Thud!

I received Terry Pratchett's Thud! for Christmas, and finished it a few days after I started it. That is how Terry Pratchett's books are consumed in my house -- hungrily and repeatedly. We have just about everything the man has written, and I've read most twice -- while my wife may have read some of his books three or four times. So if this short blurb on his latest book portrays me as gushing, you'll have to forgive me and be forewarned: I'm a fan.

If you are a Pratchett fan, you've most likely already read the book and you'll find nothing new here. I'm not going to give anything away, other than the plot -- enough to whet a fan's appetite. Before I get there however, for those who are not fans or have never heard of Pratchett, a bit of an introduction is in order.

Pratchett is a comic-fantasy writer from England, who's famous for his creation of the Discworld series. He's written a few other smaller series, and has collaborated with a number of other writers and artists. Discworld however, remains his most notable creation, and thus far, there are some 30+ books in the series. Thud! is set in Discworld.

What is Discworld? Discworld exists in some parallel universe to ours where the laws of nature have been replaced by the laws of magic. The Discworld is a circular, flat world, that rides on the backs of four elephants, which in turn ride on the back of a giant turtle that is traveling through space towards some destination. In this world, there are wizards, witches, dwarfs, trolls, vampires, werewolves, etc. Everything possible is there -- including the planet Earth, which was created by accident by the wizards of Unseen University. With over 30 novels to invent Discworld, Terry Pratchett has managed to weave quite the complex tapestry for his stories to inhabit. You can however, pick any of the novels up and read without the benefit of the history.

Thud! features the City Watch of Ankh-Morpork -- with Commander Vimes in the thick of things as tensions between the city's dwarfs and trolls rise. It's coming up to Koom Valley Day -- a day, some hundreds of years ago, when the dwarfs ambushed the trolls -- or it could have been the other way around -- in Koom Valley. A deep down dwarf has arrived in Ankh-Morpork, and is stirring up some old hatreds in the dwarfs. When he is found dead, all the dwarfs know the culprit is a troll -- and they're building up to take matters in the their own hands. The trolls aren't about to take that sitting down, and are preparing to meet the dwarfs in the streets of Ankh-Morpork. Vimes knows things aren't as simple as they look -- things just don't smell right. He's going to get to the bottom of things -- and he has to, before his city erupts in a riot. First however, he has to introduce the first vampire into the ranks of the City Watch, and be home by 6PM to read Young Sam from his favourite book, Where's My Cow?

As usual with Pratchett, his stories are funny -- filled with offbeat, subtle humour. Underneath all of that however, there's something serious. If you're a Pratchett fan, you know what to expect. If you're not, be warned -- you will find a lot of our world in his novels. Humour is used to explore the social, political and philosophical underpinnings of our world. It's a handy mirror, showing just how absurd some things really are.