Thief of Time (by Terry Pratchett)

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In my gradual re-reading of Terry Pratchett’s ‘Discworld’ books, I reached the 26th in the series, ‘Thief of Time’. I’m surprised how much I’m liking some of the books, including this one. It wasn’t unputdownable - some days I read only a few pages, so it took me over a week to finish - but the plot is cleverly done, and some of the concepts stayed with me even though I had totally forgotten the story itself. Not surprising, really, since I had only previously read it once, back in 2001 when it was new and I read it aloud to my teenage sons.

As with many of the Discworld books, there are several scenarios introduced, running roughly parallel as the story progresses, until they gradually start to converge. ‘Thief of Time’ is no exception. One section is set in a kind of monastery. Lobsang Ludd is a new recruit but he seems angry, unwilling to study, and yet remarkably intelligent. It’s felt that there’s nothing he can be taught. So he’s given as an apprentice to Lu-Tze, who works as a sweeper but is in fact a very senior monk with many talents.

The monastery features ‘history monks’, one of my favourite of Pratchett’s creations. They work to keep time running smoothly, ensuring that events happen. I’m not sure I understand the details, but they snip time from places it’s not really needed, adding it into scenarios where more time is needed. Nobody is aware that this is happening, although people do sometimes comment that time seems to have raced by, or that a moment has lasted a long time…

Meanwhile another young man, a brilliant clockmaker called Jeremy, has been approached by a slightly odd lady and asked to make a glass clock that will keep perfect time. Money is no object, and she even sends an ‘Igor’ to help him. We quickly learn that Lady LeJean is not quite who she appears; but the longer she keeps her persona, the more human she seems to become.

Then there’s Susan Sto Helit, the granddaughter of Death, who is mostly human and works very successfully as a classroom teacher of small children. She is very strict but also creative in her methods, and regularly takes her class to places they could not possibly have gone to without leaving the school. Susan doesn’t want to get dragged out of her classroom, but after reading a fairy tale about a glass clock, she realises that once again she is needed in her grandfather’s world.

Naturally there are all kinds of surprises in the book, alongside some humour and many references to the ‘real’ world, Discworld style. Pratchett pokes gentle fun at everyone - the way people cleaning the streets are often ignored, for instance; or random clichés treated as enlightened wisdom.

Although Susan has appeared in other Discworld books, and the history monks were mentioned in at least one of the others too, this book stands alone. Having said that, it’s taken for granted that the reader understands about the different guilds in Ankh-Morpork, and the way gods and monks work; there are also a couple of brief (but very important) cameo scenes involving Nanny Ogg. But it’s certainly not necessary to have read all the earlier books before this one, and for someone with a vague idea about the Discworld series, it could make a good introduction to the series.

Definitely recommended if you like the series, or even if you struggled to get into some of the earlier books and would like to try something different.

Review copyright 2022 Sue's Book Reviews