Thud! (urspr publ 2005; utgåvan 2006)

One of my favorite Terry Pratchett books! Some of his earlier Discworld books are cute, and certainly readable (PTerry is pretty much always readable), but more a "borrow and read" type to me - this is not one of them. This was a very happy "buy and keep" entry to the series for me!

This book is as witty as any Discworld novel (wit being what Pratchett does best), but it also has a tightly woven and dare I say actually somewhat epic plot (and I don't just mean epic in the shallow slangy sense - I mean, an actual epic! As mentioned by other reviewers, an impending war looms over the Disc! Can the Watch stop it in time?). The plot also addresses a longstanding, complex, and highly antagonistic relationship in the series mythology between Trolls and Dwarves. Plus, it stars Sam Vimes, one of the most entertaining and likable (not to mention slightly badass) characters in the Discworld novels. You can't go wrong with Sam Vimes as a protagonist.

It is testament to how great a writer PTerry really is, that he can manage to make a children's book called "Where's My Cow?" not only a quite funny running gag, but a weirdly ominous plot point at the same time. Like, literally at the same time! Read through the climax and you'll see what I mean. It's chilling and funny all at once.

This book, being a more recent Discworld novel, is Pratchett at his best - a master humorist and surprisingly good suspense writer all in one. Earlier volumes sometimes seemed to be entertaining more because of the ideas and some of the dialogue than anything else (see for example, Carpe Jugulum, an amusing deconstruction of vampire myths) - funny, yes, but nothing particularly special, other than their imagination. As Pratchett's career has gone on though, he's honed his skills, and in later books like this one, it really shows.

This novel takes place fairly late in the continuity of the Discworld novels, but if you're new to them, don't worry; any given Discworld book can be read out of order or even by itself, just fine. Yes, there's a certain enjoyment you get from seeing characters go from their beginnings if you read in order (for optimal enjoyment, read the other "Watch" books in order first - that is, books like "Guards! Guards!" that center on Ankh-Morpork's City Watch), but Pratchett always makes them accessible enough that you can jump right in with no problem. I'd recommend this book to any fantasy fan who'd like a good literary romp that's equal parts exciting and fun, especially if they'd like a good introduction to Pratchett's work. ( )

I didn't really enjoy Snuff, but I did enjoy Thud. Given that in many ways they are quite similar books (Sam Vimes is Kickass, but Family Man! Bad People Are Stopped!) this was quite interesting. I think the plot in Thud is tighter, neater and cleverer, and the Bad Guys Problem is more interesting. Also, the Summoning Dark is sinester and evil and powerful, which makes the charactature of it in Snuff even more annoying. ( )

Pratchett would be interesting to read if only for the humor, but he always manages to throw in little insights about human (um, and dwarf and troll) nature that are thought-provoking. Here we have a murder, a missing painting of a historical battle, and an impending dwarf-troll war. Will Commander Vimes and the intrepid Night' Watch be able to sort it all out, and will Vimes manage to get home every night and read "Where's my cow?" to his young son? Excellent stuff. (I am a big fan of the Watch books in particular.) ( )

Quite entertaining. ( )

This one's quite dark, and there are all sorts of darkness. Some are dispelled by light, some by truth and some by sheer force of will.

Sam Vimes reads a book to his sone every night at 6pm sharp. Comewhat may, he reads "Where's my cow?" complete with all the animal noises. And he never misses it, because if you'd miss it for a good excuse, you'd miss it for a bad excuse, so for this there are no excuses. He stays good to his word, even if sometimes there is a little bit of easing of the path in order to make sure he's always there.

There's interspecies trouble in the lead up to Koom valley day, which comemorates the many, many times that the trolls and dwarves have fought each other. There's even a board game based on the species interaction, the Thud of the title. the skill is not to win using your own species, the skill is winning when playing the other side as well. The pieces are moved round the board as the charaters move across the land and it's a close run thing between the truth, light and will power against the dark. ( )