captaind's Full Review: Terry Pratchett - Thief of Time: A Novel of Discwo...
I knew I was going to have a problem writing this review. The problem is, not giving too much of the story away while letting you know what it was all about. So I've decided not to tell you any more about the actual plot than is on the blurb at the back of the book. I hope you're happy with this... Anyway, here goes...
Discworld is a place that exists on the edge of reality, and as such anything can happen in it, although it does have many similarities to our world. Mythical creatures and all manner of other weirdos inhabit the world, as well as (vaguely) normal humans.
On Discworld, Time is managed. It's the jobs of the Monks of History to ensure that Tomorrow happens. At all. And someone is about to build the world's most accurate clock. How can a clock be important? Er, because it's going to cause the end of time.
That's all the actual plot I'm going to give you, but let me tell you about some of the characters...
Lu Tze - A Monk of History. Or, more precisely, a Sweeper. It is he who invented the famous Rule One: "Never act incautiously when confronting little bald wrinkly smiling men". He's also full of wisdom such as "It won't get better if you pick at it", "There's no time like the present", and "I'm not as green as cabbage-looking". You never quite know if he's a complete sham... just when you think he is, he does something quite extraordinary to reverse your opinion. A bit of a mystic Tommy Cooper, really. Also appeared in Small Gods.
Lobsang - Lu Tze's apprentice. A real troublemaker - he knows the answers before he's had an opportunity to learn them. But he's also much more than he seems, and even he doesn't know it...
Susan - Death's granddaughter. Has inherited some of his strange powers, and uses them to startling effect in the classroom - yes, she's a schoolteacher. Apart from this she has to save the world occasionally. Has been in (this is just off the top of my head) Hogfather and Soul Music.
Death of Rats / Grim Squeaker - the only part of Death not united in Death himself. (First appeared in Reaper man, and has been in most of the books since). Can only say, "Squeak", but everyone understands exactly what he means, somehow.
Jeremy - The world's best clockmaker, commissioned to make the clock that will end history - although of course he doesn't know that. Has trouble relating to anyone and anything not to do with clocks.
There are many other wonderful characters here, and my favourite, Death, makes a good few appearances too. Oh, and the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse turns up somewhere along the line (he left before they became famous - artistic differences and so forth).
The writing is absolutely brilliant, and even though it's quite a way on in the Discworld series, new fans will enjoy it just as much. I think I'm getting too used to Pratchett as I guess 3 of the main 4 plot twists, but that didn't spoil my enjoyment of it at all. The writing is hilarious, the characters well drawn, engaging, and believable (in a sense). The story is ingenious and it was interesting to read this having recently read End of Eternity, Isaac Asimov's brilliant, serious sci-fi look at more-or-less the same subject matter. Both are brilliant, although you couldn't get further away in the treatment of the subjects or writing styles.
Thief of Time is possibly the best Discworld novel yet. The only trouble is, I could say that about several of the other Discworld novels.
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