Pyramids (Discworld Book 7) by Terry Pratchett
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Book Reviews of Pyramids (Discworld Book 7)
Book Review: A Mixed Bag
Summary: 3 Stars
This is mid-level Pratchett, not as great as MEN AT ARMS or INTERESTING TIMES, not as bad as MOVING PICTURES (one joke) or ERIC (no joke). It's Pratchett's take on the Discworld equivalent of ancient Egypt, and fairly consistently funny. One odd feature is that the early chapters, in which the main character is trained as an assassin, have nothing whatsoever to do with the remainder of the novel! But you have to love any book that features an Egyptian bimbo named Ptracy.Book Review: Not Free SF Reader
Summary: 3 Stars
Pyramids is almost a complete standalone discworld book, with just small references here and there to the occasional other person.
This is his take on the whole Egypt and pyramid worship and the whole thing about the shape and construction of pyramids doing weird things with preservation and time.
Book Review: It's still Discworld, but not Pratchett's best
Summary: 3 Stars
This book doesn't seem to hold up to the rest of his books so far in the series. It's still a good book, don't get me wrong... I just feel that it doesn't carry the same weight as the others....Book Review: Not a Monumental Achievement
Summary: 2 Stars
A young prince from the kingdom of Djelibeybi is sent off to Ankh-Morpork for training at the guild of Assassins. His final exam is vividly imagined and well-told. But just after graduation his father the eccentric pharaoh of the realm, considered a god, dies, and young Teppic must return to ascend to the throne. His father's ghost gets to hang around and watch himself get mummified, and Djelibeybi begins building its biggest pyramid yet. In this book Pratchett throws in an awful lot of funny detail in: we get a send-up of Zeno and his paradox, a mockery of the whole notion of "pyramid power" (subject of many silly pseudo-science books that I remember from my childhood), and a nasty but mathematically inclined camel... in other words, a whole lot of bits and pieces with "Laugh! This is funny!" stamped on them... but they aren't, and I didn't. Teppic is never developed further as a character; although as the new pharaoh himself, he finds his orders constantly reinterpreted by his high priest. This makes for good satire of Egyptian government but results in a situation where nothing Teppic says or does really seems to matter. Teppic's love interest, Ptraci, is even less interesting; she is described as a voluptuous handmaiden schooled in the exotic arts of love, and scented with intoxicating perfumes. But rather than give her anything interesting to say or do, Pratchett simply takes her off-stage for most of the book, and focuses instead on nerdy quantum instabilities, reanimated mummies, a parody of the Trojan Wars, the Sphinx, the internal squabbles of the high priests, a bevy of bizarre gods, and a mishmash of other distracting details. Erotica is not Pratchett's style, and I wasn't expecting a real X-rated Kama Sutra send-up, but we don't get even a budding romance or a love-hate relationship; instead, we get a disappointing plot twist that effectively neuters the characters. Although I admire some of Pratchett's big ideas in this book about Egyptian culture's obsession with death and time, and found the story of Teppic's assassin's guild examination to be fun reading, the book ultimately becomes quite dull and hard to finish. This is a shame, because there is a the seed of a very good Discworld novel about Teppic the Reluctant Assassin buried in here, and that would have been much more fun to read. For a far better Discworld standalone read _The Truth_ instead.Book Review: Not Pratchett's Best.
Summary: 2 Stars
As a relatively new fan of Terry Pratchett and his Discworld series, I was so impressed by what he wrote so far I started to believe that everything from the series will be brilliant and excellent. Therefore, despite the fact other books sounded better, I picked "Pyramids" at random. And also because... All I can say is, even the best writers can make mistakes now and then - and that I will be more careful next time.
About the book: Pyramids is set in Djelibeibey, which is the Discworld equivalent of Ancient Egypt. The main character is Teppic, the son of the Pharaoh who gets sent to Assassin's school in Ankh-Morpork for a few years, only to come back exactly when his father dies and he becomes the new Pharoah of the kingdom. The plot gets complicated by the building of a pyramid which is bigger than any pyramid which has ever been built in the kingdom. This pyramid somehow twists the rules of space, time and belief to create a big mess.
Does this sound a big vague? To me it does - and the story feels confused and vague to the end. Many plot lines aren't fully explored, many characters aren't fully developed.. the plot is very thin, it feels as if it leads nowhere. Even the jokes in the book weren't as witty as the other Discworld novels I have read. It's a pity since the premise has a lot of potential, and Teppic is cool as the main character.
What can I say, I guess Pratchett is human after all, even great authors can do less than perfect every now and then. Was I disappointed? Yes. Will I continue to read more Pratchett novels? You bet! I guess I would recommend this book only to people who are absolutely die hard fans of Discworld.. for anybody else I would say, Skip this one.