Discworld – Book XXXIX
Terry Pratchett
Doubleday (Transworld
UK)
15 October 2011 / ISBN: 9780385619264
Fantasy/Humor
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Reviewed
by Rachel A Hyde
Sam Vimes has handed in his badge and contemplates a future of rural
bliss with terror and loathing. No, he has not retired or been given
the sack; he is going on vacation for a couple of weeks to Ramkin
Hall. The countryside does not appeal to this city slicker and so
it is with some delight he finds himself standing over his first
corpse…or rather horror and disgust. Something definitely
smoky is going on, not to mention politically incorrect and he is
determined to get to the bottom of it…
It is always difficult to review a bestseller, because nobody is
going to start reading the Discworld books at this late stage and
everybody else reading this review is a hardcore fan. There are
perhaps more smiles and nods than outright laughs in this extremely
thoughtful book that looks at prejudice, class privilege and greed
as only Mr Pratchett can. To say much more would be to spoil the
story, which loses some of its momentum by being overlong, not a
problem normally with this author. Vimes has never been quite so
voluble, and he seems to make a long speech about policing, the
law, and the rights of sentient beings or whatever on nearly every
page but the old magic is still present in spades. Nobody can do
it quite like Mr Pratchett and every part of this series seems to
have grown legs and taken off by itself so the Discworld seems to
be remarkably real. Perhaps the biggest treat is a thrilling description
of a river in full spate, surely a more original concept than the
well-worn storm at sea. If you enjoy Mr. Pratchett’s work
for a good laugh and a satirical look at fantasy clichés
then you are a decade at least behind the times; read this instead
for a thought-provoking look at our own times and, if you are a
writer, a lesson on how to make an imagined world seem real.
Snuff
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