Brilliantly complex.
Like Pratchett, [narrator Stephen Briggs] loves the comic rhythm, sound, and very taste of words-just for their own sake. So order up a tuna-spaghetti-jam sandwich (with sprinkles) and be prepared for a wonderful time.
In short, this is as busy and as daft as any other Discworld yarn, which means it is the quintessence of daft. Nobody writes fantasy funnier than Pratchett.
The humor is sharp and the characters are charming, and the plight of the goblins creates moments of genuine pathos that are the highlight of the book.
Thirty-seven books in and ... Discworld is still going strong...and doing so with undimmed, triumphant exuberance.
A triumphant effort.
The Independent on Sunday
In short, this is as busy and as daft as any other Discworld yarn, which means it is the quintessence of daft. Nobody writes fantasy funnier than Pratchett.
In the history of comic fantasy, Mr. Pratchett has no equals for invention or for range.
"A triumphant effort."
…[Pratchett] continue[s] to surpass readers' expectations. A full-on Vimes vehicle…Snuff daringly links the demonization of goblins to two of the worst crimes in human history: slavery and the Holocaust. Some might be offended, but Pratchett doesn't make such connections lightly. His first Discworld book may have been a frolic, but his magic has long since been set in strong moral mortar.
Pratchett’s 39th Discworld novel (after 2010’s I Shall Wear Midnight) brings back fan favorite Sam Vimes, the cynical yet extraordinarily honorable Ankh-Morpork City Watch commander also known (if unenthusiastically) as His Grace Sir Samuel, the Duke of Ankh. Vimes faces an onerous task: two weeks off in the country at his wife’s family estate. It’s not the thought of spending time with his beloved Sybil or precocious six-year-old Young Sam that bothers him; it’s just that a copper can’t stop being a copper. Fortunately, even in this conservative hamlet, there’s plenty of skullduggery to investigate, beginning with the brutal murder of a goblin girl. With the help of untried local constable Feeney Upshot and gentleman’s gentleman Willikens, Vimes takes on a fiendish murderer as well as the case for (in)human rights and social justice in this lively outing, complete with sly shout-outs to Jane Austen and gritty police procedurals. (Oct.)
Bounding between a wealth of settings and scenarios, Pratchett has forged a wicked roster of heroines and heroes, including several members of ‘the occult community’ and Sam Vimes, a policeman who has risen from the slums of Ankh-Morpork to a dukedom without ditching his street smarts. . . . His first Discworld book may have been a frolic, but his magic has long since been set in strong moral mortar.” — Washington Post
“In short, this is as busy and as daft as any other Discworld yarn, which means it is the quintessence of daft. Nobody writes fantasy funnier than Pratchett.” — Booklist
"A lively outing, complete with sly shout-outs to Jane Austen and gritty police procedurals.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Funny, of course, but with plenty of hard edges; and, along with the excellent lessons in practical police work, genuine sympathy for the ordinary copper’s lot. A treat no fan of Discworld—and there are boatloads of them—will want to miss.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Series followers will delight in this latest entry as it offers them a chance to catch up with Pratchett’s recurring protagonist while enjoying a tight, fast-paced take on the traditional police procedural novel. As often happens, Pratchett’s fun, irreverent-seeming story line masks a larger discussion of social inequalities and the courage it takes to stand up for the voiceless.” — Library Journal
“The humor is sharp and the characters are charming, and the plight of the goblins creates moments of genuine pathos that are the highlight of the book.” — Tor.com
“In the history of comic fantasy, Mr. Pratchett has no equals for invention or for range. ” — Wall Street Journal
“A triumphant effort.” — The Independent on Sunday
“Like Pratchett, [narrator Stephen Briggs] loves the comic rhythm, sound, and very taste of words-just for their own sake. So order up a tuna-spaghetti-jam sandwich (with sprinkles) and be prepared for a wonderful time.” — AudioFile Magazine
"A fresh fiasco fraught with magic, cunning, daring, and (for the reader more than poor Vimes) endless hilarity. . . . Pratchett delivers an enthralling new tale from a place of insuperable adventure: Discworld." — Bookreporter.com
The humor is sharp and the characters are charming, and the plight of the goblins creates moments of genuine pathos that are the highlight of the book.
The humor is sharp and the characters are charming, and the plight of the goblins creates moments of genuine pathos that are the highlight of the book.
A triumphant effort.
Sam Vimes, Commander of the City Watch and reluctant Duke of Ankh, has faced down trolls, vampires, and the implacable politics of the Patrician, Lord Vetinari. But in Pratchett's newest Discworld (Unseen Academicals) novel, Sam is forced to do something he swore he would never do: take a vacation. At the insistence of his wife, Lady Sibyl, Sam is dragged to her family's country estate, far from the familiar crime and pollution of his beloved Ankh-Morpork. But the country is far from idyllic. Sam's instincts quickly send him on the trail of something rotten among the posh and elite. The Duke of Ankh may have been sent to the county for rest and relaxation, but perhaps the Commander of the City Watch was sent for justice. VERDICT Series followers will delight in this latest entry as it offers them a chance to catch up with Pratchett's recurring protagonist while enjoying a tight, fast-paced take on the traditional police procedural novel. As often happens, Pratchett's fun, irreverent-seeming story line masks a larger discussion of social inequalities and the courage it takes to stand up for the voiceless.—Jennifer Beach, Cumberland Cty. P.L., VA
Pratchett's new Discworld (Unseen Academicals , 2009, etc.) novel—the umpteenth, but who's counting?—features the Duke of Ankh, otherwise known as Commander Sir Samuel Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, whose estimable wife, Lady Sybil, decrees that they shall take a vacation at her ancestral estate in the country.
Sam meets the local aristocracy and receives invitations to a lot of balls. He introduces six-year old Sam Junior to the author of young Sam's favorite book,The World of Poo . He faces down the irascible, aristocracy-hating local blacksmith and dines on Bung Ming Suck Dog. And, canny copper that he is, Vines, though out of his jurisdiction and out of his depth in a most alarming environment, senses wrongdoing. Sure enough, he's soon contemplating the slaughtered corpse of a goblin girl. Problem is, the law doesn't recognize the killing of goblins as murder. Still, there's smuggling going on, much of it involving substances far less innocent than tobacco. Crime or no crime, Sam determines to investigate, even to the rank, fetid caves where the last few goblins, starving, hunted and miserable, live. Sam doesn't fear the underground, being the Blackboard Monitor of the Dwarves. And tattooed on his wrist is a dreadful yet illuminating demon called the Summoning Dark, an entity that's as determined as Sam to bring justice to the poor goblins, despite the law and those who have decided to make their own rules. Funny, of course, but with plenty of hard edges; and, along with the excellent lessons in practical police work, genuine sympathy for the ordinary copper's lot.
A treat no fan of Discworld—and there are boatloads of them—will want to miss.
