Pyramids (Discworld Book 7) by Terry Pratchett
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Book Reviews of Pyramids (Discworld Book 7)
Book Review: A nation with a lot of time on its collective hands ...
Summary: 5 Stars
Despite not featuring Unseen University or the witches of the Ramtop Mountains, this is my favorite Discworld book.After hinting at it in "Wyrd Sisters," Pratchett paints an engaging portrait of life in the Ankh-Morporkk Assassin's Guild. The suave, stylish, chic and, well, murderous life as an apprentice assassin is, against all logic, made sort of appealing and cool, like an academy for future James Bonds.
Then our protagonist, Teppic, is cruelly jerked back to his reality -- he's the son of the pharoah in the Kingdom of the Sun, and his father has just died. The cosmopolitan Teppic has to face what are, to him, backwards and outdated customs the rest of the world has left behind centuries ago. He's right, of course, and the mystery as to what's really happening in his kingdom spins out at Teppic tries to adapt himself to life as pharoah, and try to drag the kingdom into modern times.
Along the way, there is the ghost of his father, who mournfully watches his own body being prepared for the afterworld, a sassy handmaiden, and a mysterious and forbidding high priest. Toss in the greatest mathematician on Discworld -- not a biped, though -- a parody of Ancient Greece, and a graduate assassin turned pirate, and you've got a rollicking cast plunging towards a very local sort of doomsday.
The ending is a touch ambiguous for my tastes -- Pratchett was trying to use a light touch and went a touch TOO light for my tastes -- but overall, this is an engaging, amusing and even somewhat thoughtful Discworld novel, and one that stands alone even better than most.
By the order of the pharoah, this is strongly recommended.
Book Review: In which philosophy is bad for turtles and religion for goats...
Summary: 5 Stars
A rollicking trip through Djelibeybi (Jelly baby, a British candy, get it?), Ephebe (with it's suspicious resemblance to classical Athens), and Anhk-Morpork (which needs no tag line). We're introduced to life as a student in the Assassin's Guild, where school dinners are the most stressful event of the day but not for the bullying. We observe the true pyramid power, the ability to muck about with the flow of time, and gain insight into the lives of those who build the pyramids, those who build things to go in them, and those who go in them.
Most important, we meet Dios, the high priest of Djelibeybi. The man has LOTS of experience at managing royalty, but is overcome by Pteppic, the young price sent to Anhk-Morpork to be educated at the Assassins' Guild. (You'll appreciate how easy even your hardest final exam was.) No, Dios is not assassinated, just out-witted by the independence and cunning the boy acquired in his years in that city of cities, that festering dung heap on a warm day, Anhk-Morpork.
Ephebe, a city of philosophers in search of bath-towels plays a critical role in this story, and the value of a good listener is demonstrated, to the cent.
One of Pratchett's best. The characters are well developed. Shots are taken at New Age silliness, boarding schools, and philosophy. It ends with a twist. What else can we ask for?
Book Review: One of the Discworld greats
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the seventh book in Terry Pratchett's series on the Discworld - a flat world, supported on the backs of four massive elephants riding on the back of a planet-sized turtle. Anything hilarious can happen here, and eventually does.
Teppic has left the kingdom of Djelibeybi to go to Ankh-Morpork and learn the trade of being an assassin. However, when his father dies, Teppic now finds himself King Teppicymon XXVIII, Lord of the Heavens, Charioteer of the Wagon of the Sun, and so forth and so on. Djelibeybi has been ruled by traditions and rituals, with its pyramids keeping it locked in the past. But, Teppic has plans for changing and updating Djelibeybi. It will be a real adventure...if Teppic can just keep from destroying everything.
This is one of Terry Pratchett's masterpieces, a real monolith among the wonderful Discworld classics! I like all of the Discworld books, but several are special, like this one. This is a great book, laugh-out-loud funny with a wonderfully surprising and entertaining storyline. This is a book that will definitely keep you sitting up at night turning pages (like it did to me).
This is one of the Discworld greats, a book that I highly recommend to all fans of great fantasy literature!
Book Review: Discworld's Version of the Egyptians
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the 7th Discworld novel and the first in the small "Ancient Civilizations" storyline (kinda a one-off compared to the rest). The book tells the story of the Discworld's Egyptian like civilization, that continue to exist in "modern" times. The interesting comparison between the rest of the world and how they live is shown very clearly through the eyes of our protagonist Teppic. He trains in the major city of Ankh-Morpork to become an assassin by trade only to return back to his home town of Djelibeybi, where he must take over as ruler after his father dies.
It is quickly shown that the pyramids in the area have mystical powers utilized for their creation, but when these get out of hand, some strange events begin to occur. It becomes Teppic's job to try and fix the city of Djelibeybi back to "normal."
This is a very fun Discworld novel and is a bit more offbeat than the rest. It stays fun and interesting and a bit of different perspective. There are some really fun puns and wordplay, alongside the normal great Pratchett humor and satire throughout.
Book Review: What can I say? It's Pratchett, man!
Summary: 5 Stars
Teppic, who has just finished his training at the Assasins' Guild in Ankh-Morpork is called back to his home kingdom, because he is the only heir to the throne of his late father. Waiting for him back at home are numerous problems -- building a pyramid bigger than any other for his father, dealing with a high priest that just doesn't seem to listen to him, etc. The cast is very, very interesting, and is what pretty much makes the book. There's your 1000-year old high priest, a camel that's also the greatest mathematician on Earth, a sea trader whose business is about 30% legal, a handmaiden (what does that mean, anyway?), a whole lot of architects, and of course the new pharaoh, Teppic. This is the book's first release in the United States, so I've been waiting for it for a long time, and I'm not disappointed. I'm sure you won't be, either.