Pratchett, Terry - Thief of Time

[oyceter]

I think this is up there with Lords and Ladies and Hogfather as one of my favorite Discworld books.

The Auditors, having failed in their latest scheme to make the universe a neater and more orderly place, have hatched a plot to stop time altogether by getting someone to build a perfect clock. Meanwhile, Death has sensed something running amuck and summoned Susan for help, the History Monks are trying to deal with a thief who's way too good with time, and the clockmaker's helper Igor really just wants a good thunderstorm.

Unlike some of the other Death books, all the plotlines in this book were engaging, and I'm not sure if I had more fun reading about Susan trying to whap Death of Rats on the head, Lu-Tze teaching everyone about Rule One, Death trying to round up the Four Horsemen, Igor just trying to serve the first sane master he's ever had, or the Auditors attempting to analyze human behavior.

Everything ties together wonderfully, and though I wanted more of Lobsang and Susan in the end, the ending was highly satisfactory.

I was trying to decided how disgruntled I was about the History Monks being some weird amalgamation of Chinese, Japanese, and Tibetan practices, but Lu-Tze is so awesome that I kept getting distracted. I also generally like how it pokes fun at the romanticization of Eastern religion and how Lu-Tze's Way is the Way of an innkeeper in Ankh-Morpork.

Also, literal death by chocolate!

Now I want to reread Small Gods and figure out what Lu-Tze was doing in there, since I'm pretty sure that was when he was trying to reconstruct all of history the first time around.

This was appropriately frightening and hilarious at all the right places, and I would love to see more of Lobsang and Susan in the future, but am not sure if we'll get a chance to.

Comments

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Ankh-Morpork reminds me of France as well as London, so I don't mind his mixing cultures quite so much when I keep that in mind. I suspect he sticks to a fantasy world because he's too lazy to research, bless his heart.

It's horrible to think that he might be running out of time.

[oyceter]

Well, I'd arguing that mixing London and Paris still has a different weight than mixing China and Japan and Tibet, just because of the amount of literature the former get, versus the latter. And I am not angry at him, unlike some other authors, because it is so good-natured, but it still makes me twinge a little.

I hate to think about what he's going through now =(.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

In terms of literature, true; I wasn't thinking of that-- more of cultural history and long-held rivalries. And yeah, he's clearly well-intentioned and thoughtful, which is so rare in straight white male fantasy authors it's easier/more tempting to give him a pass. Also, he seems so gosh-darn nice.

Sometimes when I mix up words (which can be an early sign) I think of him now and am a bit terrified on his behalf.