Discworld

Men at Arms, Soul Music, Interesting Times, Hogfather Terry Pratchett

Men at Arms
I’m rather fond of the night watch.

Captain Vimes is getting ready to retire, and not only must they find his successor, they need to discover who broke into to Assassin’s headquarters, discover what was stolen, and find out who or what is going around killing people by blowing big holes in them.

And this was right. And it was fate that had let Edward recognize this just when he’d got his plan. And it was right that it was Fate, and the city would be Saved from its ignoble present by its glorious past. He had the Means, and he had the end. And so on….Edward’s thoughts often ran like this.

He could think in italics. Such people need watching.

Preferably from a safe distance.

Oh yeah, and Captain Vimes gets married.

Soul Music
Once again Death disappears for awhile, and it’s up to his granddaughter Susan Sto Helit, to not only remember that she is the granddaughter of death, but to take over his duties for awhile. Meanwhile, there’s a strange new phenomenon sweeping Discworld. It’s Music with Rocks In.

The watchman stopped, and stared across the street. Corporal Nobbs followed his gaze.
“That shop,” said Sergeant Colon. “That shop there….was it there yesterday?”
Nobby looked at the peeling paint, the little grime-encrusted window, the rickety door.
“Course,” he said. “It’s always been there. Been there for years.”
Colon crossed the street and rubbed at the grime. There were dark shapes vaguely visible in the gloom.
“Yeah, right,” he mumbled. “It’s just that…I mean… was it there for years yesterday?”

Interesting Times
No offense to Terry Pratchett, but Rincewind isn’t my favorite character. Aside from that, that this was an excellent book. We get a long visit to the counterweight continent, where a subtle battle for the succession is underway between the five great families to determine who next will rule the empire. But Cohen the Barbarian and his band are also on the continent.

This is the butterfly of storms.

See the wings, slightly more ragged than those of the common fritillary. In reality, thanks to the fractal nature of the universe, this means that those ragged edges are infinite–in the same way that the edge of any rugged coastline, when measured to the ultimate microscopic level, is infinitely long–or, if not infinite, then at least so close to it that Infinity can be seen on a clear day.

And therefore, if their edges are infinitely long, the wings must logically be infinitely big.
They may look about the right size for a butterfly’s wings, but that’s only because human beings have always preferred common sense to logic.

Hogfather
Something has happened to the Hogfather; Something involving an unseemly assassin. Someone has to deliver the toys and pork products on Hogwatch. And it’s up to Susan Sto Helit and the oh God of Hangovers to figure out what happened.

…The figure picked up the reins. UP GOUGER! UP, ROOTER! UP, TUSKER! UP, SNOUTER! GIDDYUP!
The four large boars harnessed to the sleigh did not move.
WHY DOESNT THAT WORK? said the figure in a puzzled, heavy voice.
“Beats me, master,” said the sacks.
IT WORKS ON HORSES
“You could try ‘Pig-hooey!'”
PIG-HOOEY. They waited. NO…DOESN’T SEEM TO REACH THEM.
There was some whispering.
REALLY? YOU THINK THAT WOULD WORK?
“It’d blooy well work on me if I was a pig, master.”
VERY WELL, THEN.
The figure gathered up the reins again.
APPLE! SAUCE!
The pigs’ legs blurred. Silver light flicked across them, and exploded outward. They dwindled to a dot, and vanished.

The Death of Rats, SQUEAK; the raven; and a brief visit with the Librarian, Oook! What more could we want?

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