Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) was the acclaimed creator of the globally revered Discworld series. In all, he authored more than fifty bestselling books, which have sold more than one hundred million copies worldwide. His novels have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal. He was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to literature in 2009, although he always wryly maintained that his greatest service to literature was to avoid writing any.
When Death takes a holiday-literally-from his job of cutting lifethreads on the planet known as Discworld, it falls to his granddaughter Susan to fill, however reluctantly, his position. Simultaneously, a fortune-seeking bard discovers a magical instrument and proceeds to revolutionize music on a worldside scale, unmindful that his own life is scheduled for an abrupt ending. Pratchett's continuing comic fantasy saga reaches new heights-or depths-in his latest incarnation. Filled with genuine humor that runs the gamut from slapstick to subtle, this most recent effort by the author (along with Neil Gaiman) of Good Omens (Berkley, 1992) is a good choice for fantasy colections.
Nepotism is given an unusual spin in Pratchett's 14th Discworld novel, as Death's granddaughter picks up the scythe when the Grim Reaper takes a vacation. Trolls, dwarves, magicians and rock music‘music played with rocks‘figure in this amusing but overlong romp, which begins with the formation of a band by aspiring musician Imp y Celen (aka Buddy). Arriving in the city of Ankh-Morpork, Buddy finds a magical guitar which enables the group‘a rock-playing troll, an ax-wielding dwarf and an Orangutan pianist‘to drive crowds wild. But the instrument causes conflict between the motley crew and Susan, Death's granddaughter, who is just adjusting to her new post. Many of the ensuing comic situations involve Death trying to get drunk, though Pratchett's liberal application of jokes scores as many misses as hits. Extraneous plot information slows the pace as the narrative rattles to a colossal, albeit uninspired, conclusion. Science Fiction Book Club main selection. (Feb.)
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
