Pyramids - Terry Pratchett

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It's bad enough being new on the job, but Teppic hasn't a clue as to what a pharaoh is supposed to do. After all, he's been trained at Ankh-Morpork's famed assassins' school, across the sea from the Kingdom of the Sun. First, there's the monumental task of building a suitable resting place for Dad -- a pyramid to end all pyramids. Then there are the myriad administrative duties, such as dealing with mad priests, sacred crocodiles, and marching mummies. And to top it all off, the adolescent pharaoh discovers deceit, betrayal - not to mention a headstrong handmaidlen - at the heart of his realm. 

I've found Terry Pratchett's Discworld books for adults to be a little hit and miss so far. I know a number of people who love them, the mum of one friend springs to mind, she's content to get any other book from the library but owns the entire Discworld series. On the other hand I have my Dad who has tried to read a couple of different books from the series and given up. I myself enjoyed the Discworld books for younger readers when I was younger. The trouble I've often heard is that it took a while for Terry Pratchett to hit his stride.

Reading the series in order Pyramids is the first book that has really hit the spot. The storyline was intriguing, what would happen when the biggest pyramid ever was built, I have to say I didn't see the ending coming.

I found the writing amusing, there were jokes in the book that I actually found funny, this has been missing from the Discworld books thus far. 

The character clicked with me. I could understand where he was coming from. I felt empathy. He amused me. I was positively behind his drive to stop the evil regent. 

Thus far Pyramids is a winner for me.

Mort - Terry Pratchett

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In this Discworld installment, Death comes to Mort with an offer he can't refuse -- especially since being, well, dead isn't compulsory. As Death's apprentice, he'll have free board and lodging, use of the company horse, and he won't need time off for family funerals. The position is everything Mort thought he'd ever wanted, until he discovers that this perfect job can be a killer on his love life. 

Mort for me was a strange book. I was expecting to love it, I've loved all of the glimpses of death I've ever seen in the Discworld books or screen adaptations. I loved death in this book. I didn't love this book though, because I was expecting it to focus on death. 

Mort didn't focus on death it focused on Mort, death's assistant. When I first picked the book up Mort annoyed me, he was kind of whiny, a bit too unsure what to do with his life. He grew on me. I think he started to grow on me about the time he became more assertive, about the time he started to show some of the traits I enjoyed in death.

Come the close of the book I think I'm glad we'll get to ser more of Mort in other books. I'm also glad this wasn't a long book. 

Equal Rites - Terry Pratchett

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On Discworld, a dying wizard tries to pass on his powers to an eighth son of an eighth son, who is just at that moment being born. The fact that the son is actually a daughter is discovered just a little too late. The town witch insists on turning the baby into a perfectly normal witch, thus mending the magical damage of the wizard's mistake. But now the young girl will be forced to penetrate the inner sanctum of the Unseen University--and attempt to save the world with one well-placed kick in some enchanted shins! Reissue.

If you’re working your way through the Discworld this will be the third book you come to. It’s the first book featuring the witches of the Disc and as with many of Terry Pratchett’s books it’s an interesting social commentary. Equal Rites as you may have guessed is about Equal Rights.

It focuses on Esk the eighth son of an eighth son who actually turned out to be a daughter. She inherits a staff, some bad stuff happens and she sets off with Granny Weatherwax for Ankh Morpork. Esk is a determined character and when she arrives at the unseen University and is told that she cannot be a wizard because wizardry is only for men she causes some trouble.

While she does prove that women are as good at wizardry as men, she didn’t feel solid as a character. I think the intention was probably to make her appear headstrong and as though she felt she knew more than she actually did, but in actuality she felt as if she did actually know all of this stuff. As a cub leader I have a lot of experience with eight year olds and I ask you what eight year old actually does know everything, whatever they believe?

I did enjoy meeting Granny Weatherwax. Ostensibly for the first time, although since I’d read the first two Tiffany Aching books as a child this was more like my third encounter with her. In this book she didn’t come across as all-powerful as she had been in the Tiffany Aching stories, but she also didn’t seem as old.  I don’t know if this is my relative age or an intention of the stories.

I would hesitantly say that I enjoyed this book more than either the Colour of Magic or The Light Fantastic, however not as much as the Childrens books Pratchett had written. I’m not sure whether this is down to my introduction to him as a child, his comparative writing style for adults and children, or the fact that this book was written relatively early in his career.

Whichever way you look at it this book is worth picking up for any fantasy fan.