And it's too quiet.
Where is the big jolly fat man? Why is Death creeping down chimneys and trying to say Ho Ho Ho? The darkest night of the year is getting a lot darker . . .
Susan the gothic governess has got to sort it out by morning, otherwise there won't be a morning. Ever again . . .
The 20th Discoworld novel is a festive feast of darkness and Death (but with jolly robins and tinsel too).
As they say: You'd better watch out . . .
Discworld Series:
The Colour of Magic (Rincewind book 1)
The Light Fantastic (Rincewind book 2)
Equal Rites (Witches book 1)
Mort (Death book 1)
Sourcery (Rincewind book 3)
Wyrd Sisters (Witches book 2)
Pyramids
Guards! Guards! (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 1)
Eric (Rincewind book 4)
Moving Pictures (Industrial Revolution book 1)
Reaper Man (Death book 2)
Witches Abroad (Witches book 3)
Small Gods
Lords and Ladies (Witches book 4)
Men at Arms (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 2)
Soul Music (Death book 3)
Interesting Times (Rincewind book 5)
Maskerade (Witches book 5)
Feet of Clay (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 3)
Hogfather (Death book 4)
Jingo (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 4)
The Last Continent (Rincewind book 6)
Carpe Jugulum (Witches book 6)
The Fifth Elephant (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 5)
The Truth (Industrial Revolution book 2)
Thief of Time (Death book 5)
The Last Hero (Rincewind book 7)
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
Night Watch (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 6)
The Wee Free Men (Tiffany Aching book 1)
Monstrous Regiment (Industrial Revolution book 3)
A Hat Full of Sky (Tiffany Aching book 2)
Going Postal (Moist von Lipwig book 1) (Industrial Revolution book 4)
Thud! (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 7)
Wintersmith (Tiffany Aching book 3)
Making Money (Moist von Lipwig book 2) (Industrial Revolution book 5)
Unseen Academicals (Rincewind book 8)
I Shall Wear Midnight (Tiffany Aching book 4)
Snuff (Ankh-Morpork City Watch book 8)
The World of Poo
Raising Steam (Moist von Lipwig book 3) (Industrial Revolution book 6)
The Shepherd's Crown (Tiffany Aching book 5)
Discworld Related books:
The Discworld Mapp - Terry Pratchett & Stephen Briggs
Terry Pratchett's Discworld Colouring Book - Paul Kidby
Terry Pratchett's Discworld Imaginarium - Paul Kidby
Visit Terry Pratchett's website for more information
Review:
I have been a fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series for over 15 years now but I have to admit I've fallen a little behind with the more recent books. I've actually been promising myself for a few years now that I'll reread the series again from the beginning and catch up but for some unknown reason I never quite seem to get around to it. I decided it's time to bite the bullet but rather than read the books in order I used Christmas as an excuse to read Hogfather. This book is a perfect festive read, Death has always been one of my favourite characters in the series and seeing him dress up as the Hogfather (the Discworld equivalent of Father Christmas) is absolutely hilarious.
The Auditors are causing trouble again, they may be in charge of keeping the universe running smoothly but they think it would be much better if there were no humans around messing things up. This time they've decided to target the Hogfather and they've hired the assassin Mister Teatime (make sure you pronounce that correctly unless you want to upset him - it's Teh-ah-tim-eh NOT Tea-time!) to take him out of the equation. How exactly do you go about killing someone who can't die though? Teatime has a plan and Death is the only person who has noticed what is going on and is trying to put a stop to it. He's going to need help though and the best person for the job is obviously his granddaughter Susan who is used to dealing with all kinds of monsters using her trusty poker.
Hogfather is a hilarious read, obviously Death is the star of the show (he always is to me!) but we also get to visit with the wizards at the Unseen University, catch up with Susan, and spend time with the Death of Rats. With the Hogfather out of the equation (although Death is doing his best to fill in for him) the excess belief is causing all sorts of new creatures to pop up including the Verruca Gnome and the Oh God of Hangovers which makes for a lot of amusing moments. Death has always struggled to understand humans but this leads to some fantastic moments of insight. As with all of Terry Pratchett's stories we get an insightful look into the human psyche and you have to laugh at our way of thinking sometimes. Terry Pratchett obviously sees the world through a very interesting lens and I'd love to be able to take a trip inside his mind. This reread has left me more determined than ever to complete my Discworld catch up, so hopefully 2015 will be the year I finally make some serious headway.
Source: Purchased
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