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| (Amazon UK link) |
Vimes is worried. There is a lot of tension in the city, as they approach the anniversary of the battle of Koom Valley. A dwarf is found dead, and other dwarfs accuse a troll. A strange picture goes missing from an art gallery. A vampire applies to join the Watch, and Vimes is obliged to take her on despite not trusting her race - even those who have taken the 'black ribbon' and do not drink blood.
It's not a book I would expect to have enjoyed, since I'm not a huge fan of the series involving the Watch. But this one was excellent. Vimes is extremely well-characterised and I found myself getting more behind his skin than ever before. It helped that there was another subplot running through the novel, that of Vimes needing to read a book to his toddler son each evening. There's a hilarious sequence when we finally learn what that book is about, and the gentler side of Vimes adds to his personality greatly.
I'm glad it was a good book since this will be a poignant memory for me. It's the last book I've read aloud to my two teenage sons. They have been busy with so many things that it's taken over two months to read it to them. My older son has now gone away for two years, so I won't be reading to him again, at least not for a while. But it was good to finish with such an enjoyable book.
Pratchett's novels are excellent for reading aloud: they don't have chapters (but plenty of section breaks) so it's easy to read a little or a lot, depending on time. There's plenty of ironic humour too, and asides that might be missed in reading to oneself.
'Thud!' is not really a book to introduce someone to Discworld. There are too many returning characters, and the various subplots are complex enough for someone familiar with the places and people. But it comes highly recommended for anyone who has read a few of the others, and not only for Watch fans.
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