If you enjoy reading about the parallel 19th centuries as portrayed by writers like Joan Aiken and Stephen Hunt, you will love this.  No, it isn’t anything like either of these writers apart from in the idea of its setting, and you can expect that along with some good laughs there will be some wise words.  It is what Mr Pratchett does best, after all.  Here he paints a vivid picture of a way of life destroyed by nature, but where the right sort of person can triumph over the odds and forge a new way of life.  It is a story about what it takes to be a good leader, and how to beat the system when beating is exactly what it needs.  The portrayal of this familiar and yet different version of the early 19th century is sketched in bit by bit and emerges to show a well-realised world that I hope he decides to show us more of.  There is even a thoughtful and realistic ending, and, whereas I read a lot of books with excellent beginnings, I don’t read many that end as well as this does. So it is good all the way through, like a stick of rock candy.  Apart from the fact that it is neither sickly sweet nor bad for your health of course—the book equivalent of quite the opposite.

One of the standout books of 2008, look for it on my Top Ten.  Hugely enjoyable!