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The Truth 138

Posted by timothy from the folks-this-ain't-flatland dept.
Would you believe a book review written by someone who calls himself "bs" about a book called The Truth? Believe it. Terry Pratchet is hard to pin down -- is this humor? Unadulterated absurdity? Clever satire? More real than real? Whatever it is, it's The Truth.

The Truth
author Terry Pratchett
pages 336
publisher Harper Collins
rating 9/10
reviewer bs
ISBN 0380978954
summary A refreshing new perspective on yet another romp through the streets of the greatest city on the disc, Ankh-Morpork.

*

The Truth, which is Terry Pratchett's 25th entry into the hopefully never-ending discworld saga, features yet another Ankh-Morpork mystery. Only this time, there's a twist -- Instead of focusing on how The Watch again save the city, The Truth tells the tale from the perspective of William de Worde, founder, editor, and investigative reporter for the city's first newspaper. With the news that The Watch is investigating an attempted murder by the ruler of the city, William's fledgling newspaper quickly grows and just as quickly attracts the attention of many important city citizens.

For those who have yet to encounter Terry Pratchett's Discworld, here's the short version. The Discworld is a fantasy world which is most definitely flat. In fact, it rides on the backs of four giant elephants, who in turn stand atop a giant turtle. Pratchett's world parodies any and every element of our world that he can put his pen on, from movies to music, from fairy tales to opera. All along, Pratchett's razor sharp wit supplies innumerable references to pop culture, and he has a seemingly endless supply of puns.

When recommending any of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, I'm faced with the issue of continuity. You see, with 25 novels in the series so far, references to earlier novels in the series are practically inevitable, and The Truth is no different. However, thanks to the nature of the narrative, The Truth should be relatively accessible to new readers. Because William and his employees on the newspaper are all characters newly introduced to the Discworld, no prior knowledge is needed. However, the cast of characters with which William deals -- from Lord Vetinari to Commander Vimes to Gaspode the Wonder Dog -- might seem a little shallow if you don't have the background supplied by previous books in the series. Don't let that deter you, however, as there is still a lot in this book to find funny, even without the heaps of background that is assumed.

The entire telling of this tale is solid. From the subtle clues sprinkled throughout as to what is happening to the parodies of cameras and palm pilots, the narrative doesn't have a piece out of place.

The only major flaws in the book are the aforementioned Pratchett learning curve and the eclipsing of our hero, William, by the supporting characters in the novel. From a villain by the name of Mr. Tulip, whose wallet reads "Not a very nice person at all" and believes that a potato will save his soul, to Otto Von Chrek, the newspaper's photographer and a recovering vampire, who occasionally finds himself a pile of dust when his flash goes off, William simply doesn't stand out. William is just an ordinary guy who wants to know the truth about what is happening and wants to share that truth with anyone willing to read or be read to. William is very easy to relate to, and for that reason makes an excellent main character, but when push comes to shove, William is finds himself better suited as an observer than a saviour."

You can purchase this book at ThinkGeek.
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The Truth

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  • So am I the only person in the world who didn't like Good Omens? I love both Terry Pratchett's and Neil Gaiman's individual works, but I didn't think that their styles blended well in Good Omens.


    --Phil (I'll get my coat...)
  • Well, okay, it's both.

    1st the wizards don't like the idea, because letters used in printing one magical book tend to acquire some magical properties themselves, and this can be bad when printing a totally different magical book.

    After all, the books in the library of the wizard's school (Unseen University) tend to be chained down to the shelves for the protection of the books, patrons and the universe at large, and let's not even get into the grounding rods...

    But 2nd, the Guild of Engravers is happy with their monopoly. Footnotes in earlier books point out that movable type has been known for a while and tried before. But then the printer using it committed suicide. They knew it was suicide because of the note that was engraved on the head of a pin ;)
  • Hmm... Here's what I caught offhand: The saying on the wallet A cultured thug (with a chemical problem) Le sausage in le bun
  • However, what worries me is concepts like cartoons and movies of DW.

    There's no need to worry, the cartoon adaption of Soul Music is absolutely brilliant. Terry himself has said as much, and attributes it to knowing when to step in and correct something, and when to get out of the way and trust the people he was working with.

    I saw it at Worldcon, but if you have access to PAL equipment it is available for purchase from amazon.uk, and probably other less evil companies as well.

  • Darn (Score:1)

    by ch-chuck ( 9622 )
    I thought this was going to be about some kind of philosophy, like, "TRVTH: congnizance of a meaningful relationship existing between a conceptually modeled representation and the objects in reality that are being represented. In no way are the conceptul models to be construed as outside reality (which is all inclusive anyway) but as realities themselves that can also be modeled (meta-model) and in fact, the limit as understanding of TRVTH increases is a meaning and relation free "oneness" of being with reality where the drive to construct models ceases (nirvana) and just is (being)."
  • Terry Pratchett must be taken in low doses. Otherwise he just becomes annoying. I made the mistake of reading Interesting Times, The Last Continent, Pyramids, Hogfather, Equal Rites, and Masquerade within about a four month period. I loved Interesting Times, and Last Continent and Hogfather were pretty good, but I've never been able to finish Masquerade and the thought of buying another Pratchet book makes me nauseously bored.
  • Adams' books are essentially parodies - the humor and the silliness are the points of the book. Pratchett started off in that vein, too; but has managed to grow as a writer, and the humor in his books is no longer the sole point. The humor is still there, and still makes the books very enjoyable; but it's much sharper and more satirical in his later books, and no longer the sole purpose of the story. "Feet of Clay", for example, would have been an excellent fantasy detective story, even without the humorous asides.

  • I have to admit, when I first started reading it, I was suprised... I never thought that Pratchett was the type of author to use vulgarity, even if the word was never actually printed.

    I literally fell out of bed laughing when I got to the part where I realized that it wasn't some sort of Victorian-era censorship, but that Tulip was actually pausing before saying "ing"... such a well-cultured thug. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him during the course of the book, and happy that he finally ended up where he did.

  • And I'm still waiting for "The Fifth Element" to hit paperback...

    That'll be "The Fifth Elephant" :-)

    Incidently, I don't know if we get them first "over here" or something, but it's been out in paperback in the UK for a while; good book too.

    I know they're not popular around these parts, but ever thought of trying amazon.co.uk?

    Cheers,

    Tim
  • The plays and films are just less talented people trying to cash in on the Pratchett magic. Like the plays, which are written by someone else. I just get the feeling that the guy smelt the money, wrote the play and then asked Pratchett if he could produce it for a license fee or something. He is the same guy that 'co-authors' all those stupid cash-in encyclopedias and of the Discworld, maps and recipe books. A bit like the Tolkien franchise as successfully managed by Christopher Tolkein - oh look I have just found the 14th 'lost manuscript' that no one knew existed!
  • Perhaps you could make a trip to the library? I'd bet they have at least some of them. If you read one and like them then you can buy yourself a copy if you think it's worth it.
  • amazon.co.uk is your saviour here. Now that I live in the US it's how I get hold of my Pratchett fix without having to wait ages for the books to come out in the US [1] and the shipping is offset by the usual Amazon discounts. :)

    [1] They say this will nolonger be the case and the books will be released simultaneously, however I understand they'll continue with the awful US cover art.
  • The flat world on top of a tortoise thing is stolen from Hindu mythology somewhere. I'd hope a review would give more of a clue about the nature of such a strange world.

    Boss of nothin. Big deal.
    Son, go get daddy's hard plastic eyes.
  • It is one of the best books in the series, and is set in a new region of Discworld, so nothing depends on you having read the rest of the series.

    After that I'd suggest Hoggfather, Mort, Guards, Guards, and the first Witches one. The earlier Rinceward books are fun, but IMHO P. hadn't quite hit his stride.
  • Oops, RinceWIND, of course.

  • Re:Ye (Score:1)

    by tordia ( 45075 )
    ...or muck around with toothbrushes and toothpaste, as you no longer have any teeth.
  • His non-Discworld stuff is also very entertaining, such as Good Omens, co-written by Neil Gaiman, soon to be a Terry Gilliam movie.
    Seconded. Good Omens is not just very entertaining, it is also in some ways surprising wise. I laughed, I cried. I have high hopes for the movie.

    Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | http://www.infamous.net/

  • I haven't seen any of the books in this series. but from this summary, pratchett sounds Douglas Adams-ish. Can anyone who knows make a comparison here? Also someone reccomend a good one to start out with.
  • "Good Omens" isn't a Discworld book at all. But Discworld fans will almost certainly enjoy it as well - it's one of my all-time favorites.

    Some of the Discworld books do read a lot like copies of older ones ("Carpe Jugulum" is "Lords and Ladies" with vampires instead of elves), but Pratchett manages to be consistently readable and entertaining long past when lesser authors have just programmed macros into their word processors (Piers Anthony, for example).

    I like ALL the story arcs, including those with the witches. But some books are certainly stronger than others.

    Steve (speaking for myself, not Compaq)

    Steve Lionel

  • my fave Tom Holt. More Spec-Fic if you are into it.

    Faust among equals : funny
    Here comes the sun : eh, so so
    Overtime : Call the 'osptal I'm dying here!
    Ye God's : Too funny
    Grailblazers : Best Time travel book ever.

    ...and best of all..

    Who's afraid of beowulf? : Nuff' Said

    Read and Laugh, read again laugh again.
  • One could hope that old B.S. was as dim about measuring TIME as he was about distance and length. [/:-)
  • Dont feel bad, I was the same :)
  • Picked this up awhile ago. Very impressed, I thought it translated quite well. AcornMedia is promising more Discworld dvds later in 2001. Soul Music is next, I believe.
    --
    Donald Roeber
  • What about the "... and then I am going to get medieval on his arse." bit? That had me laughing for a few weeks.

    W
  • Hogfather was indeed a great book.

    I've never understood why so many of Pterry's fans rate Hogfather so highly. I thought it was the most disappointing in the series so far - too many aspects were minor variations of themes from previous books, too many loose ends in the plot details... plus, I just don't find Susan D a particularly interesting character: she's too sensible and competent to fail at anything she sets herself to achieve, especially when Grandfather is around to nudge the outcome. It's a pity; shorn of the padding, HF could have made a glintingly dark novella.

    Thanks to everyone for the other comments, though, it sounds as though The Truth is worth picking up if I happen to see it on sale somewhere.

  • The plural of "beer" is "beer".

    Uh huh. "Pass me five beer please!" I don't think so.

    -----
    "People who bite the hand that feeds them usually lick the boot that kicks them"

  • The Fifth Elephant was definitely a very good read. Amazing the way in which he's (paradoxically) making the different species such as the dwarves more distinct and believable yet "human" at the same time. Nice to see a cold troll's silicon brain spark for once as well.

    Earlier someone mentioned that the witches books are the least entertaining. I totally disagree: I think Rincewind is the least entertaining character by a longshot. The last witch book, Carpe Jugulum, is full of more thematic brilliance than the earlier Shakespeare parody, and shows a real commitment to his new "mystery" mode of writing as well as some fantastic telling of the life inside the mind. He turns vampires into a self-parody, but in the same instance reduces them to the most fearful thing they can be: the seducer and the evolutionary superior of humanity wrapped in a nice waistcoat. Granny Weatherwax has come a long way.

    I'M REALLY NOT HERE TO TAKE YOUR MONEY.

  • Turnwise, not "spinwise."
  • I've heard good things about this book, but so far nobody has really told me what it was about. I've been a big discworld fan for some time, but there are so many books from the series that it's difficult to decide which ones to read. (Let's face it, we can't all afford to get 25 books at one time).

    After this review, I think I'll pick this one up soon.

  • You got to be kidding. I loved LotR, but I really think The Silmarillion is the best book. Of course you have to have read LotR to like The Silmarillion, and you may find it 'hard' because of the amount of names and such, but I think the way in which he managed to create an entire history, some kind of 'bible' of Middle Earth, is amazing. And besides, the elves in The Silmarillion are far cooler than Legolas and the rest in LotR (dont get me wrong, Legolas rocks too, he just has nothing to do near Finrod or Beleg Cuthalion :)

  • A full Discworld bibliography is at http://www.colin-smythe.com/authors/tp/titles/nove ls.htm [colin-smythe.com]

    Much more is at http://www.lspace.org/ [lspace.org]

  • As an aside on Small Gods, I was reminded of this when reading the /. discussion on When Students Become Informers [slashdot.org], especially the bit where he explains how someone must be guilty if they are suspected by the religious police, or the suspicion wouldn't have occured to them....

    Pterry also strikes uncomfortably close to home with Vimes attitude that Everybody is guilty of something, you just have to decide what. I'd still rather have Vimes running the CIA/FBI/MI5 or whatever though.
    ----

  • Dark side of the sun was not discworld. I've read it, it was a sci fi thing, used bit of the parallel-worlds-quantum theory that's familar to star trek watchers, altough it was controlled and predicted. For example, one of the characters was a lucky robot--it simply couldn't be unlucky. There was also a sentient slilcon based planet. Worth reading, but it aint DW.

    Strata isn't DW. Plot: Visitors from a normal, physics dominated, universe find a flat world, somewhat reminisient of D.W. And find that all the magic, is in actuality, highly advanced technology that the inhabitants don't know anything about. It was apparently an early exploration of the idea that became the Discworld. (Although, DW has no sci-fi setting. There are no space ships, canabilistic although civilised aliens)

  • "I would hate to say that he made it up as he went along, but Discworld was quite clearly been around the stories, and over the years, things have ... er... evolved.

    "Take, for example Granny Weatherwax. While there has been no actual change in the character as such, the woman who defies the Queen of Elves ... is a much more realized and and complicated persion ... than the village witch of Equal Rites ... And trolls begin as little more than conventional monsters in The Colour of Magic ... and by Men at arms .. certainly capable of using a knife and fork, even if not for the purposes originally envisaged."

    --Stephen Briggs, in About the Companion in The Discworld Companion First Published in Great Britian in 1994 by Victor Gollancz Ltd.

    Terry does change things, as needed, I think. I reckon the DW has grown up. There's a plot, there's character development. Things are more, deep, than say The Colour of Magic. Of course, I could be totally wrong.

  • Frankly, as the subject says, when Pratchett - who loves to spoof anything going, but usually focuses on classic literature, starts spoofing Quentin Tarantino, you know you are in for a big treat.

    Frums

  • You want to read Pratchett? Get 'Good Omens'. That one book has more well-observed humour, and more enjoyment than the last half of the Discworld series all rolled into one.

    Whether this is due to it being based in an identifably 'real-world', or more likely due to the influence of co-author Neil Gaiman (Yes, he of 'Sandman' fame) is debatable. No matter, get thee to Good Omens, leave The Truth on the shelf for another day.

    Molt


  • I am curious why the american editions of Pratchett's books never have the original covers by Josh Kirby. The Kirby covers are imho a lot nicer. So I would suggest that people wanting to read Pratchett try ordering the original, british, edition. (you can check out the covers at Amazon.co.uk ) [amazon.co.uk]
  • Well I agree that Kirby's illustrations aren't true to the actual characters in the stories. If you want illustrations that are "correct" you should check out Paul Kidby. But I still prefer the Kirby illustrations to what I have seen of the US covers :) and it's not just british people who can handle inconsintencies, dutch people seem to be able to handle those as well. :)

  • As someone who has read the Discworld novels practically in reverse order, I can second the sentiments about the 'Discword learning curve.'

    On the other hand, The Truth is one of the few Discworld books that introduces an entirely new storyline and characters, so it's an excellent first-read for those unfamiliar with the Discworld series.

    Other Discworld books that are good first reads are Pyramids, Small Gods, and the recently re-released The Color of Magic. Be careful, though: after springboarding into the Discworld universe with any of these books, you're likely to end up doing silly things like buying up every UK edition of Pratchett's books from London bookstores while on vacation. :)

  • Moving Pictures is a bit tedious. Pyramids is definitely worth it though.

    Do you have second-hand bookshops around your way? I've picked up quite a few there recently (including the afore-mentioned Pyramids).

    Grab.
  • Agnes Nutter, Witch

    I'll have to agree, clearly much better than the Diskworld books, of which I've read a few. The seamless melding of the absurd into reality makes it one of my all-time favorites. To some extent, though you probably can't carry this comparison too far, Diskworld kind of reminds me of Xanth. (Piers Anthony)
  • Informal poll: Which marginal DW character most deserves his own book?

    My vote: Bloody Stupid Johnson. After all, how could such a notoriously bad designer consistently get work before the invention of software?

  • Actually, if you have a decent job with benefits, you don't have to pay anything, or at least not much.

    Josh Sisk
  • Whether this is due to it being based in an identifably 'real-world', or more likely due to the influence of co-author Neil Gaiman (Yes, he of 'Sandman' fame) is debatable.

    While I like Pratchett's Discworld series perhaps better than the posters here who seem disillusioned with the last few books in it, I do agree that Good Omens is the best of the Pratchett lot. I don't know if it's due to Gaiman's influence, either, but I think this is a good time to pitch Gaiman's solo novels, Neverwhere and Stardust, which I haven't yet seen mentioned here. Neverwhere in particular is an excellent book, which I highly recommend.

    Getting back to pterry, I sometimes wonder whether he was really any smarter than Douglas Adams after all. Adams gets beaten up in these kinds of forums for not writing, while Pratchett gets beaten up for writing books that, to his oldest fans, just don't seem as good as they seem to remember the older books seeming to be. On one hand, continuing to write seems more lucrative. On the gripping hand, however, not writing seems much easier, and Adams is fond of saying that he's very good at not writing. Either way, reading the posts under this story gave me a new appreciation for the movie Finding Forrester.

    "Yes, it's sad to say you will romanticize all the things you've known before...and it was not not not so great." -- TMBG

  • I have to agree even though I also really enjoy the Diskworld books (at least the first 10 or so). For a different take on Pratchett's writing, however, you should check out Good Omens which I though was one of the funniest, fall out of the chair, great books of the last ten years.

    Co-written with Niel Gaiman

    Not set on Diskworld

    Deals with the original Y2k problem

    Enjoy...

  • He didn't like automobiles, for instance.
    He liked automobiles a great deal. (See _Mr Bliss_ for example.)
    "ash nazg" & all that
    Ash nazg means "One ring". I'm not quite sure what point you're trying to make.

    Cheers, quokka

  • I mean, I read this book over 2 months ago. Couldn't you post a review of something just a teensy bit more up to date? :)
  • Here is my reading list for any aspiring geeks:
    Lord of the rings
    The Silmarillion
    The Hobbit

    Urk. Don't get me wrong, I love LotR as much as the next guy, but the Silmarillion is really really really hard going. I'd go so far as to say it blows. :)

  • Hogfather was indeed a great book. In 25 novels you're bound to have some ups and downs, but I think the series has progressed admirably. This thread is just another "I was in on the ground floor and that was when things were good" tirade. I'm sure that, somewhere, two protozoa are sitting under a rock somewhere sharing a cigarette and bemoaning everything that's happened in the last umpteen million years.
  • I was pleased to see the first two books, The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic rereleased in the US last year. One can break TP's books into broad categories based on the focus of the story. The four primary categories being a)The Witches, b)The Wizards, c) The Town Watch, and d) Death. Some novels fit none of these categories (eg, Pyramids). To best read "The Truth" one might start with "Men at Arms." I find this book, though not the first Ankh Morpork story, is an excellent introduction to the Town Watch.
    The only book I was never able to make it through was "Moving Pictures". And I'm still waiting for "The Fifth Element" to hit paperback...
  • Was "Small Gods" after "Guards, Guards"? If so, I'd recommend you try to give it a read, it is my personal favorite of the series. Hogfather was also really good.
  • You know I thought "Johnny and the Bomb" had more depth than almost any "childrens" book I remember reading as an adolescent. It should be required reading for the 12-14 age group.
  • Wouldn't a good health care system have been able to get you to a dentist who could fix the tooth (with a filling, etc) rather than have to pull it? :)
  • Be careful, though: after springboarding into the Discworld universe with any of these books, you're likely to end up doing silly things like buying up every UK edition of Pratchett's books from London bookstores while on vacation. :)

    Yeah, between Pratchett and Iain M. Banks, my suitcase was bulging with new books when I went to London two years ago.
  • I've had the good fortune to meet this rather peculiar individual.

    If you're not aware he's a comic fantasy writer, you are now. If you don't like comedies, parodies and puns, you probably won't like him.

    I prefer something a bit deeper, but if you're in the mood for a bit of fun, his books are that.

    My favourite character is Death WHO ONLY SPEAKS IN CAPS.

    If you think Terry might be a bit mad, he is, he likes black jelly beans.

    He's also very tall, wears a feather is his hat and is very patient, signing dozens of books for my demented little sister, who owns everything he's ever written.

  • Bad Review (Score:2)

    by Anonymous Coward
    This review is terrible. Barely any of it is original and a large section about a third of the way down was lifted directly from Pratchett's own forward without giving him credit. Plagerism is BAD BS

  • Damn, which $3-crack-smoking moderator called that flamebait? I've been one of Terry Pratchett's biggest fans for many many years, and I pretty much agree with tacpprm's post, which was fair criticism, not flamebait, even if it did include the word "shite". Ever since about 10 books into the Discworld series, he's fallen into a complete rut of "write a book about Rincewind, write a book about the Watch, write a book about the witches". Since The Truth is the 25th Discworld book, that makes 5 repetitions so far.

    As an aside, what's with that ass-ugly cover? Don't you get Josh Kirby covers on your Pratchett books in America??

  • How about a review of 'the Hobbit' ? It would me more in keeping with Slashdot's 'nerd' demographic

    Uhm - do you seriously think that there are that many Slashdot readers who haven't already read, or at least heard a lot about, The Hobbit? C'mon really: the demographic that would enjoy it (people who like fantasy novels) will have already read it, or at least heard enough about it that they won't get anything new out of a review on Slashdot. A fantasy novel reader knowing nothing about Tolkein would be like a Slashdotter not knowing who RMS is. It's just not going to happen.

  • No. When Pratchett talks of a flat world, he's not talking of a two-dimensional world (Flatland). He's instead talking of world that's not a spheroid. Discworld, is a disc with mountains on top and elephants and tortoises underneath.

    And while the elephant/turtle/snake/flat world concept may originally have been derived from Hindu mythology-- it's basically what schoolchildren were taught as "the predominate belief structure before Columbus/rationalism/"people got smarter"/whatever."

  • As an aside, what's with that ass-ugly cover? Don't you get Josh Kirby covers on your Pratchett books in America??

    It's a tradition in the states. Book comes out in Britain with a nice cover-- then gets republished here with an awful/tasteless/crude cover.

    The American "Harry Potter" titles have rather juvenile covers (fittingly so?) that pale in comparison to the British releases. Supposedly, some American adult readers have bought the British versions, just so they might not be riduculed for reading a more juvenile looking book on the subway, etc.

    When Ellis Peter's "Brother Cadfael" mysteries were published in England, their covers looked like illuminated manuscripts, whereas the American versions have pictures of medieval corpses. Rather tasteless, IMHO.

    Of course, I'm sure there are counter examples...

  • I saw that and almost fell out of my chair laughing. Lot's of subtle and not-so-subtle references to late 20th-century pop culture in this one.
  • Augh! I've been spending too much time on IRC! s/Lot's/Lots.
  • What does "Not a very nice person at all" refer to?

    In the last sequence of Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, Samuel L. Jackson's character is revealed to have a wallet emblazoned with "Bad Mother Fucker".

  • I've been an avid reader of Terry Pratchett's for quite some time. I very much enjoyed "The Truth", much more so than the last few titles. I think that this is probably because of the introduction of new characters rather than the dependence on old ones, which have seemed a bit stale in their last few outings.

    One of his best works, however, is "Small Gods" - a tale of one boy and his tortoise, which I'd heartily recommend to anyone - especially new readers, since it's a story that relies least upon the knowledge of the rest of the series.
  • >...
    > PS. Quick review of non-DW books: Having read and
    > enjoyed Niven's Ringworld, I found Pratchett's
    > Strata to be quite fun. The Dark Side of the Sun
    >...
    Are you sure this is a non-DiskWorld book. I seem to remember that DiskWorld showed up on the very last page (possibly the one before).

    Caution: Now approaching the (technological) singularity.
  • >That was the only reference I noticed, though, since I'm an anti-fan of Tarantino.

    Oh come on.. You had to notice the fact that Tulip's wallet said "Not a very nice person at all." on it.. Either that or you haven't seen Pulp Fiction, which is possible I suppose..

    ---
  • Watched the first two scenes (the hit and the date with the boss's dauggirlfriend) and couldn't stomach the rest. So I'd seen the bit about "Do you know what they call a Big Mac in France?"

    What does "Not a very nice person at all" refer to?
  • HA! I don't know of anyone else who noticed it.

    "Do you know what they call a sausage in a bun in Quirm? They call it 'le sausage in le bun.'"

    That was the only reference I noticed, though, since I'm an anti-fan of Tarantino.
  • From Witches Abroad

    Granny Weatherwax: "She's my sister!"
    Magrat: "They're sisters?"

    Complete change of scene between those two quotes. Clever (perhaps too clever) bit of writing. One tiny example of why Pratchett is best read.
  • I liked it. I thought it well up to Terry's usual high standard.

    My wife loved it. She thinks it's his best book ever.

    Terry was obviously (too obviously at times) drawing on his formative years as a journalist, but he does a good job of exploring the differences between human interest, the public interest, and what people are actually interested in.

    It was interesting to see Cmdr. Vimes in a book where he's not the main character. If you hadn't read any of the other books, I can see how Vimes would seem to be somewhat cardboard in this story. For those who know Vimes, this is an insight on what it's like to be the other side of the "Stoneface". Not that anyone should be surprised, but it reminded me that Vimes has an extremely unpleasant outer persona.

    --
  • "Small Gods" is the only Pratchett book I read twice. There is something in this novel that clearly stands out from the rest. It's not less funny (in some aspects it's even more hilarious), but there's a deep thematic undertone to it that is really pleasing and thought-provoking. And "Small Gods" is also the one Discworld book with a deeply satisfying ending.
  • Not only serious and pointed, but downright dark. Carpe Jugulum, in particular, startled me with its darkness. Fifth Elephant was a bit better, but again, there was a sense of impending doom, almost what one might expect to feel when being chsed by wolves.

    I certianly agree that this is growth. He has matured, and his writing has become more effective on more levels, so that it conveys a point and entertains.

    -J
  • Yes, exactly. And while that can theoretically be done in cinema or TV.... It's somehow not the same. But other elements that are best read include things like, in that same book, the gollum joke. Of course you can do it with a visual gag, but it's the way he writes.

    Also pretty strong are his metaphors, which are sooo outlandish.... none come to mind, but they're usually pretty good.
    Finally, the footnotes are cute. The play adaptations have a guy dressed as asterisk reading those bits, but I think the effect is different.

    -J
  • Are you talking about Strata? That one is of course a prototype of the Disc concept, but I don't know if he went any further. I don't think so.... (you know, it took me three readings to figure out that those people were our ancestors. I don't pay close enough attention 8) )

    If you're referring to Dark Side of the Sun, I can't recall. It very well may have. That was a zany book. Even though "only redheads in 50s sitcoms are zany." ;)
    Or was that wacky? It's been a while since Equal Rites...

    -J
  • Hehehe... that's entirely possible. He does that occasionally.

    One instance comes to mind... I believe he was mocking the shorthand phrase "IMHO." Some Ankh-Morporkian aristocrats are having a discussion, and Lord Rust "reflects on the fact that there is really no such thing a humble opinion."

    That Pratchett. What a guy.

    -J
  • yes yes, I know, I just wasn't sure what the parent post was referring to.

    I finally found Dark Side of the Sun this summer (in London) and rather liked it. However, I'm not sure I would recommend it to a lot of Discworld fans, because it doesn't have a lot of the same liveliness. And no, it's certainly not DW.

    I've lost track of how many times I've reread Strata, but it took me a look through the Annotated Pratchett File to confirm that yes, it was a Ringworld parody of sorts.
    It's got some cute stuff, like the Reman empire and the ships disappearing off the edge of the world. But the grander concept of fossils and history and past civilizations screwing with our minds was definitely food for thought. It's like time travel; think about it enough and your head starts to hurt. ;)

    Have ye read The Carpet People? That was definitely... an experience.

    -J
  • Well, the one thing that was missed was that the whole kit and kaboodle is still floating through space. About the only thing missing was "sundown"....
    A friend of mine (Tom Cantine) once created a flat world. Near the Western reaches of the world was an area called Sundown. You see, the sun in this universe was a flaming ball of fire that was (each day) lit and thrown across the sky by some semigod.

    Unfortunately, he would sometimes get distracted, have a cold, etc. and the sun wouldn't quit make it to the other side of the world. Sundown was an area which, had semi-recently (about 30 years previous) been wiped out by one such mis-thrown sun. There were rumored to be areas, even further west, where ill-thrown suns fell far more frequently. People were said to rarely go out to the western reaches of Sundown, and even more rarely to come back.

    Very pratchet-like.

    In Reaper Man you meet Death during a period of unemployment (Death gets laid off -- with some interesting (and sometimes bothersome) side effects for the would-be dead and their friends, families and even enemies). It includes characters such as The Death of Rats (you don't think that Death only exists for humans, do you?).
    For me, one of the funniest parts is where he's interviewed for a job as a farmhand. ("Do you know how to use a scythe?/ YES...")

    Soul Music is about a new (magical) form of music, created by a band which includes a stone golum. Rock music. Obviously a take-off on (among other things) the music industry.

    Pyramids includes a take-off on Egyptian history.

    The Wyrd sisters start with a version of Shakespeare's 3 witches.

    Sourcery starts with the idea of a Seventh Son of a Seventh Son being a wizard -- except that on discworld it's the eighth son of an Eighth son of an eighth son. The other majour character is death's grand-daughter who "takes over the family business", but -- having been trained as a tooth fairy, she keeps being mistaken as one.

    Hogfather is about the christmas season gone mad (it includes the demi-god of hangovers).

    In any case, just about every Pratchet story plays on various pieces of myth and history. Very little of it survives unscathed.
    --

  • If you read more than about 2 of his books back to back you will find clear evidence that the footnotes are written with cut and paste.

    TP does seem to be running low on original jokes, but his books have been getting increasingly plot-driven. He's human, but I don't think he's stagnating.

    Am I sounding too negative? I don't really *hate* his stuff. I own everything up to about "Guards Guards" (a classic), but he has lost it.

    That depends on what 'it' is. There are some books of his that are just plain forgettable, but he's got some real gems among his later stuff as well. Reaper Man, Hogfather, Small Gods, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Maskerade, and The Fifth Elephant come to mind. I believe those are all post-Guards! Guards!.

  • I've always been fascinated with how TP's writing has matured during his career. The Carpet People, The Colour of Magic, etc. were all fluff. Good fluff, but fluff. Somewhere around Small Gods, he seemed to find that he could actually slide some poignancy into his books without compromising their entertainment value. I think The Fifth Elephant is one of his best so far. Of course, I'm only halfway through The Truth. If you've never read a Pratchett book, do so as soon as possible.

    The truth shall make ye fred.

  • 3) Screw continuity. There's no way to reconcile many of the events that have already occurred anyway. Off-hand comments in previous books are putting more and more absurd requirements on new books (cf trolls thinking better in cold air).

    huh? you mean like the offhand comment that carrot is the true king or agnus is a werewolf? The cold air thing is a part of Detrius's charecter and has been played out consistently and well, IMHO. The "requirement" that he use trolls as trolls is no more stifling then that he continue to portray vampires as having a sun allergy.

    Kahuna Burger

  • Even though there are 25 discworld books available, it's been fairly difficult to get ahold of the early books..

    Recently, There have been a set of reprints of the first 3 books, (Colour of Magic, Light Fantastic and Equal Rights)...

    The next 3 books were just rereleased (Mort, Wyrd Sisters and Sourcery)

    There's still a gap of around 5-6 books between these reprints and the current in-print pratchett books, but these can be found at a number of online sellers for decent prices..

    I'd recommend DreamHaven Books [dreamhavenbooks.com]...
    Not only are they cheap, but they've got a GREAT selection.. including the Nanny Ogg Cookbook..
  • . (The Fifth Elephant was pink, for Om's sake.)

    Not really pink, I feel I should point out, but bright glaring day-glo orangish-pink!

    And I didn't like the actual book as much as most others. I fact, I thought he had been really going downhill with the last several (didn't like Last Continent, Carpe Jugulum was ho-hum). The Truth managed to restore my faith though. :)

  • The last American publisher made dull covers; the current one makes them just plain awful. (The Fifth Elephant was pink, for Om's sake.) I order them from Amazon.co.uk [amazon.co.uk] just so I can appreciate decent art. Used to be I ordered them from overseas just so I could get them in time, but Pratchett finally seems to have landed a deal so that his books are released at the same time in America as they are in the rest of the world.
  • You want the truth? YOU CAN"T HANDLE THE TRUTH!

    Sure you can, and for probably $6.50 at your local book shoppe. Think if it... The truth for under ten bucks, such a deal, when you consider the price of lies. ;-)

    I just started reading Discworld, late last year, with Reaper Man. Great book, love the Death of Rats. Since then, Carpe Jugulem, Small Gods, Eric and Hogfather, currently on The Last Continent. Terry is the prolific writer many of us wish Douglas Adams was. He's got a great sense of off the cuff humor and his characterizations of today's trends, parody of other fiction and people is a joy.

    My friends hassled me about reading Pratchett for years, I picked up a few of the books and just tucked them in the bookshelf with all the other works I plan to get to eventually and forgot about them. Nice to have a small pile of them now that I find I like them. I'm still trying to find a chronological order for the books, but it's not hugely important, as the books work well in whatever order (which is the order I'm currently working my way through them, in as straight a line as a drunk walks the streets of Ankh-Morpork.) Call me cattle, but all the book review I need is to hear that Terry has put another one together. Cheers.

    --

  • "The Truth" is definitely the best of the last, say, 3 Pratchett books ("The Fifth Elephant" was just plain awful--I almost swore off Pratchett entirely), but I wouldn't give it 9/10. Compare it to classic Terry: "Mort", "Small Gods", "Equal Rites", etc. Now THOSE are 9/10. TT is maybe 7/10.

    If Terry intends to continue this series (and he shows no signs of slowing down) he needs to do a few things:

    1) Re-read all of his existing books. This will remind him what a good book looks like AND it will refresh his memory on all the now-tired devices he's so-overused ("...through X and out the other side...", for instance).
    2) Do something completely new with the series. Write a story set in a completely different area. Don't use existing characters--they have become cardboard cutouts of themselves (with the possible exception of Vetinari and Carrot). This includes CMOT Dibbler, unless it's VERY subtle.
    3) Screw continuity. There's no way to reconcile many of the events that have already occurred anyway. Off-hand comments in previous books are putting more and more absurd requirements on new books (cf trolls thinking better in cold air).

    Of course, if he is going to leave the Known Disc behind and scrap continuity, it might just be easier to write a book NOT in the series...
    --
  • Pratchett is Adams-ish only in that they are both quintessentially British Humour Writers. However, Adams is more absurd whereas Pratchett is more satirical. If you are an American then liking one (or Monty Python, if you haven't read either) pretty much guarantees you'll like the other.

    Start with the one that has the earliest copyright date you can find. It'll probably be higher quality AND it won't have so many in-jokes.
    --
  • Er, um, I seem to have missed it. What was it?
  • A great deal of this book is a parody of Quentin Tarantino.

    While this is funny for the first few chapers, it gets pretty old, pretty quick.

    "Why is your partner always saying 'Ing'?"
  • Now I've been a reader of T. Pratchett's Discworld series, ever since I found a copy of Sourcery in my mom's book case. Now, with the recent novels focusing on The Watch, Lancre, and practically everyone else in the universe except our favorit inept wizard Rincewind. Last book I remember reading of him was his trip to the counterweight continent. Now, I'm all for new charicters, but following Pratchett's track record, there's going to end up being 3 more books about this new charicter. And dangit, I miss Rincewind.

    just a imho comment.
  • No, we get ugly ass covers... And I think this one's an *improvement* over what they used to look like... And I really like the Kirby covers, too...

  • Americans and British Humour (Score:3)

    by slim ( 1652 ) <john&hartnup,net> on Wednesday February 09, 2000 @06:45AM (#1292159) Homepage
    Terry Pratchet is hard to pin down -- is this humor? Unadulterated absurdity? Clever satire? More real than real?

    This statement really drives home the existence of Anglo-American divide to me. Pratchett's a funny writer, but "hard to pin down"? Come on.

    Disclaimer: I'm ashamed to admit it, but it was a couple of weeks before I noticed the pun in the title of "The Fifth Elephant"...
    --
  • Thank you for writing a real review. The review posted had a certain lack of anything but "Discworld is kewl".
    It's fun surveying the field of intelligent, post-modernist fantasy, which has a sense of humor that ranges from the low parody and groaner (Aspirin's Myth books), through Pratchett's prototypical British comedies, to the delicate sarcasm leavened with moments of slapstick that mark Stephen Brust's Phoenix Guards (light) and Taltos series (dark), to the truly dark and nihilist humor of authors like Jonathan Lethem.

    All modern fantasies are necessarily referential; they harken back to our extended common history of myth, folk tale, and legend. And any reference is a potential source of humor. Even Tolkien's works contain jokes, though they happen to be of the extremely subtle linguistic and etymological variety. But Fritz Lieber's Swords of Lankhmar series is probably the first great series which combined a classic heroic style with many elements of humor, from the subtle to the surprisingly silly.

    Fantasy is such a rich field for humor, in all its varieties, including Douglas Adams's absurdist works, and the modern American fabulists, like Tim Powers and James P. Blaylock (I just checked on Amazon, and surprise surprise! People who buy Blaylock buy Tim Powers), whose books point the way for fantasy to take place in the modern world, without descending into self-serious allegory or just relying on the tired "lonely grad student/librarian/RPG player/fantasy reader analogue finds a dimensional portal/gets caught in a spell/tornado/satanic plot and finds himself in a fantasy world in which he/she is a master wizard" trope.

    Going out on a limb, some other unusual and brilliant fantastic authors and books include Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities and Geoff Ryman's The Child Garden: or a Low Comedy, which really falls into the SF camp, but is a child of both the best fantasy and SF. But it's a very weird and complicated book; I don't know what my reaction to it would have been if I were younger. But anyone who thinks Douglas Adams is funny, and knows at least who Dante and Marx were, and what Europe went through during the World Wars, will probably find this book an entrancing tale. At its heart it's a classic story of adolescence and lost innocence.

    For a more straightforward take on the same themes, Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" series is miles and miles better than the other currently popular young adult British schoolchild wizardry and adolescence series, starring a certain Hogwarts student. Please read these, as these are near-perfect moving, exciting, and deeply affecting books that can inspire the young and allow the old to remember what it was like to be young. I could be wrong, but I suspect this series is the kind which adults overestimate the minimum age to appreciate these books--kids who can read Potter and Dahl and Narnia and Tolkien can read these. Also, the only reason people think these are kid's books is that the author made his name as a children's author. These are no more and no less kids books than the Lord of the Rings or Discworld or the Foundation Series.

    Finally, for Pullman meets Powers and Zelazny, check out Tom De Haven's Chronicles of the King's Tramp.

    --

  • Pratchett... (Score:3)

    by Ravagin ( 100668 ) on Wednesday February 09, 2000 @06:37AM (#1292161)
    I'm a big Pratchett fan (my summer trip to London finally let me complete my book collection), and eagerly awaiting the Thief of Time (April 2001). However, what worries me is concepts like cartoons and movies of DW.

    OK, Pratchett's got the British humor and slapstick thing down pat, and he's really funny, but the "low humor" elements are NOT what make the writing. For me, the best part of Pratchett is his masterful command of the English lanugage, his clever wordplay and creative methods. All stuff that translates poorly into theatre and worse into a cartoon.

    Pratchett is not just about things like "The Hedgehog can Never be Buggered at All." You can amek a cartoon with that, a cartoon with pahllus jokes, with all sorts of visual gags and one-liners. But that's not what his work is about. It's about ideas (Small Gods is brilliant), it's about society (Soul Music, The Truth, etc.), and it's about the writing. Espiecally intersting his ability to make his own unique style mimic, chameleon-style, a genre like the cop thriller or th travelogue.

    Well, I had been working on a review of The Truth for my school online paper (silverchips.mbhs.edu [mbhs.edu]), but other stuff had gotten in the way. I guess I'd bvetter get back to it.

    PS. Quick review of non-DW books: Having read and enjoyed Niven's Ringworld, I found Pratchett's Strata to be quite fun. The Dark Side of the Sun is sort of a Foundation parody, and not as engaging as DW, but still fun. The Carpet People is VERY early Pratchett, and astute readers of his work will notice many prototype ideas and jokes. Finally, Good Omens (co-written with Neil Gaiman) is a very enjoyable book about the apocalypse. A bit more of the "low-humor" there, but that's not a bad thing. The former three are out of print in the US, but you never know....

    -J

  • _The Truth_ quite different than other novels (Score:3)

    by chipuni ( 156625 ) on Wednesday February 09, 2000 @06:38AM (#1292162) Homepage
    I've been a voracious Pratchett fan for years. I've read as many of his novels (including those outside the Discworld series) as I can.

    The Truth is somewhat different than his earlier novels. He's getting more serious, and more pointed, in his satire. While previous novels, like Soul Music and Moving Pictures parodied the music industry and the motion picture industry, they did so in a very light, almost fluffy way.

    The Truth is different. His wit has been sharpened, and he has far more to say about modern society in this novel than in previous ones.

    He has grown from being merely a well- spoken humorist to a clever commentator on modern society. His background as a reporter for a newspaper has served him well in this book.

    The truth shall make ye fret.

  • With all due respect... (Score:3)

    by mblase ( 200735 ) on Wednesday February 09, 2000 @07:27AM (#1292163)
    If Terry intends to continue this series (and he shows no signs of slowing down) he needs to do a few things

    ...unless you're a best-selling international author yourself, I don't think you're qualified to tell Terry Pratchett what he does or doesn't need to do to make his books popular. You're listing what he needs to do to make his books more popular with you, but sales figures indicate he's doing just fine as he is with the population at large.

    Whenever a writer establishes a long and successful history with a particular universe, there are always, always, fans who insist that the writer needs to write more books exactly like their first one or first few. Pratchett is one of the few "enterprise" writers who sticks to his existing universe, yet is always trying to come up with something new to do in it. He doesn't make it new every time -- he often returns to Ankh-Morpork, the three witches and Lancre, and of course Death -- but every few novels he's managed to produce something genuinely new from the nearly unlimited creative potential that is the Disc.

    Feel free to post reviews, critiques, and opinions. But please don't take it upon yourself to tell him how to do his job.

  • The Discworld... (Score:3)

    by Bonker ( 243350 ) on Wednesday February 09, 2000 @06:45AM (#1292164)
    exists in an improbably universe on the shores of the bell curve of reality. It it a largish disc, with a central mountain range, with the impossibly large 'Cori Celesti' mountain in the center. It rotates on this axis as it sits on the head of four elephants. (The fifth elephant is thought to have impacted the disc in a Yucatan-style asteroid impact, leaving massive seams of fat and ivory deep beneath the Uberwald Mountains) The elephants in turn sit on the back of the Great A'tuin, the 'world turtle', as often mentioned in asian mytholgy. There is obviously no such thing as cardinal directions on the disc. Instead, they have radial directions, Hubwards, Rimwards, Spinwise, and Widdershins. The disc has a high magical field due to the existence of vast amounts of 'octiron', a magical element, in the crust of disc. The counterwieght continent (inhabited by Asian peoples) is thought to consist largely of gold and octiron. Due to the high density of the magical field, the speed of light is much slower in the atmosphere of the disc. One can watch light fill a valley as if it was water. Pratchet's stories about the Discworld cross back and forth between fantasy and satire. 'The Colour of Magic' and 'Equal Rites' are both mostly fantasy adventure books while 'Small Gods', for example, is a look at religous persecution as carried out during the Spanish inquisition. 'Masquerade' was a parody/satire on modern opera. They're worth reading, but have gotten repetitive in the last five books or so.

  • Re:Good, but he's no Tolkein... (Score:3)

    by badbrainsg ( 259879 ) on Wednesday February 09, 2000 @07:04AM (#1292165) Homepage
    No, Pratchett isn't Tolkien: Tolkien didn't have nearly as good a sense of humor. And as far as geeks go, the high energy magic department of the Unseen University is a lot geekier than hobbits in holes in the ground. And then there's the "computer" at the Unseen University--somehow programmed with ants.

    I really like Tolkien (note that this is the correct spelling) and I really like Pratchett too. Ranking one over the other is like trying to decide whether Linux is better than a Corvette. They ain't in the same category.

    The Truth isn't the best of Pratchett's novels. Try Small Gods for a nasty take on authoritarian religion, classic Greece, and turtle soup.

    I think it's safe to say that Tolkien would've hated computers along with all other embodiments of the "modern." He didn't like automobiles, for instance. "ash nazg" & all that.

    For a real geek novel, read Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. (I'm not saying I spelt his name right.

  • Terry Pratchett rules. (Score:4)

    by D. Mann ( 86819 ) on Wednesday February 09, 2000 @06:47AM (#1292166) Homepage
    Slightly off-topic, but if you're new to Pratchett, there are a couple of things to know.

    Pratchett has a couple of different subjects that he bases his books on. I break them up into 5 categories: Death, Witches, Rincewind, the Watch, and Miscellaneous.

    Starting points for each category:

    Death: "Mort" - The "Death" storylines tend to focus on Discworld's Death and his (adopted) grand-daughter, Susan. Death gets notions into his head regarding humans and wackiness ensues.

    Witches: "Equal Rites" - The "Witches" storylines focus on a trio of small-town witches and their escapades. I consider these to be the least interesting.

    Rincewind: "The Color of Magic" - Rincewind is the worst wizard in the world. He and whatever companions he can find go on, once again, wacky misadventures and tend to save the world. Rincewind is the definitive Pratchett character; he's a craven, cowardly wizard who keeps inadvertently doing the right thing while trying to save his own hide. Definitely my favorites.

    Guards: "Guards! Guards!" - Commander Vimes and his watchmen solve the mysteries of Ankh-Morpork, the primary city of Pratchett's books. The character evolution in these books is incredible. I love all of these books.

    Miscellaneous: I liked "Good Omens" (written with Neil Gaiman) a lot. There are lots of others, though.

    Enjoy your Pratchett experience; I'm very happy that I accidentally discovered him in a used bookstore.

  • Re:Good, but he's no Tolkein... (Score:5)

    by jeff.paulsen ( 6195 ) on Wednesday February 09, 2000 @07:54AM (#1292167)

    Pratchetts work is good, and I can imagine this "Truth" is probably an interesting read, but I think geeks and slashdot readers might find the Classic fantasy of Tolkein much more rewarding than this 'cyber-fantasy' style of Pratchett.

    Also, Tolkein manages to create a rich imaginary world, we can believe in, whereas Pratchett does not.

    Tolkein is well and good, but Pratchett's Discworld is NOT un-rich or un-believable. Ankh-Morpork has an actual economy. There are people with actual jobs, making the city run. Golems, trolls, dwarfs, gnomes, vampires, werewolves, and witches all interact in a plausible network, doing valuable work with a sensible division of labor.

    I would lump Pratchett in the same category as Rankin or Douglas Adams, a lightweight, using Fantasy as a marketing gimmick, rather than treating it with the seriousness it deserves.

    Hardly. The "Guards" stories, Feet of Clay being my favorite, are technically police-procedural mysteries, worthy of favorable comparison to Ed McBain's 87th Precinct books - but the stories would not work outside of a fantasy setting. The "Witches" story arc broke new ground in the genre with practically every book, deconstructing fantasy cliche after fantasy cliche, and giving new life to some very tired ideas. The fantastic elements of the stories are integral and necessary, not a "marketing gimmick".

    Pratchett is unquestionably in the vanguard of fantasy authors, having inheirited that position from the late Avram Davidson. There's more to Fantasy than Tolkein (although, again, I am not dissing Tolkein - he produced great stuff, which is none the worse for its age). Great new works are still being produced, and should not be dismissed just because they are popular and funny.

  • Call that a review? (Score:5)

    by mblase ( 200735 ) on Wednesday February 09, 2000 @07:12AM (#1292168)
    Five paragraphs, only two of which actually give information about this book as opposed to the rest of the Discworld? Oy.

    Let's try doing this properly (minor SPOILERS ahead):

    The Truth is Terry Pratchett's landmark 25th book in the Discworld series, and a very, very fine book it is. It's designed with plenty of appeal for longtime fans and new readers alike, plus the usual assortment of puns, historical allusions, digs at pop culture, and sarcasm that fans of Pratchett (not to mention Douglas Adams of Hitchhiker's Guide fame) have come to expect and love.

    The book takes place in the well-established Discworld city of Ankh-Morpork, a parody of London, England with a few sprinklings of New York City thrown in. Ankh-Morpork is governed by the Patrician, a man who doesn't rule so much as check and balance the cities business and criminal interests against each other, and policed by the City Watch, who have had several Discworld books to themselves but this time ride along as guest stars. The main character is William de Worde, a young man who comes from a family of aristocrats but lacks the wealth and influence of aristocracy himself.

    William has eeked out a living up until now by providing a monthly newsletter to foreign dignitaries regarding the major events in Ankh-Morpork society and politics. Ankh-Morpork has a Guild of Engravers who painstakingly produce metal plates of his letters in order to mass-produce several copies, but William is soon given the means and the motive to increase production when a team of dwarves smuggle a printing press into the city. (The Guild of Engravers had convinced the Patrician to make printing presses illegal within the city before now.)

    That's the means. The motive is an apparent murder by the Patrician on one of his own employees, and the City Watch are unable to get to the bottom of it. It's up to William and his rapidly-evolving printing press to find out what's happening while the Watch, the Engravers, and assorted criminal elements try to (literally) dig his new newspaper out from under him.

    William de Worde is a guy who's just trying to get to the truth, the real truth, while everyone around him is telling him the "real" truth just isn't important. Only the Patrician seems to be on his side, and with that man implicated in a murder, William's support is constantly unravelling around him. Even his own employees are caught between, alternately, their families, their heritage, or their need to make money and their desire to help William keep the paper alive.

    Every Terry Pratchett fan has his or her own sliding scale as to what makes a book good or bad -- more jokes, less pop culture, more characterization, less mythology, more history, less sarcasm, more established characters, less unnecessary characters, and so on and so on. So far, The Truth seems to rate highly on just about every fan's meter due to a healthy blend of all of the above. The Ankh-Morpork Times encounters reformed vampires, tabloid competitors, Discworld photography (a little demon in a box paints whatever he sees, and magical eels provide the flash), family royalty, gangsters in black suits who keep saying "____ing", journalistic ethics, and of course the omnipresent Death (tall, black cloak, has a thing for sharp farming implements). Those who understand the cultural and historical parody will laugh twice as hard, and the rest will enjoy rereading it years later and picking up on jokes they didn't understand the first time.

    The Discworld series began years ago with The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, but a lot has happened to Ankh-Morpork since those days of mere sword-and-sorcery parody. The Truth is a good point to start if you're a new fan, and should be enough incentive to go back and get the rest. (The first books are being rereleased even now on paperback in the United States by the same publisher.)

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