No I haven't taken up a popular hobby from the Victorian era. I'm talking about
8. Snuff, A Discworld Novel
Terry Pratchett
Although I wait eagerly for the release of each Terry Pratchett book, and Discworld ones particularly so I don't actually read them very soon after they are released. Basically we buy a copy and Christopher gets to read it first, and that usually takes a week or so at best- depending on how tired he is it could take a month. Then it goes on the stash and it takes time to slowly come to the top of the pile. But I digress, it makes it to the top of the pile eventually...
This was one of the best type of Discworld books- A Watch book. Specifically, it is based around Commander Vimes (and His Grace Vimes and Blackboard Monitor Vimes) and his family. I found it harder to get into the book as there was so much focus on this little group of four or five characters- one of whom is a child with little part of the plot. Normal Discworld books switch from perspective to perspective and have loads of different threads that don't always seem related to the plot (and they aren't always strictly related) and I love that style as he jumps to something new to consider before you get the full story of what was happening. The multitude of Characters really started to join in by around the half way point and the second half is definately better than the first half.
All that being said, I enjoyed the story and the new characters certainly added a bit of interest and I hope we get to see one or two of them again in future books. Pratchett has given us little insights into Commander Vimes before and he is probably the one character who has developed the most over the books and is a more rounded figure and this book was like opening the doors of Vime's mind and his life and his loves. I loved little Sam's obsession with poo. Perhaps it reminds me a little too much of my real life.
Plot wise it's a simple crime novel- who dunnit with deep thought about where the law and justice comes from and even some thoughts on human rights, or at least goblin rights- but as always with Pratchett he makes a lot of sense in the real world when talking about a very skewed other fantasy world.
And I laughed out loud. It wouldn't be Pratchett without an inappropriate snorting moment.
