THUD

THUD (2005) Terry Pratchett

I’m not sure what it is about Terry Pratchett. I’ll see a new Discworld book, and think, yeah, he’s good, but I’m sure it can’t be as good as I remember, and so I’ll put off getting or reading the book for awhile, till several have backed up, then I’ll decided I’m in the mood for funny one day, and then wonder why I put off reading his books, because they’re even funnier than I remember.

Though it could be due to the fact that I’ll often go on binges and read large chunks of the series until I’m sick of it. And since it’s a very large series, it’s very easy to read large chunks.

But onto this book.

Samuel Vimes, Commander of the Watch, has a problem. There are rumors that a dwarf has been murdered, but the dwarf community wants to hide the death from the watch. This murder, coming up on the anniversary of the Battle of Koom Valley, has every dwarf and troll in the city riled up, and the watch is ending up right in the middle. Add to this, Samuel has a very important appointment to keep–and one that won’t wait for anything.

After the Librarian, I think Samuel Vimes is one of my favorite Discworld characters–and considering the number of book starring the watch, I think I’m not the only one.

This may be one of the best Discworld stories Terry Pratchett has written in years. Everything is spot on–Samuel Vimes, the Dwarfs, the Trolls–everything is just about right in this book.

The funny thing, is that when I was reading this book, a character would wander onto the set, and I’d think, “Lord Vetinari, I love reading about him–he’s such an unusual character,” then we’ll move on and suddenly, I’m all, “It’s Detritus! I love Detritus!” and then it’s Carrot and Angua…. and then I’m wondering how he’s going to have time to write all the stories I want to read. Let’s hope that his Alzheimer’s is slow onset, and that someone will find a cure soon.

So back to Thud. As Commander Vimes attempts to clean up the brewing situation between the dwarfs and the trolls, he’s drawn under the city, where he discovers that there are things going on under his feet that he could never have imagined. But really, the thing that ties the whole story together is his commitment to be home every single evening to read Where’s My Cow to Young Sam at six o’clock. Neither crime nor riots will stop him his appointed time with his son (And really, he does makes an excellent point: once you’re a minute late, then it’s easy to be five minutes late… and down the slide you go. If you’re going to do something, then DO it. Don’t make excuses why you can’t do it today, just do it.)

Although, like most books in the Discworld series, you can start anywhere and be fine, with Discword it’s always more enjoyable to have read the past books, not only because of the subtle jokes, but also because it’s fun to see characters pop in and out of the stories, so you can see how they’re doing. But really, if you aren’t reading Discworld–what’s wrong with you?
Rating: 9/10

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