Good, but not the best of Discworld and the City Watch
933796
It started with two old men--a priest and a baker--both murdered. Then the Patrician Vetinari himself is poisoned, but the watch can find no evidence of how he is being poisoned. When a golem confesses, it appears that Commander Vimes and the city watch have solved the case--but the golem confesses to all the unsolved crimes in the city. There is something going on and Vimes can't find the connecting thread. His new forensics officer, Cheery Littlebottom (a dwarf who wants to be seen as female and feminine despite all dwarf traditions) finds evidence of arsenic, but nowhere near Vetinari. Instead, one of the murdered men has arsenic under his finger-nails--this despite the fact that he died because his head was bashed in.
Under Vetinari, the city of Ankh-Morpork has prospered. Vetinari has allowed all races into the city, making it wealthy. He has cut down on the inter-guild sniping, resulting in more of Ankh-Morpork's efforts going into production rather than into wasteful shootouts. As a result, he has scarcely any supporters. Desite history, the people and nobility yearn for a King. Vimes will do whatever he can to ensure that doesn't happen, but what can a watchman do against the power of the guilds?
Underlying the Ankh-Morpork economy are the golems. Golems work endlessly for no pay, taking all of the worst jobs without complaining. This ultimate proletariat isn't even considered alive. Because Vimes is equal opportunity in his contempt, he doesn't mind looking beneath the surface, but still, what possible motives would golems have in overthrowing Vetinari and installing a King?
Author Terry Pratchett keeps the laughter coming in this story. Although FEET OF CLAY lacks the character development and nuances of some of the other Discworld stories (see our review of the BooksForABuck.com 2002 SF Book of the Year NIGHT WATCH), it an enjoyable short read. Vetinari, Vimes, and Captain Carrot all show moments of brilliance and manage to do so in amusing ways. Carrot's bumbling affair with the were Agula continues as Agula continues to wonder what she should do and Carrot continues inviting her to Dwarf Bread exibits. Fans of the Discworld series will find FEET OF CLAY an important addition to the series. If you are new to the series, you might consider starting with one of the other novels (NIGHT WATCH or GUARDS! GUARDS! would be excellent places to start).
2656184
Night Watch was by far my favorite work by Terry Pratchett to date, and I have read many.  Vimes going back in time 30 years and reliving a key moment in the current Watch of Ankh-Morpork's history could have been another sad attempt at a back-story type book with time travel elements.  Pratchett turns the entire premise into a gorgeous roller coaster of Morporkian history mixed with a closer look at some key players.  Wonder how Reg Shoe became a Zombie?  Why did Nobby join the watch?  Did Vetinari really go to Assassin school?  All of these questions and more are answered masterfully along with a slight parody of fascist governments and a nod to John "Duke" Wayne.  This book has to be one of the best Pratchett has ever written, and I can't recommend it enough.
2222625
I've read a good amount of Pratchett's works, and appreciate them all. However, something felt off to me about Hogfather. It's still good, but much of the story didn't stick. I've been reading the Discworld books (more or less) in release order and Hogfather seemed the least cohesive of the bunch. Granted, even with such a plot, there's enough humor/satire/events going on, to keep you entertained.

In short, read this to complete your collection of Pratchett's works, but most of his prior books are better.
4049683
This is the 29th in Pratchett's Discworld series.  It's also one of the standalone books ("Equal Rites," "Pyramids," "Moving Pictures," "Small Gods," "The Truth," "Monstrous Regiment," and "Going Postal").  As others have noted here, there's a definite trend in Pratchett's work away from the hilariously funny.  This is not necessarily a bad thing:  it's just different.  This work, like his other recent stuff, is humorous in a way, but is nowhere near as funny as what went on at the start of the series.  Mostly, the humor now lies in the mere existence of the parody of the real world and in the hyperbole he uses to establish that parody.  The plot and theme are actually quite dark (in this case, the villification of eeeeeevil big business, the glorification of old-time hackers, and, oddly, for Ankh-Morpork, the promotion of a government monopoly).

On it's own, this is a very good book.  However, those who've gone through all of his earlier works might still be expecting the younger, funnier Pratchett.  I think after all this time, we can wave that person goodbye.  What you see in this book is probably the kind of material we'll be getting for a good, long time.  I rate it at 4 stars out of 5.
923497
The Fifth Elephant is the 24th Discworld novel.
In Ankh-Morpork, the Scone of Stone, the Dwarfs' sacred relic, has been stolen, and the director of the rubber factory has just been murdered.
As Sam Vimes is sent on a diplomatic mission to Uberwald for the coronation of the new King of the Dwarfs, and Captain Carrot has gone in search of missing Angua, Lord Vetinari reluctanctly promotes Fred Colon as Captain of the Watch...
Although presented as a novel of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, the action is principally centered on Sam Vimes and his struggle with the not-so-nice werewolves of Uberwald.
With its numerous winks to our own world, as well as the guest appearence of dear characters such as DEATH or Gaspode the Wonder Dog, the Fifth Elephant turns out as funny as I expected a Pratchett novel to be. Definitely a very good read!
3076531
It follows Terry Pratchett's wonderful Diskworld theme, including the delightful character interaction between Moist Von Lipwig and Governor Vetinari.  Therefore, it is as usual with Pratchett's stories, a joy to read.  I rated it four star because, for me, it belongs in the middle of the Diskworld series, not quite at the level of Going Postal (my favorite), Hogsfather series, and some of the witch books, but nonetheless entertaining at a level far and above most other fantasy and satire writing.
797218
I picked up this book because Terry Pratchett had done some work with Neil Gaiman, who I think is simply brilliant, and I wanted a fun romp through another world. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be, but it shows potential.
The book is divided into four sections. The first section I found hilarious, especially the character known as The Luggage. But the following three sections seemed random and disconnected, as if the author had written them as short stories at different times and then decided to throw them together into a book. It almost felt like they were the results of a random adventure generator. These sections could have been put in any order and it wouldnt have made a difference. One even seems to take place after a slew of other events which were only briefly aluded to.
I missed the feel of an overall plot and purpose for the adventures, but the writing is good and amusing. Discworld is an interesting place and I think that as it is developed and the author gets into his stride they will improve.
552824
Another good urban fantasy by this author. I didn't like this quite as much as the first book and I found the final fight scene had some elements that left me wondering why the author had put them in as there didn't seem to be all that much reason for them in the story - they seemed a bit accidental rather than purposeful.

I also wish that some of the personal relationships were made more of. I like the relationship between the two main characters but it felt a bit like some of the strong characters who could be added to their urban fantasy posse weren't made the most of.

Despite these small quibbles I'm looking forward to seeing where the author takes this series.
2006890
Classic!  I've read the Discworld series out of order, so there are some books I like better - Feet of Clay, Going Postal, etc., but it was great to read the first one.  So much good stuff.
4098826
This one started weird and continued to be like that for about  a quarter of the book. Couldn't quite put my finger on it but it seemed like Pratchett struggled with execution. Everything felt convoluted, jokes were trying too hard, language was sort of artificial, puns were bad and nothing had that natural flow many of Pratchett's earlier books had. To top it all, it seemed like things weren't getting anywhere (in a sense this remained true till the end), like it was all one enormous set-up for a thing that will eventually come. On it's own this wouldn't be peculiar, Pratchett did that technique more than once, it was just that this time it all seemed so uninspired, going through the motions-like, without a real kick to it or anything that would warrant your attention. It made sense, when you think about it, with Men at Arms being fifteenth book in a series. It's far from easy keeping it on the level for so long.

 After a while things got better. It still felt like it's lacking direction but Ankh-Morpork, together with all of its inhabitants, finally came to life. Which meant Met at Arms could kick it up a notch and deliver yet another beautiful rendition of human (and sort of human) character in all of its tattered splendor.

 Pratchett put some layers on his recurring characters though not all got fair treatment in that regard. Captain Vimes particularly felt sort of left out and his storyline wrapped up unusually quick. Nobby felt downplayed as well, just like CMOT Dibbler. Carrot, though, finally got interesting. He remained naive (and awfully literal) seven foot tall dwarf, yet he gained that particular shrewdness and street-smart intelligence coming from spending time in Ankh. Detritus and rest of the trolls became more than a towering lumps of stone (though they towered quite well thank you very much), Patrician got another shade and dwarven community (apart from Cuddy who is...well, you'll see) together with Guilds showed some of their inner workings. In general, with this book (as always, you can read it as a standalone but it works so much better if you're familiar with at least City Watch storyline) Ankh was given sort of dimension, becoming like a full-bodied wine someone left open long time ago (which explains the stench). It became living and breathing world, not unlike our own (excluding orangutan librarians of course).

In broader terms still, Men at Arms lacked that particular Pratchett insight into general human condition we all grown to like. There  are tidbits and singular scenes worthy of note but as a whole Men at Arms read more as a loosely connected series of sketches than as a meaningful book. In that sense, Men at Arms was a first step backward in a long journey of Discworld. As I said, fifteenth book and all, it was bound to happen sooner or later, yet when it did you couldn't just shrug it off. Discworld became a part of you long time ago and it isn't easy noticing those first cracks in the pavement. One might argue that cracks were there by design (after all, this is Ankh were talking about) yet that argument is not convincing. You, as well as I know that these are not the droids...I mean cracks we're looking for.
3499160
The wizards are requested by Lord Vetinari to stop the band of elderly heroes led by Cohen the Barbarian, who plans the ultimate adventure: attacking the gods' home at Dunmanifestin. Rincewind naturally gets roped in and sent off on another suicide mission that borrows too much from&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Light-Fantastic-A-Discworld-Novel/dp/0060855886/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Light Fantastic: A Discworld Novel</a>. Capt. Carrot, Leonard da Quirm, Ponder Stibbons, and a few others have roles too. Only the witches and Vimes are conspicuously missing from the regular characters.

It's a short story, but nicely illustrated by Paul Kirby. Clearly dashed off without as much thought or depth as Pratchett's best novels. It's more a framework for the pictures than anything else. If that warning annoys you, you might not appreciate it; but if you just can't get enough of Discworld, go for it.
4762076
Terry Pratchett is so prolific an author that I keep thinking that I've read everything only to discover I missed something.  This last visit to the shelves revealed that I had managed to overlook Guards! Guards! -- possibly by believing that I had already read it.  Chalk it up to a senior moment or two.  This is embarrassing, because this particular volume provides the background for several story arcs that became increasingly important in the ensuing history of Ankh Morpork.

The first of these is the appearance of Carrot Ironfoundersson who would one day become Captain Carrot.  Carrot has been raised as a dwarf, but at 6'5" his parents can no longer pretend to not notice his differences (and dating issues were coming up).  The decision is made to send Carrot to Ankh Morpork to enlist as a City Guard.  Carrot makes his appearance, and, to everyone's embarrassment, starts to actually arrest people who are breaking the law.  The second newcomer is Lady Sybil Ramkin, who is to become Mrs. Sam Vimes one day.  In Guards! Guards! her dedication to the raising of swamp dragons provided Vimes with vital information about the real problem -- the impossibility of a giant, fire breathing dragon in the sky (and on the throne) of the grubbiest city to ever float over a turtle's back.

An evil plot is hatched in the city, a book is stolen from the University Library, and in the meeting room of a tiny cult a dragon is summoned from the alternate universe where they have been tidily packed away.  Four times summoned, then a pretend slaying puts an impostor on the empty throne, the head of the cult becomes the chief advisor, and Lord Vetinari is deposited in his own prison.  But dragons, once summoned are not so easily gotten rid of, and Ankh Morpork finds itself desperately looking for virgins.  It's up Vimes, and Lady Sybil, and Carrot, and the rest of guards to find a solution.  I shouldn't leave out the presence of a really angry ape and an omnivorous supersonic reptile, either.

In the spectrum of Pratchett's writing, Guard! Guards! is well above average, but for all its imaginative plotting and details it doesn't quite click the was a book like Small Gods does.  Even so, it covers so much material important to the series as a whole that it is a must read.  An eminently readably must read at that, probably rereadable as well.  The comedy is good, with Carrot's innocence and literal nature providing yards of material for puns and sight gags.  Anyone planning to conjure a dragon will find it just the remedy for all those hours spent poring over a stolen spellbook.
3153334
I really enjoyed this installment of the Discworld series but felt the ending was a bit abrupt and undeveloped. Very enjoyable.
844696
This book covers the topic of what if someone was going around creating worlds, and putting fossils in, i.e., a fake history. it s not of the discworld series, and unlike dark side of the sun very few in any similarities can be drwan. Here, it stars Kin arad, the main character in the film, who is supervising the building of a world, and taking out the different tricks being done by the workers. This is mentoined in the first part of the book with a british museum analogy. Terry is big on analogies, to get a litterary point accross. The film also shows interspecied cooperation with the other characters. If only people here could cooperate so well. The book also tackles the subject of creation as they find a world much muc older than theirs, found by a frozen pilot, sent ou by earth. Thsi brings in the question who created this, which gives a good gap and allows the reader to make up their own mind. Overall written well, some issues are tackled, but if you want a different read away from the discworld this is good. But if you are a diehard discworld only fan read it for the book itslef, and don't expect it to be discworld.
187355
I have very mixed feelings about this Mapp. I bought it because it's Discworld, and a serious Discworld fan like me will want to have this in their collection regardless of what rating it gets!

Nevertheless, compared to the other Mapps (<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Streets-of-Ankh-Morpork/dp/B000LZ9LTK/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Streets of Ankh-Morpork</a>,<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Discworld-Mapp/dp/0552143243/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Discworld Mapp</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/A-Tourist-Guide-to-Lancre/dp/0552146080/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">A Tourist Guide to Lancre</a>) it's not quite up to par.

True, the Mapp itself is gorgeous and there are some nifty pencil drawings inside the book (some of which can however also be found in&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Art-of-Discworld/dp/006121194X/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Art of Discworld</a>). And there is some really funny dialogue between Albert and his master about playing golf...

But mostly, this Mapp is rather boring. Unlike the others, it just doesn't add much to the Discworld series.
The books describe the INSIDE of Death's house in much detail but the Mapp focuses on the outside of it only - which looks like an areal picture of any old manor and grounds. OK, with less green and more purple/black, but other than that...

We now know the exact location of Death's bee hives and where the stables are - but so what? Who really cares? We also learn where Death built Susan's swing but we can't actually see what it looks like, it's just a dot in the trees. The wheat field is just a patch of yellow in the distance. And then there are lots of frankly boring additions that AFAIK have never been mentioned in the books (The Pointy Tree Avenue? The Wood of Silence? The Gazebo? Give me a break...)

In short, there is just not much CONTENT. What is shown isn't bad, I just think that a plan and images of the INSIDE should really have been included as well.

Yet as it is, the steep price should make many Discworld fans wonder: do I really need this? My recommendation for casual fans is to spend the money on a Discworld novel instead...
375085
The city watch novels started with Corporal Carrot being the center of the story, but Pratchett found his muse in Sam Vimes - who has several different titles, depending on where in the series you are, and how nice Lord Vetinari feels towards Vimes that week.

Jingo was written in 1997, when Pratchett was hitting his stride with the Disc and the world was less medieval and more Victorian.  By this point, Pratchett was pulling in the real world and bringing it to wonderful parody by showing the hypocrisies inherent in the actions we take.  He's able to ameliorate this by the fantasy tropes that the world is set in, but they are no less true because they take place on a flat world supported by four elephants on the back of  a giant space turtle.

Jingo looks at the nature of conflict and self-definition and nationalism - who are we and what we do we stand for?  The precipitating event is that an island rises in the circle sea, and is claimed by two competing powers, Ankh-Morpork and the city of Al-Khali.

There is palace intrigue, some derring-do, and lessons learned.  In the end, we learn that those we go to war with are just like you and I, but perhaps it is the ones that lead us to war that we should be most wary of.  Reading it felt odd, as if it was a response to the drumbeats that lead the Anglo countries to war in 2003, but it was written years in advance.  It just goes to show that the will to power is universal, the only shame is that there was no Sam Vimes in Baghdad, ready to save the day.
3791314
Personally upon finishing "Wyrd Sisters", I felt conflicted about the sixth installment in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.  It wasn't that the story was not good nor that the parodying of various fantasy tropes along with Shakespearean plays weren't funny, but nothing seemed to click throughout the entire book.  The first third of the book felt slow paced before things really started going in the plot but it was a sign of things to come as the comedic situations were amusing but not laugh-out-loud funny like the previous five books.  While a lot of the characters were enjoyable, namely Disc's dwarf bard Hwel, it was Margat Garlick that was off-putting because Pratchett didn't seem to develop her (given she is one of the titular characters) and might have been a reason why the book didn't click.  Overall, "Wyrd Sisters" is amusing but not compared to the previous five Discworld books.