Thud!

This is what 'Monstrous Regiment' wanted to be, but fell short of.

Satire should, above all, be funny. In 'Thud' Pratchett once again finds his stride. He openly mocks the modern world (on all sides) and its political correctness, ignorance and doctrine whilst keeping the literary, if not literal, tongue firmly in the cheek.

The pace doesn't let up with the winning formula of an angry, confused Commader Vimes racing against time to solve a murder and prevent imported cultural bigotry from turning his city into a battleground. With the establishment bending over backwards to accomodate Dwarf and Troll beliefs at the expense of its resident population, it seems the Law has become an afterthought and is in danger of being superceded by minority (rapidly becoming majority) rights. This book gets nearer to the knuckle than a shrink-fit glove and turns the harsh light of sheer common sense onto a subject that tries to hide underneath a web of twisted values, lies, deception and hereditary ignorance. Sound familiar?

With his usual dollop of gentle humour, engaging characters and sheer fun, Terry Pratchett is back on the path of excellence. Whilst his recent apparent penchant for political and social commentary may not appeal to some, 'Thud' does it all with a smile and good old-fashioned fair play for all. The book is also, thankfully, without the uncomfortable awkwardness or tedious plot of 'Monstrous Regiment'. Fans of the City Watch will enjoy this one.

P.S. Two nubile, naked, girls together in a sloppy pile of mud? Yes, it happens.

For existing fans rather than new converts to the Discworld (0/0 people found this helpful)

It is coming up the the anniversary of Koom Valley, the famous fight between the dwarves and the trolls. It has always been contested who started it and who ended up winning. Things are uneasy in Ankh-Morpork and Vimes is trying to stop a full scale re-enactment of the battle in the city as well as investigate the murder of one of the deep down dwarves. He also has to deal with the new recruit (a vampire named Sally) and be home by 6pm every night to read "Where's my cow?" to young Sam.

For me the plot wasn't too great, it was the relationships between the characters that made it interesting as well as some great throw-away lines. For example when Vimes tried to make up his own version of "Where's my Cow?" which becomes "Where's my Daddy?". The original goes:

"Where's my cow?
Is that my cow?
It goes, "Baa!"
It is a sheep!
That's not my cow!"

Which gets replaced with:

"Where's my daddy?
Is that my daddy?
He goes, "Bugrit! Millennium hand and shrimp!
He is Foul Old Ron!
That's not my daddy!"

As always there are also the relationships between Vimes and Vetinari and Vimes and Sybil which are as funny as ever along with Nobby Nobbs getting a new girlfriend (an amazingly attractive pole dancer) and the tension between Sally and Angua due to old rivalries between vampires and werewolves. Recommended to existing fans of the Discworld series as they will get the in-jokes others new to the series would miss.

Pratchett does it again (0/0 people found this helpful)

For me this is his best book , funny , poignant , unashamedly showing bigotry for what it is in his very clever satire , have read this four times and still laugh ....Mr Shine he's diamond and so is Pratchett

Sometimes you gotta shut up and pay attention (1/1 people found this helpful)

Sorry, but when you've entertained, amused and jollied up an entire worldful of sapient entities, you *have* to be allowed every now and then to get a bit serious.

Depends on what makes you laugh, I suppose, but this is not *meant* to be a funny book. Pratchett is doing really serious, relevant and overtly political stuff here. The "funny bits" are no more than the comic relief in the best Shakespearean tradition.

Parallels are everywhere here. You don't need to look for them, they are *obvious*. Considering you're no longer allowed to discuss the real problems of the real world without a screaming mob baying for your blood (you even have to be careful what you name your classroom teddy-bear nowadays, for goodness' sake), you write it in parallel. Like what he's done here.

If you don't like serious, then give this one a miss, but it's one hundred per cent worthy and you'd be missing out on something important.

The Guarding Dark (0/0 people found this helpful)

"Thud" is thirty-fourth novel in Terry Pratchett's hugely popular Discworld series, was first published in 2005 and is the seventh to focus on Sam Vimes and Ankh-Morpork's City Watch.

Sam is the Commander of the City Guard, and - having married Lady Ramkin - a member of the nobility. He's also recently become a father and has made reading "Where's My Cow" to his son every evening at six o'clock his top priority. Despite being a devoted father, however, he mightn't necessarily be considered a typical hero : he doesn't like Assassins (they keep trying to kill him), Kings (it's an old family traditions : even in chess, he supports the pawns) and the Undead (particularly vampires).

For the most part, Ankh-Morpork's ethnic groupings are already well-represented in the Watch. Sam's most capable officer is Captain Carrot - who was born human, although raised as a dwarf. Carrot is an incredibly innocent and very honest character and is widely believed to be Ankh-Morpork's rightful King. (Sam has - to date - refrained from beheading him). Carrot's girlfriend, Angua, is also a member of the City Guard - though, being a werewolf, she also shares Sam's misgivings about vampires. Sergeant Detritus, a troll who deals roughly with troll drug-dealers, seems a natural - not to mention likable - cop, though Sergeant Colon and Corporal Nobbs (a confirmed slacker and probably human) are the most experienced officers. Cheery Littlebottom is an ex-alchemist dwarf, who more or less founded forensics department. (Cheery left the Guild of Alchemists after, accidentally, blowing up the Guild Council). However, for the first time, "Thud" sees a vampire apply to join the Watch. The vampire in question, Sally von Humpeding, is fortunately a Black Ribboner - meaning she abstains from drinking blood. However, her presence naturally makes a few people uncomfortable - most notably Sam and Angua.

The Battle of Koom Valley was fought many years ago between trolls and dwarves and is quite possibly unique - in that both sides were ambushed by the other. Although there is always a certain amount of tension between the two species throughout the year, things tend tend to become a little worse as the battle's anniversary comes around. Things have been even worse recently, though with the arrival of several Grags the previous month. A Grag is a deep-downer and a master of dwarfish lore - naturally, they are very influential in Ankhh-Morpork's dwarfish community. One of them - Grag Hamcrusher - has naturally been stirring up a great deal of trouble. Naturally, when Hamcrusher is murdered, Sam feels it's the City Watch's responsibility to investigate. The dwarves, who are quite happy to blame a troll, don't agree.

As is things weren't difficult enough, "The Battle of Koom Valley" by Methodia Rascal is also stolen from the Royal Art Museum. The (incredibly detailed) painting itself is priceless, despite the fact that Rascal was somewhat insane. (He believed he was being relentlessly pursued by a chicken). There are also rumours of a mysterious Mr Shine amongst the trolls - a diamond geezer, if the graffiti is to be believed. Worst of all, the Patrician has unleashed a government inspector - Mr A.E. Pessimal - on the Watch.

Another cracking book from Pratchett - as usual there's plenty of humour and with a great storyline 'underneath' it all. Excellent stuff, highly recommended !

Terry Pratchett

Reader Reviews:

Much better, back on the Pratchett path (0/0 people found this helpful)

For existing fans rather than new converts to the Discworld (0/0 people found this helpful)

Pratchett does it again (0/0 people found this helpful)

Sometimes you gotta shut up and pay attention (1/1 people found this helpful)

The Guarding Dark (0/0 people found this helpful)

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