficient as you read it.Granny Aching truly deserves a book of her own.The chapter on Heroes is extensive, justifiably, when you discover the variety of Heroes Pratchett has introduced to us.Finally, almost as icing on a delicious cake, the authors provide a "Bibliography and Suggestions for Further Reading".Plan your book budget carefully.

For those in North America who think this book might be too limited in scope to be worth the investment, think carefully of your own family ancestry.While much of the material is limited to the British Isles, no small part is derived from the rest of Europe and elsewhere.Those tales and legends your ancestors took on board ship to cross the Atlantic didn't go over the rail with breakfast at the first roll of the vessels on the high seas.Those stories survived to take root here and sprout new versions of themselves in the new environment.Go through this book and see if you can't find a few you recognise.Besides the bloody elves and the obese bloke with the demented laugh. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada] ... Read more

Product Description
It's bad enough being new on the job, but Teppic hasn't a clue as to what a pharaoh is supposed to do. After all, he's been trained at Ankh-Morpork's famed assassins' school, across the sea from the Kingdom of the Sun.First, there's the monumental task of building a suitable resting place for Dad -- a pyramid to end all pyramids. Then there are the myriad administrative duties, such as dealing with mad priests, sacred crocodiles, and marching mummies. And to top it all off, the adolescent pharaoh discovers deceit, betrayal -- not to mention a headstrong handmaiden -- at the heart of his realm.

Customer Reviews (60)

The more you know the better it is
Fact; if you know nothing about Egypt, the pyramids, Pharoahs and Mummies this book will disappoint you.

Fact; if you are a fan of TP then the more you now about the afore mentioned subjects the better this book will be for you.

This may be one of the books that TP had to do the most research for as every page is a delight, there are twists, commentaries, and ironies aplenty, and the beauty is that everything is based upon theories, facts and history that make all of these things even funnier, and more thought provoking.

Recommendation; dig out a book on the seven wonders of the world, read up on the pyramids, and then read this book; it will seem all the better for doing the initial research.

One of those odd entries in the series.
Every once in a while there appears a book in Pratchett's generally excellent series that really doesn't quite fit in; a book that, through setting or plot, just doesn't possess the quality usually found in the series. Pyramids is one of those outliers. This book has the weakest of connections to Discworld as a whole. Taking place in Discworld's version of Egypt, this one is populated by characters you're unlikely to meet again in the series and if the hero, Teppic, hadn't been educated at the Assassin's Guild, this could have been a separate fantasy novel for all it had to do with Discworld. The nature of the Egyptian belief in the pharaoh as god, is examined here; I'm really not sure for what purpose. It seems with this one, the idea and the execution both came up short. Although there are silly bits about the nature of the afterlife, with mummies staggering around, and the power of pyramids makes for an equally funny commentary on some new age beliefs, the overall effect of this one is fleeting, making it one of the weaker Discworld books.

My favorite of the first seven books in the Discworld series
You never know for sure how you are going to respond to a book before you actually read it.I recently read two more books in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, WYRD SISTERS and PYRAMIDS.(I had previously read about a third of the Discworld books, but I'm currently reading all of them in order of publication.)I had imagined that I was going to love WYRD SISTERS, knowing that it was filled with Shakespearean references, and imagined that I was going to dislike PYRAMIDS, since I am pretty uninterested in Egyptian mythology and religion.And given that the novel was set in an area of the Discworld in which we were not likely to encounter any of I was wrong.I enjoyed WYRD SISTERS well enough, but I didn't love it like I expected.But I absolutely adored PYRAMIDS.The novel is nothing short of absolutely hysterical, with Pratchett's inventiveness hitting on all cylinders, with one deliciously absurd character after another.The scenes where Dios exerts complete control over the actions of Teppic are among the finest Pratchett has produced, while the delightful beast known as You Bastard are among my favorite creatures in the entire Disc.The scenes in which Teppeic and Dios exchange words are unfailingly delightful.But I may prefer ever more the moments in which we learn that camels are the most brilliant creatures on the Disc and that they are oblivious to others because they are perpetually engaged in working out problems in higher mathematics.The book also has a brilliant encounter between Teppic and the Sphinx, with some typical Pratchettian twists on the tale.

I didn't actually dislike WYRD SISTERS.The problem was more that I have never really been drawn to the witches to begin with.Just a matter of taste.I did enjoy the references to Shakespeare.Have the joy of Pratchett is getting his various cultural allusions.For instance, any Gene Wolfe fan will love the title of Part Three of PYRAMIDS, "The Book of the New Son."But it isn't enough merely to have references to Shakespeare; the allusions must stand up on their own, and my own feeling was that the Shakespearean elements in the book were the weakest part of the book.

So here is the paradox:I thought I was going to love WYRD SISTERS and dislike PYRAMIDS, whereas PYRAMIDS is my favorite of the first seven books in the series while WYRD SISTERS is my least favorite.Just shows to go that you need to read books before knowing whether or not you will like them.

Kindle edition - NO FOOTNOTES
Not one of my favorite books, which is why i don't have it on my bookshelf.I bought the kindle edition to re-read one of my favorite authors.I was highly disappointed in the fact that there are no footnotes included in the Kindle edition.All of those little sidejokes that I look forward to in Pratchett's novels are omitted.I was going to buy other Pratchett books on the Kindle....

A strong book in the series
Young Prince Teppic is sent forth by his father, the ruler of the desert kingdom of Djelibeybi, who sends him to Ankh-Morpork to join the Assassin's Guild. Teppic is successful in his studies there, but, seven years later, the death of his father sees him recalled to take up the mantle of pharoah.

Unfortunately for all concerned, Teppic comes home with some strange notions about plumbing and the benefits of feather mattresses, which is not good news to the head priest, Dios, who prides himself on how things are run in the kingdom precisely as they were seven thousand years ago. New ideas are not welcome in the Old Kingdom...

Pyramids (subtitled 'The Book of Going Forth'), the seventh Discworld book, is one of several 'sleeper' hits in the series. Much more attention is lavished on the book preceding it, Wyrd Sisters, for introducing the popular characters of the Witches, whilst the succeeding volume, Guards! Guards!, gets a lot of props for introducing the City Watch and also for being one of the best books in the series. Pyramids by contrast tends to slip beneath the radar, which is a shame as it is a very good book indeed.

It's a stand-alone with not too many continuing story elements, but it works well for that. Rather than simply doing a story about someone with new, radical ideas turning up that the priesthood gets annoyed by, Pratchett throws in some excellent mickey-taking of philosophers and also some nice commentary about SF. Around the time Pyramids came out a lot of 'approachable' SF had been discarded in favour of brain-expanding stories about time travel and non-linear space or something, and Pratchett's constant use of "It's probably quantum!" to explain every single possible plot hole in the novel is a nice bit of satire.

Teppic makes for an engaging protagonist, although he's one of Pratchett's more familiar archetypes (a general do-gooder whose attempts to do good go wrong but he sorts it all out in the end). Dios is one of the series' more interesting protagonists, and the various pyramid-builders and embalmers make for an amusing secondary cast as well. On the minus side, the book's humour is a little bit too obvious in places (there's a few obvious Cleopatra jokes and the employment of mummies for comedic purposes), but there's still a few good belly-laughs in there as well. The theme of the book also seems a bit vague, except that ossification should be avoided by embracing new ideas, which is a bit of a no-brainer.

Pyramids (****) is a solid entry to the Discworld series, funny and entertaining throughout. The book is available now in the UK and USA. ... Read more