The Fifth Elephant, by Terry Pratchett
May. 8th, 2010 10:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
keilexandraThe Fifth Elephant
by Terry Pratchett
321 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/Humor
My friend, who is a fellow ardent Pratchett fan, thrust this library book into my hands with the damning words, "Carrot and Angua." I didn't have the time to read it, but I did anyway, because those two are just that cute.
This is one stop amongst many on the Discworld tour; my fannishness started with Small Gods, which I of course highly recommend. I find it difficult to describe the novel without resorting to Discworld shorthand, but let me try... Carrot is a long-lost heir who has contrived to remain lost, a six-foot-tall dwarf, and a scarily good person. Angua is a female werewolf with--interesting--familial relations. Together they fight petty crime and treason as members of the Watch, and are all-around awesome.
That's not quite right; it makes the book sound like a thriller, which it's not, though there is a fascinating mystery element of the plot. So, um, in Discworld shorthand: Carrot/Angua in Uberwald, with a healthy dose of Vimes and politics, plus a sprinkling of Vetinari on top.
I have realized what I love so much about Terry Pratchett, to the point where he deserves a place in my personal gallery next to Guy Gavriel Kay, Ellen Kushner, and George R.R. Martin: he is consistently great. (Sylvia Kelso and Alison Sinclair have the potential for greatness, with Amberlight/Riversend and Darkborn respectively, but they haven't proven consistency yet.) There are some Pratchett books that I adore, some that I love, some that I merely like... but each has enthralled me as I read them for the first time. A rare and valuable quality, consistency--few authors can I trust as I trust Pratchett to always write a worthwhile book.
by Terry Pratchett
321 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/Humor
My friend, who is a fellow ardent Pratchett fan, thrust this library book into my hands with the damning words, "Carrot and Angua." I didn't have the time to read it, but I did anyway, because those two are just that cute.
This is one stop amongst many on the Discworld tour; my fannishness started with Small Gods, which I of course highly recommend. I find it difficult to describe the novel without resorting to Discworld shorthand, but let me try... Carrot is a long-lost heir who has contrived to remain lost, a six-foot-tall dwarf, and a scarily good person. Angua is a female werewolf with--interesting--familial relations. Together they fight petty crime and treason as members of the Watch, and are all-around awesome.
That's not quite right; it makes the book sound like a thriller, which it's not, though there is a fascinating mystery element of the plot. So, um, in Discworld shorthand: Carrot/Angua in Uberwald, with a healthy dose of Vimes and politics, plus a sprinkling of Vetinari on top.
I have realized what I love so much about Terry Pratchett, to the point where he deserves a place in my personal gallery next to Guy Gavriel Kay, Ellen Kushner, and George R.R. Martin: he is consistently great. (Sylvia Kelso and Alison Sinclair have the potential for greatness, with Amberlight/Riversend and Darkborn respectively, but they haven't proven consistency yet.) There are some Pratchett books that I adore, some that I love, some that I merely like... but each has enthralled me as I read them for the first time. A rare and valuable quality, consistency--few authors can I trust as I trust Pratchett to always write a worthwhile book.