The latest Discworld novel Thud! sees Commander Sam Vimes up to his neck in problems again. Faced with an ever-growing demand for representation of each race in the Watch (a vampire is added to the werewolf, trolls, dwarves, golem, and Nobby – who is technically human but only just), he also has to contend with the political machinations of Lord Vetineri, while keeping the peace in capital city Ankh-Morpork with trouble brewing between the trolls and the dwarves. An apparent troll murder of a dwarf quickly becomes much, much more than it seems; the anniversary of the great battle of Koom Valley (which always stirs up hatred and war between the dwarves and trolls) is very near, and the famous painting by an insane genius has just been stolen.

All in all, not an easy job being Commander of the Watch. Add in his young son who MUST by read Where’s My Cow? at six on the dot every evening, and a wife who doesn’t seem to understand the meaning of the word DANGER, and Vimes lot is not a happy one. Well, it is happy, just… troubled…

Discworld is of course the comedy fantasy land created by Terry Pratchett, and is peopled by the weird and wonderful creatures mentioned above and more. This is the 31st book in the Discworld series, the 26th I’ve read, and the 25th I’ve reviewed. (See http://www.darscom.net/discworld.html for the full list including Pratchett’s other books, also animations and computer games based on Discworld.) Whereas he has touched on serious issues many times in the previous books, they have mainly been in the background of the main plot, in Thud! he seems to have decided on making racism the central theme of the book. While this is a laudable aim and works in many ways, I just found parts of the narrative and the message a little too laboured, not a feeling I usually get with Pratchett’s novels at all. Don’t get me wrong, I still thoroughly enjoyed this book, but the writing style didn’t always seem right to me. The passages where Vimes himself is battling inborn prejudices and feelings of revenge seemed particularly out of place somehow.

Still, the storyline bustles along quite nicely (with a killer plot twist near the end) and as always there is a lot of humour here. Most of it works, although some of it felt a little forced. Even though I wasn’t quite as struck with this as with other Discworld books, for Pratchett to come out with a work of this quality after thirty books already in the series is quite something. With Discworld having become such a large and detailed place, it’s inevitable that many characters (including DEATH again, sadly) will have little more than cameo appearances. Still, Vimes has always been one of the Disc’s most appealing and enduring characters, so another book with him as the star was certainly in order. I didn’t find that Thud! has the lightness of Men At Arms, the fast-paced action of The Fifth Elephant, or the astonishing depth of Night Watch - it was a curious cross-breed of the earlier and later styles, and for me (alone amongst a sea – well, four actually – 5-star reviews, admittedly) it didn’t work quite so well.

Most of the favourite Watch characters got a fair bit of page-time here – Colon and Nobby (possibly on their last mission?), Captain Carrot, Sergeant Angua, and Detritus had quite important roles in the narrative in one way or another. One thing that came over quite well is that these characters, like the Watch itself, have grown – or perhaps matured is a better word. This is most pronounced in Detritus, who seems to have come through as Vimes’ right-hand troll. None of the characters are too mature to be funny, of course… One of the best things about the book for me was that Willikins, Commander Vimes & Lady Sybil’s Butler, really comes into his own in a couple of scenes here. He is a character that has rarely been explored, but here he truly comes alive and we learn a little of his history.

New characters include Sally, the new vampire on the Watch; Brick, a substance-abusing troll who might just have a future in the Watch if he keeps his nose clean. The two characters I’d most like to see more of are Mr Shine (“him diamond!”, as the trolls say) and Bashfulson, a dwarf of great intellect and a very dry wit (almost unobservable at times, but it’s there nonetheless).

Overall I think Thud! is a book that will not disappoint Discworld fans, and with its slightly more serious tone it may appeal more to people who’ve not been inclined to read Discworld novels in the past. Good, but not among my favourites.


Other Discworld Novels starring The Watch

Men At Arms
The Fifth Elephant
Night Watch


Recommended: Yes