In my opinion, this book is where Terry Pratchett starts finding his stride as a brilliant satirist. It's still a bit rough around the edges, but his In my opinion, this book is where Terry Pratchett starts finding his stride as a brilliant satirist. It's still a bit rough around the edges, but his genius is starting to show in every clever aside and each absurdly humorous observation....more
Enough people over the years have written gushing reviews about the Discworld novels, and this novel in particular, that there's not much I can add peEnough people over the years have written gushing reviews about the Discworld novels, and this novel in particular, that there's not much I can add personally other than to say this — Near the very end of the novel, there was the line "It's a million to one shot, but it just might work." And it made me cry. Not because it was a sad conclusion to the novel, but because the world has lost Terry Pratchett and his insight, wit, humor, brilliance, and humanity far too soon, and knowing we'll never get any more novels like this one makes me sadder than I can put into words....more
I picked this up at a used bookstore on Bainbridge Island while on vacation for two reasons -- I really like Sir Terry Pratchett, and this particular I picked this up at a used bookstore on Bainbridge Island while on vacation for two reasons -- I really like Sir Terry Pratchett, and this particular novel shares my name. So it seemed like fate I should pick it up. It was so short that I read it mostly in one sitting while still on vacation.
Being the ninth Discworld book, this may sound odd, but you can still tell this is early Pratchett, when he was still feeling out the world and the characters. It's still good, solid work, and it has some great comedic moments, but it's not as refined and sharp as his later work.
That said, if you are looking for a parody of the Trojan Horse myth, the tale of creation, or a "be careful what you wish for" genie story, all with hapless wizard Rincewind stuck in the middle and looking only to flee, look no further....more
I ordered this and had been meaning to read it to my kids at bedtime, but hadn't found the time. When Terry Pratchett passed away, I promised myself II ordered this and had been meaning to read it to my kids at bedtime, but hadn't found the time. When Terry Pratchett passed away, I promised myself I would do it that night as a little tribute to him, and I went home and did. Unfortunately, life is not a fairy tale, and my kids were not interested at all, and so I finished reading the title story to myself while my kids jumped frantically around me. It was still a strangely cathartic experience. In another year or two I'll give this book another shot with my daughter, the older of my two kids, and see if it catches her interest at that point....more
What a difference 39 books makes. I had previously read The Color of Magic, the first Discworld book, and came away mildly amused but generally unimprWhat a difference 39 books makes. I had previously read The Color of Magic, the first Discworld book, and came away mildly amused but generally unimpressed, and so did not read further in the series. Then, more than a year later, I saw this book for sale on Amazon.com for $1.99, and not even realizing it was a Discworld book, picked it up. After reading it, his progression as an author is night and day.
Pratchett now has full mastery over every nuance of the English language. His descriptions are sharp, his dialogue crisp, his observations witty, his asides sidesplitting. Not only does this book work as a humorous fantasy, it has graduated to a poignant social satire -- tackling racism, classism, self worth, smuggling, the difference between law and justice, and probably some other things I wasn't sharp enough myself to catch -- all while maintaining the humor level and keeping tongue firmly in cheek.
The specifics involve a copper, Sam Vimes, who has married into the aristocracy taking a holiday with his wife, young son, and "gentleman's gentleman" Willikins to her family estate in the country, a strange new world for a policeman from the city of Ankh-Morpork. In a lot of ways, the set-up reminded me of the movie Hot Fuzz.
On a more somber note, it is a truly strange and terrible world we live in where a mind as sharp and imaginative as Pratchett's can be afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, but it gives me hope knowing that he published this and many other works after his diagnosis six or so years ago, and that he seems to be handling it better than doctors, and even he, expected....more
For a book I didn't love, yet didn't hate, I have a lot to say about it. Here are my thoughts in no particular order.
* I hate prologues, so having a sFor a book I didn't love, yet didn't hate, I have a lot to say about it. Here are my thoughts in no particular order.
* I hate prologues, so having a second prologue dropped on me a third of the way through the book was almost enough to make me toss my Kindle across the room. However, it did make it apparent that instead of a novel, this is really a collection of four short stories featuring the same two main characters. This was both good and bad -- good in that it skipped potentially uninteresting parts of their travels, but bad in that I never felt I got to know the characters better in between these fantastic episodes.
* My favorite of the chapters was the second chapter -- The Sending of Eight -- because of the meta aspect of having the gods play a dice-based board game involving the fates of the book's main characters.
* This book is considered fantasy humor. While Pratchett is clever, witty, and incredibly imaginative, he is not particularly funny, to my subjective tastes. I think part of this has to do with how the book was set up. In the first chapter, a wizard and a stranger retell their tale of woe to two brigands around a campfire -- setting up what I thought was going to be a more standard epic fantasy tale. In contrast, the opening chapter of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has the two main characters find out an intergalactic construction squad is demolishing earth to make room for a new highway -- and then the planet is literally blown up. It just set my expectations a bit differently, if you see what I mean.
* In a world where absolutely anything -- and I mean ANYTHING -- can happen, it's hard to be invested in what is going on. The rules of the world are fluid and poorly defined at best, so there are no consequences to any actions, let alone real suspense or danger, as nothing can apparently kill this incompetent wizard and his hapless tourist companion.
* The principle of Chekov's Gun is that if you put a rifle on the wall in the first act of a play, it absolutely must go off by the third act, otherwise it should be removed. To me, the one great spell that Rincewind can cast was that gun, and it irked me to no end that despite all the extraordinary circumstances he found himself in, that he did not cast it.
* This is the first time I have ever had an inanimate object as my favorite character -- but both the Luggage and the sword Kring were personified very well, and I only wish there were more of them both in the book.
* I loved how fully developed the concept of the world on the disc was -- with the characters all referring and thinking of everything in terms of moving hubward, rimward, turnwise and widdershins....more
I heard a lot of hype before reading this book, so I was mildly disappointed when it wasn't the best thing I'd ever read. That being said, it was stilI heard a lot of hype before reading this book, so I was mildly disappointed when it wasn't the best thing I'd ever read. That being said, it was still a great book based on a hysterical premise.
Good quote from the book:
"There are some dogs which, when you meet them, remind you that, despite thousands of years of manmade evolution, every dog is still only two meals away from being a wolf."
UPDATE: I recently listened to Good Omens: The BBC Radio 4 dramitisation, and it was excellent in every way. It captured the plot, characters, whimsy and humor of the novel in about four hours, had a great cast of voice actors, and a very high production value. Highly recommended....more
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