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For nearly three decades, Terry Pratchett has enthralled millions of fans worldwide with his irreverent, wonderfully funny satires set in the fabulously imaginative Discworld, a universe remarkably similar to our own. From sports to religion, politics to education, science to capitalism, and everything in between, Pratchett has skewered sacred cows with both laughter and wisdom, and exposed our warts, foibles, and eccentricities in a unique, entertaining, and ultimately serious way.
At long last, Lady Sybil has lured her husband, Sam Vimes, on a well-deserved holiday away from the crime and grime of Ankh-Morpork. But for the commander of the City Watch, a vacation in the country is anything but relaxing. The balls, the teas, the muck—not to mention all that fresh air and birdsong—are more than a bit taxing on a cynical city-born and -bred copper.
Yet a policeman will find a crime anywhere if he decides to look hard enough, and it’s not long before a body is discovered, and Sam—out of his jurisdiction, out of his element, and out of bacon sandwiches (thanks to his well-meaning wife)—must rely on his instincts, guile, and street smarts to see justice done. As he sets off on the chase, though, he must remember to watch where he steps. . . . This is the countryside, after all, and the streets most definitely are not paved with gold.
Hailed as the “purely funniest English writer since Wodehouse” (Washington Post Book World), with a “satirist’s instinct for the absurd and a cartoonist’s eye for the telling detail” (Daily Telegraph, London), Terry Pratchett offers a novel of crime, class, prejudice, and punishment that shows this master at his dazzling best.
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.
Sir Terry Pratchett's many honors include the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, a Printz Honor, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Britain's Carnegie Medal, the American Library Association's Margaret A. Edwards Award for lasting contribution to young adult literature, and the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award. His books have sold more than 75 million copies worldwide. Knighted for his "services to literature," Sir Terry lives in England with his wife and many cats.
Beloved British writer Pratchett first jump-started his career while working as a journalist for Bucks Free Press during the '60s. As luck would have it, one of his assignments was an interview with Peter Bander van Duren, a representative of a small press called Colin Smythe Limited. Pratchett took advantage of his meeting with Bander van Duren to pitch a weird story about a battle set in the pile of a frayed carpet. Bander van Duren bit, and in 1971 Pratchett's very first novel, The Carpet People, was published, setting the tone for a career characterized by wacky flights of fancy and sly humor.
Pratchett's take on fantasy fiction is quite unlike that of anyone else working in the genre. The kinds of sword-and-dragon tales popularized by fellow Brits like J.R.R. Tolkein and C. S. Lewis have traditionally been characterized by their extreme self-seriousness. However, Pratchett has retooled Middle Earth and Narnia with gleeful goofiness, using his Discworld as a means to poke fun at fantasy. As Pratchett explained to Locus Magazine, "Discworld started as an antidote to bad fantasy, because there was a big explosion of fantasy in the late '70s, an awful lot of it was highly derivative, and people weren't bringing new things to it."
In 1983, Pratchett unveiled Discworld with The Color of Magic. Since then, he has added installments to the absurdly hilarious saga at the average rate of one book per year. Influenced by moderately current affairs, he has often used the series to subtly satirize aspects of the real world; the results have inspired critics to rapturous praise. ("The most breathtaking display of comic invention since PG Wodehouse," raved The Times of London.) He occasionally ventures outside the series with standalone novels like the Johnny Maxwell Trilogy, a sci fi adventure sequence for young readers, or Good Omens, his bestselling collaboration with graphic novelist Neil Gaiman.
Sadly, in 2008 fans received the devastating news that Pratchett had been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. He has described his own reaction as "fairly philosophical" and says he plans to continue writing so long as he is able.
Discworld is not just the subject of a bestselling series of novels. It has also inspired a series of computer games in which players play the role of the hapless wizard Rincewind.
A few fun outtakes from our interview with Pratchett:
"I became a journalist at 17. A few hours later I saw my first dead body, which was somewhat…colourful. That's when I learned you can go on throwing up after you run out of things to throw up."
"The only superstition I have is that I must start a new book on the same day that I finish the last one, even if it's just a few notes in a file. I dread not having work in progress.
"I grow as many of our vegetables as I can, because my granddad was a professional gardener and it's in the blood. Grew really good chilies this year.
"I'm not really good at fun-to-know, human interest stuff. We're not ‘celebrities', whose life itself is a performance. Good or bad or ugly, we are our words. They're what people meet.
WonkyChewbacca
Posted October 13, 2011
While a long-time reader and steadfast zealot of Pratchett's works, his latest three books nearly bring me to tears at times. His illness is becoming more and more evident. Snuff rambled along its plotline in a disjointed fashion, and the characters we have grown so familiar with practically seemed strangers at times in the uncharacteristic manner in which they behaved. Willikins in particular behaves and speaks in a manner completely at odds with every previous portrayal of the character, as the most clear example. Further, the sense of clarity and incisiveness that always made Pratchett stand above his fellow writers so clearly has dimmed. While there were humorous moments, he never really wrung more than a bitter smile from me compared to the previous laughter he once evoked. While I will treasure his books and contribution to the world with all my heart, for all my life, I believe I will not read any future works of his. It would be too much like watching the slow death of a treasured grandparent.
11 out of 19 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 18, 2011
Terry Pratchett has, as usual, told a great story. Sadly, Harper Collins released an ebook/nook version full of typos (kindle owners are complaining, too). There are words mashed together on every page; it's nearly unreadable. Buy the paper copy!
10 out of 10 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 12, 2011
Terry Pratchett has another gem! The story and characters are excellent. I can not give this eBook Nook version four stars as it is full of typos! How could the publisher release this? I am reading it with the Nook app on the iPad. The publisher should proof read and test these out before charging $12.99 for a digital copy. Next time I will get the Kindle version!
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Ankh-Morpork City Watch Commander Sam Vimes faces his most difficult assignment in years. His Grace Sir Samuel, the Duke of Ankh, will spend two torturious weeks rusticating with his wife Sybil and their six years old son Young Sam at her family's estate. Sam loves the idea of spending time with his beloved spouse and son, but his in-laws make a boring vacation worse and not worth changing from his cardboard soles.
However, life picks up as Vimes quickly gets involved with the locals when someone brutally murders a female goblin. Feeney the inexperienced local copper and Willikens the gentleman's gentleman assist Vimes as he works vacation time for no pay investigating the homicide.
The latest Discworld satire (see I Shall Wear Midnight) is a wonderful entry that looks deeply at inalienable human (and other species) rights and bigotry to take away those accepted rights. Fast-paced Vimes is at his cynical best as he learns life in the country means a female woodcutter works with woodies and that rural does not mean crime free; as he leads the inquiry into the vicious murder of the Goblin Girl. Terry Pratchett provides a strong entry filled with social commentary intertwined into an exciting thriller.
Harriet Klausner
5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 27, 2011
Fine additon to the Discword opus.
As usual, it seems to start out slow. But he's building the groundwork for the maelstrom that soon follows.
I enjoyed seeing the continued development of the characters, especially Sibyl and Willkins. They probably would not have acted like this in the earlier books, but the characters have changed and grown through the series, and here is the result.
And of course Sam Vimes is just, well, Sam. Gods love him.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 14, 2011
A longtime reader of Sir Terry will enjoy the next installment in the Discworld series. The old characters are back, growing in believable ways, and new characters enter the story to make for an exciting adventure. There's action, there's romance, there's mystery - and as always, great insight to human nature. And a lot of laughs. If you've read other Discworld novels, grab this one quickly. If you haven't read any others...well, what are you waiting for?!
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
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Posted January 24, 2012
Another amazing (albeit darker) Discworld offering. May we have Pratchett and Vimes for years to come!
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted October 23, 2011
Now that I've read the book in its entirety, I can recommend it wholeheartedly.
Myself a long-time reader of Terry Pratchett's stories, I found this book to be absolutely wonderful. It was truly satisfying to read of real hope- to have such a clear description narrated of the actual good that all sentient beings can do. I also find the always-present realistic observations on the business of life very comforting.
I hope Terry's books, especially the more recent ones- that illuminate such strong positive possibilities for our future- make it into everyone's home. And that people will actually think when they read them... but then, humans are humans, I suppose.
What I *really* hope for is more from Terry Pratchett!
- T. William Gage
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted November 20, 2011
Excellent read although the development of charcters moves in a direction I would not agree with. Still an excellent read!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted July 5, 2011
Terry Pratchett has a new book coming out! I cant wait for "Snuff" I have read the entire Discworld series, and if you haven't, START READING THEM NOW! Pratchett's books are funny, entertaining and thought provoking. I would recommend them to absolutely anyone. The Discworld is wide and varied, often mirroring our own, and Pratchett has a real gift for creating absolutely unforgettable characters and situations. I couldn't say enough good things about this series and I have the highest of hopes for this new addition.
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted April 2, 2013
I like all of Mr. Prachett's Disc World books, and Snuff is the best of them. The story, centered on Commander Vimes, is mature and introspective, perhaps because there is no slapstick, except for that wee bit with Wee Mad Arthur and, of course, that thing with the barges. But Snuff is satisfying in every possible way and I was sorry to finish it and I am already looking forward to reading it again.
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Posted February 16, 2013
This lived up to my expectation, which for a Discworld novel are high. I have always loved the fact that Sir Terry's characters grow and change as time passes and Sam is one of my favorites, so I enjoyed every second that I was reading it. While others here seem upset with the plot direction, I relished the development of Willikins beyond a two-dimensional caricature of the perfect 'gentleman's gentleman ' into a force in his own right. All-in-all, very satisfactory!
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Posted January 22, 2013
Once of the best discworld novels i have read in years. I have always been a fan of Vimes though
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Posted November 1, 2012
enough said.
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Posted October 13, 2012
Tree
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Posted February 16, 2013
I truly love every pratchett book, but this one, I can only say... it was alright. I could'nt get through it in one sitting. So many characters that we've grown to love over the years change so much here, and not often for the better. The story is there but it drags on and on. As a sidenote, Pterry has broken a 30-year tradition and has NOT INCLUDED DEATH AS A CHARACTER IN THIS NOVEL. I laughed a bit here and there but to be honest, reading this was like watching a puppy die of cancer.
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Posted June 4, 2012
Great book. Also like Guards! Guards! and anything else in the Ank-Morpork series.
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Posted May 31, 2012
Not sure if I want to buy the ebook, considering the sample keeps crashing the nook reader on my laptop. The story itself looks interesting.
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Posted March 18, 2012
Good times are always guaranteed when Terry Pratchett is behind it. As usual, I didn't want the book to end!
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Posted March 3, 2012
Terry Pratchett's Snuff is a solid entry in the Discworld series, but not his funniest. I loved that the book paralleled the issues of slavery and the treatment of goblins. And of course, who doesn't enjoy a good Commander Vimes solved murder, but I felt that the last four chapters could have been cut without the plot suffering. However, I enjoyed learning more about goblin culture and all the fascinating poo references were very entertaining. If you love Discworld, then you will like this book, but don't make it your first introduction into the series. It will be disappointing, otherwise.
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Overview
For nearly three decades, Terry Pratchett has enthralled millions of fans worldwide with his irreverent, wonderfully funny satires set in the fabulously imaginative Discworld, a universe remarkably similar to our own. From sports to religion, politics to education, science to capitalism, and everything in between, Pratchett has skewered sacred cows with both laughter and wisdom, and exposed our warts, foibles, and eccentricities in a unique, entertaining, and ultimately serious ...