Wait until you read Night Watch. You'll know you've reached peak Sam Vimes. That is, until you read Thud. Then you've really hit the peak. Until you get to Snuff. I don't think Pratchett ever peaked, to be honest. I loved all of them, especially all featuring the City Watch. But Night Watch is an especially great treat.
@ stuff is one of the very few that I haven’t read, I know that getting to the end of The Shepherds Crown knowing there will be no more Discworld will break my heart, I suspect I’m going to have a similar reaction to the last Watch book.
This was the first Discworld novel I ever picked up and fully read. I was familiar with a graphic novel adaptation of the first two books, so I at least had that foundation. I was almost instantly transfixed by this story, I wasn't expecting such social and political critiques from the series, which shows how little I knew! This book began my love of the series as a whole
@@storyfirstgamingyt it was one of the earliest I read too, it came out not too long before I got into Discworld. It was during a period when Pratchett was really in his prime
I read The Fifth Elephant ages ago but totally forgot what happened in it, until now. As you were going through the characters I thought, 'Oh yeah, that guy ... yep, she was nasty ... fat mining, I remember now ... " Thanks for bring it all back to me. I didn't know it was a metaphor of what he was doing with the series. That was interesting. And Happy Hogswatch.
It is interesting that i think this is the first time we see Carrot get beaten, he's alway portrayed as tougher than a Troll or at least having a punch Trolls respect, yet i think in this book we see him get taken down easily, maybe this is to show why Angua has been hesitant to get close to him but it is an unexpected power scaling for the werewolves. Kind of like the shock of when Thanos slapped the Hulk about in the Avengers films.
Damn; there's so much Discworld I have left to explore, and it's hard to find copies... Just recently finished _Fifth Elephant_ , so this intrigued me. Good observations!
As I continuously keep a audiobook of Sir Terry Pratchett's works open at all times on my PC tv, my favorites are the witches series. Especially, the later ones as I too am "Aching" all of the time. Speaking of time, The Thief of Time, I truly enjoyed the themes in this one, Remember rule one!😁
Überwald when translated into English means "Overforest" which pretty much sums up that vast land of forests and mountains where vampire and werewolf clans rule above ground and the dwarves rule all that lies below it. Most readers will recognise the similarities between Wolfgang von Überwald and his 'political movement' and that of a certain political movement that rose to prominence in Germany in the 1930s. However, I think it is fair to say that Wolfgang is also based on the fictional character Nikolai Vsevolodovich Stavrogin from Dostoevsky's 1872 novel "Demons".
In the context, "Beyond the forest" might be more sensible. Though the important one would be the Latin translation that should be greatly familiar to many.
@@JasperJanssen That's not the obvious punne or play on words. The obvious one is Transylvania, because Überwald is just a direct, literal translation of that into German.
@@Llortnerof I think it just goes to show how bloody good Pratchett’s linguistic ability was. And extra kudos for referring to it as a ‘punne or playe on words’
Though Pratchett wrote the Discworld novels in English not all of the jokes in his stories are in the English language. Consider "Bonk"; it is the name of both the main city and its river in Uberwald. Carrot says it should be pronounced "Beyonk" which is a play on the Russian pronunciation of words and a clue... The Russian word Волк (it's actually pronounced 'volk') means "wolf".
@@henrya3530 that is absolutely brilliant, I had no idea! Thank you so much 😁 I know that Pratchett was a massive lover of all language, I live in Wales and have a very rudimentary knowledge of the Welsh language and that makes the gags about Imp Y Celyn from Soul Music so much funnier.
P.S. If you also speak German as well, you'll see an interesting play on the use of the word "volk" here with regard to Wolfgang von Uberwald's 'political movement'.
@@TheBookThing There's another hint on Russia there, the Three sisters and their cherry orchard, it's a nod to the Anton Chekhov's play called " The cherry orchard" .
@@ellenp7455 As well as The Cherry Orchard there are references to all of Chekov's most famous plays. At one point Vimes ends up wearing "the gloomy trousers of Uncle Vanya". The three sisters dream of living in Ankh-Morpork but lack the means to do so which parallels the main characters in "The Three Sisters" who wish to live in Moscow.
The Clacks are not an example of making an analogue of a modern device in discworld, Napoleon actually set up semaphore towers all over France, which must have been the inspiration for Pratchett.
@@TheJamesRedwood true, but it’s the way he uses it, where he’s talking about people nipping out during a meal to check their clacks, and how it was existing tech but had sprung up fast in usage in a short time. As someone who was around at the back end of the nineties and seeing mobile phones going from being an elite business tool to a ubiquitous accessory in a really short time, reading the book at thar time, it was pretty clear he was talking about mobiles.
@@TheBookThing Absolutely. He was able to concatenate the entire development rapid long distance communication tech from telegraph to (almost) social media in one world-building device. It just so happens he did not have to invent the first stage - semaphore towers - he took those from history too.
Maybe this one is my favourite and not Night Watch, I can't decide and feel like I need to re-read all the city watch books again. Great review as always!
Holy crap. I've been a Pratchett fan since Strata, but it had never occurred to me that that "Fifth Elephant" was a punne, or playe on words for "Fifth Element". Well spotted! Also, if you've only just met this book, you'll be in for a treat when you meet Night Watch, & of course "Monstrous Regiment.
One of "those" books, whereby it's clearly brilliant, the incidental characters bring light to the whole story (Lady Sybil sings!) but when reading the earlier books (having read this one), you see new nuances in those plots. I always think Black Forrest rather than Transylvania not sure why but hey.
@@susanmaxwell6033 I think Black Forest is a good comparison too actually. Uberwald is a bit of a mashup, with the Checkhov gags there’s obviously a bit of Russia in there as well.
I think the publisher knew you don't read discworld for the plot you read it for the story so giving away the plot in the blurb doesn't matter a lot of discworld books use familiar well worn plots and twists them in ways only sir Terry could do
@@jonharvey6277 that’s probably true, and to be fair, back in the nineties we were way less conscious of spoilers. Even so, I still think that talking about the back end of a book in the blurb isn’t great and is a legitimate gripe
This is one of my favorite aspects of reading these- no matter how random some side plot or character will seem at the beginning, it will become absolutely essential at the climax of the book
@@nathanielvalla6142 I’d love to say yes, but I’m currently on The Wee Free Men and I think 13 books in the next two weeks might be a bit of a tall order. Unfortunately life gets in the way. However I should have them finished before the anniversary of my first year on BookTube in April.
@@TheBookThing Reading everything by Pratchett in a year?!? It sounds like you're having an amazing year! I kind of envy you all the wonder and hilarity in a compressed time, without the heartbreak and grief of losing a writer whose works had been one of the greatest ongoing joys in your life for the past 20 yrs. Sir Terry was a special sort of writer.
@@artyheartylife8588 I can see that, but it’s the part at the start of this book where it’s talking about people constantly checking their klacks messages and how ubiquitous it became that made me think it was more mobile phones
@moby4177 I think Jingo was a turning point for the Vimes, that’s true. And actually that whole period right up to arguably Night Watch really altered what the Discworld was. But thing that I think really sets Fifth Elephant apart is the willingness to change the status quo, and it’s the klacks that does that for me. It massively alters how the Discworld operates and unlike most new developments that happened before (movies, rock n roll, guns etc.) it stays a fundamental part of the world in future books. Thanks for the perspective though, comments and discussions like this is why I make these videos 😁
For me, the original cover artwork put me off reading these books for a long time. The trivial cartoon depictions didn't represent the depth and subtle humour of Pratchett's characters.
@@colinharbinson8284 I think that’s probably true, and I felt very similar for a long time but as the years past I’ve grown an affection for the Josh Kirby art
I haven't read this for about 20 years, so I probably should again. I think I never re-read it because I didn't think it was one of the best - the plot didn't flow very well from what I remember. But like I said, that was 30 years ago so maybe I'm just missing out... My faves: The Truth Going Postal Thief of Time Small Gods Men at Arms Most of the witches All of Tiffany Aching except the last I never liked Rincewind: just fucking annoying.
@@bethanyhunt2704 a worthy list. Have to say I went into this reread considering Rincewind to be the weak link, but while the books are certainly the weakest sub series so far, I’ve developed a new appreciation for the character of Rincewind.
I began reading the Discworld novels as I came across them in the local library, before I went on to collect the whole series.. The Light Fantastic was the first, followed by Equal Rites and then (I think) Guards Guards, Mort, Moving Pictures and Pyramids. Personally I felt that the last few had a bit too much of a 'political correctness' slant.
@@CharlesStearman it’s funny how we get different interpretations from books. I recently had a conversation with a fellow booktuber who felt that Prachett was overly heavy handed with fat jokes.
I think I’ve given up on the Pratchett books. After enjoying Good Omens a lot, I thought I would like his Discworld books. I’ve read six or seven and I would classify the ones I’ve read as okay, not really good or bad. I found them clever but not funny. I’m kind of disappointed because I had high hopes.
Did you start at the Colour of Magic and read them in publication order? If so, then I’m not surprised, he gets much better as time goes on. If you dipped into the middle, then maybe he isn’t for you. 😁
@ Colour of Magic to Wyrd Sisters will show a gradual improvement, but if you didn’t care for Guards Guards, then Pratchett might not be to your taste. If you feel like trying one more, then either The Truth or Night Watch I think are the high watermark.
@@TheBookThing I'd possibly suggest 'Small Gods' as an alternative, simply because it doesn't have many external references. [I read them all as they were published and had all of them, including the illustrated 'The Last Hero'. Had to give them all away as I'm now living on my yacht and just didn't have anywhere to put them 😞
Wait until you read Night Watch. You'll know you've reached peak Sam Vimes. That is, until you read Thud. Then you've really hit the peak. Until you get to Snuff. I don't think Pratchett ever peaked, to be honest. I loved all of them, especially all featuring the City Watch. But Night Watch is an especially great treat.
@@dandavidson424 absolutely, mild spoiler for one of my future reviews, but I’m not sure Night Watch is going to get topped
I was really sad when reading Snuff. I think you could tell.
@ stuff is one of the very few that I haven’t read, I know that getting to the end of The Shepherds Crown knowing there will be no more Discworld will break my heart, I suspect I’m going to have a similar reaction to the last Watch book.
@@TheBookThing Just reading the title of The Shepherds Crown broke my heart, because I could see what it was implying.
@ 😢 I know
"Exthellent thummary, thir!" ~ Igor
@@genteelblackhole 🤣
Bonus points for TH-cam adding a "translate to English" button to your comment. lol
@ 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@theantipope4354 That'th abthurd!
This was the first Discworld novel I ever picked up and fully read. I was familiar with a graphic novel adaptation of the first two books, so I at least had that foundation. I was almost instantly transfixed by this story, I wasn't expecting such social and political critiques from the series, which shows how little I knew! This book began my love of the series as a whole
@@storyfirstgamingyt it was one of the earliest I read too, it came out not too long before I got into Discworld. It was during a period when Pratchett was really in his prime
I read The Fifth Elephant ages ago but totally forgot what happened in it, until now. As you were going through the characters I thought, 'Oh yeah, that guy ... yep, she was nasty ... fat mining, I remember now ... " Thanks for bring it all back to me. I didn't know it was a metaphor of what he was doing with the series. That was interesting.
And Happy Hogswatch.
@@Kim_Miller you’re more than welcome. Thank you for watching and a happy Hogswatch to you. 😁
It is interesting that i think this is the first time we see Carrot get beaten, he's alway portrayed as tougher than a Troll or at least having a punch Trolls respect, yet i think in this book we see him get taken down easily, maybe this is to show why Angua has been hesitant to get close to him but it is an unexpected power scaling for the werewolves.
Kind of like the shock of when Thanos slapped the Hulk about in the Avengers films.
@@swanchamp5136 good comparison!
Algorithm has been pushing this to me constantly for the last few days. Caved in and clicked. I hear the accent it suddenly makes sense.
Ha ha. Didn’t know the algorithm had a preference for ‘Wicklow’, but I’m grateful for the cave in 🤣
One of my favourite jokes in Firth Elephant is Vimes reaction to sausages, something like
What are these strange lumps in this sausage
Meat sir
@@scollyb haha a lifetime of CMOT Dibbler sausages will significantly change your expectation on what a sausage is.
Damn; there's so much Discworld I have left to explore, and it's hard to find copies...
Just recently finished _Fifth Elephant_ , so this intrigued me. Good observations!
Thanks, I managed to fill most of my collection with second hand book websites and eBay
FINALLY. Prachett book fans.
Home.❤️
@@rosemarymurlis-hellings8138 welcome 😁
As I continuously keep a audiobook of Sir Terry Pratchett's works open at all times on my PC tv, my favorites are the witches series.
Especially, the later ones as I too am "Aching" all of the time. Speaking of time, The Thief of Time, I truly enjoyed the themes in this one, Remember rule one!😁
Very important to remember rule 1 😁
Also, use a small brush for the corners.😄
Überwald when translated into English means "Overforest" which pretty much sums up that vast land of forests and mountains where vampire and werewolf clans rule above ground and the dwarves rule all that lies below it.
Most readers will recognise the similarities between Wolfgang von Überwald and his 'political movement' and that of a certain political movement that rose to prominence in Germany in the 1930s. However, I think it is fair to say that Wolfgang is also based on the fictional character Nikolai Vsevolodovich Stavrogin from Dostoevsky's 1872 novel "Demons".
In the context, "Beyond the forest" might be more sensible. Though the important one would be the Latin translation that should be greatly familiar to many.
@@henrya3530 didn’t spot the Dostoevsky reference. Nice one
The obvious pun is ubermensch vs various places like the Schwarzwald or perhaps more the Thuringerwald.
@@JasperJanssen That's not the obvious punne or play on words. The obvious one is Transylvania, because Überwald is just a direct, literal translation of that into German.
@@Llortnerof I think it just goes to show how bloody good Pratchett’s linguistic ability was.
And extra kudos for referring to it as a ‘punne or playe on words’
The first Discworld book i ever read and afterwards i was truly addicted.
@@lk-l2818 one of the first for me. And yeah, I was addicted too at this point
Though Pratchett wrote the Discworld novels in English not all of the jokes in his stories are in the English language.
Consider "Bonk"; it is the name of both the main city and its river in Uberwald. Carrot says it should be pronounced "Beyonk" which is a play on the Russian pronunciation of words and a clue...
The Russian word Волк (it's actually pronounced 'volk') means "wolf".
@@henrya3530 that is absolutely brilliant, I had no idea! Thank you so much 😁
I know that Pratchett was a massive lover of all language, I live in Wales and have a very rudimentary knowledge of the Welsh language and that makes the gags about Imp Y Celyn from Soul Music so much funnier.
P.S. If you also speak German as well, you'll see an interesting play on the use of the word "volk" here with regard to Wolfgang von Uberwald's 'political movement'.
@@TheBookThing
There's another hint on Russia there, the Three sisters and their cherry orchard, it's a nod to the Anton Chekhov's play called " The cherry orchard" .
@@ellenp7455 now that one I did spot. Haven’t read any Chekhov but, I know the titles and kinda got the gags
@@ellenp7455 As well as The Cherry Orchard there are references to all of Chekov's most famous plays.
At one point Vimes ends up wearing "the gloomy trousers of Uncle Vanya".
The three sisters dream of living in Ankh-Morpork but lack the means to do so which parallels the main characters in "The Three Sisters" who wish to live in Moscow.
The Clacks are not an example of making an analogue of a modern device in discworld, Napoleon actually set up semaphore towers all over France, which must have been the inspiration for Pratchett.
@@TheJamesRedwood true, but it’s the way he uses it, where he’s talking about people nipping out during a meal to check their clacks, and how it was existing tech but had sprung up fast in usage in a short time. As someone who was around at the back end of the nineties and seeing mobile phones going from being an elite business tool to a ubiquitous accessory in a really short time, reading the book at thar time, it was pretty clear he was talking about mobiles.
@@TheBookThing Absolutely. He was able to concatenate the entire development rapid long distance communication tech from telegraph to (almost) social media in one world-building device. It just so happens he did not have to invent the first stage - semaphore towers - he took those from history too.
We had them in England as well, hence all the Telegraph Hills, Telegraph Woods, etc., scattered around Southern England.
Sam Vimes and Granny Weatherwax were aspects of PTerry.
Very much so
Maybe this one is my favourite and not Night Watch, I can't decide and feel like I need to re-read all the city watch books again. Great review as always!
@@AaronReadABook thanks a million man, mild spoiler for a future vid, but yeah, Night Watch is pretty high bar to clear.
Holy crap. I've been a Pratchett fan since Strata, but it had never occurred to me that that "Fifth Elephant" was a punne, or playe on words for "Fifth Element". Well spotted!
Also, if you've only just met this book, you'll be in for a treat when you meet Night Watch, & of course "Monstrous Regiment.
@@theantipope4354 hahaha kudos for referring to it as a ‘punne or playe on words’
One of "those" books, whereby it's clearly brilliant, the incidental characters bring light to the whole story (Lady Sybil sings!) but when reading the earlier books (having read this one), you see new nuances in those plots.
I always think Black Forrest rather than Transylvania not sure why but hey.
@@susanmaxwell6033 I think Black Forest is a good comparison too actually. Uberwald is a bit of a mashup, with the Checkhov gags there’s obviously a bit of Russia in there as well.
@@TheBookThing It's unlikely to be a coincidence that Überwald is a literal translation of Transylvania into _German._
Have you read "Thief of Time"?
One of his best.
I have indeed, and I’ve reread it recently, it’s going to be my next review after The Truth
I think the publisher knew you don't read discworld for the plot you read it for the story so giving away the plot in the blurb doesn't matter a lot of discworld books use familiar well worn plots and twists them in ways only sir Terry could do
@@jonharvey6277 that’s probably true, and to be fair, back in the nineties we were way less conscious of spoilers. Even so, I still think that talking about the back end of a book in the blurb isn’t great and is a legitimate gripe
This is one of my favorite aspects of reading these- no matter how random some side plot or character will seem at the beginning, it will become absolutely essential at the climax of the book
@ sometimes even relevant to books from years in the future too
he has his gradfarther's hands.
@@KimTensay Igor family heirloom 😁
Are you still trying to finish them by the end of the year?
@@nathanielvalla6142 I’d love to say yes, but I’m currently on The Wee Free Men and I think 13 books in the next two weeks might be a bit of a tall order. Unfortunately life gets in the way. However I should have them finished before the anniversary of my first year on BookTube in April.
@@TheBookThing Reading everything by Pratchett in a year?!? It sounds like you're having an amazing year!
I kind of envy you all the wonder and hilarity in a compressed time, without the heartbreak and grief of losing a writer whose works had been one of the greatest ongoing joys in your life for the past 20 yrs. Sir Terry was a special sort of writer.
Not everything, just Discworld and with about 12 books and only a couple of days left I think it’s safe to assume it’ll take a little longer
The Fith Elephant is supposed to be the perfect pachyderm, but actually has tiny tusks.
Blackboard monitor Vimes🤭
@@chrismorel8613 some great gags in this books
I have always believed klacks to be analogous to fax
@@artyheartylife8588 I can see that, but it’s the part at the start of this book where it’s talking about people constantly checking their klacks messages and how ubiquitous it became that made me think it was more mobile phones
@TheBookThing Oh I get it! It's a long time since I read it.
@@artyheartylife8588 it was a long time for me too 😁
Hmmm. Felt Jingo was more a turning point.
@moby4177 I think Jingo was a turning point for the Vimes, that’s true. And actually that whole period right up to arguably Night Watch really altered what the Discworld was. But thing that I think really sets Fifth Elephant apart is the willingness to change the status quo, and it’s the klacks that does that for me. It massively alters how the Discworld operates and unlike most new developments that happened before (movies, rock n roll, guns etc.) it stays a fundamental part of the world in future books. Thanks for the perspective though, comments and discussions like this is why I make these videos 😁
Just read the whole of the Vimes series in order - starting with Guards Guards Guards.... almost all else is good, but not as great.
@@AMGOSUK was this your first time reading the Watch books? I kinda envy that if it was, I’d love to read them again for the first time
For me, the original cover artwork put me off reading these books for a long time.
The trivial cartoon depictions didn't represent the depth and subtle humour of Pratchett's characters.
@@colinharbinson8284 I think that’s probably true, and I felt very similar for a long time but as the years past I’ve grown an affection for the Josh Kirby art
I haven't read this for about 20 years, so I probably should again. I think I never re-read it because I didn't think it was one of the best - the plot didn't flow very well from what I remember. But like I said, that was 30 years ago so maybe I'm just missing out...
My faves:
The Truth
Going Postal
Thief of Time
Small Gods
Men at Arms
Most of the witches
All of Tiffany Aching except the last
I never liked Rincewind: just fucking annoying.
@@bethanyhunt2704 a worthy list. Have to say I went into this reread considering Rincewind to be the weak link, but while the books are certainly the weakest sub series so far, I’ve developed a new appreciation for the character of Rincewind.
I began reading the Discworld novels as I came across them in the local library, before I went on to collect the whole series.. The Light Fantastic was the first, followed by Equal Rites and then (I think) Guards Guards, Mort, Moving Pictures and Pyramids. Personally I felt that the last few had a bit too much of a 'political correctness' slant.
@@CharlesStearman it’s funny how we get different interpretations from books. I recently had a conversation with a fellow booktuber who felt that Prachett was overly heavy handed with fat jokes.
I think I’ve given up on the Pratchett books. After enjoying Good Omens a lot, I thought I would like his Discworld books. I’ve read six or seven and I would classify the ones I’ve read as okay, not really good or bad. I found them clever but not funny. I’m kind of disappointed because I had high hopes.
Did you start at the Colour of Magic and read them in publication order? If so, then I’m not surprised, he gets much better as time goes on. If you dipped into the middle, then maybe he isn’t for you. 😁
@ Guards! Guards! and then Colour of Magic through Wyrd Sisters.
@ Colour of Magic to Wyrd Sisters will show a gradual improvement, but if you didn’t care for Guards Guards, then Pratchett might not be to your taste. If you feel like trying one more, then either The Truth or Night Watch I think are the high watermark.
@@TheBookThing I'd possibly suggest 'Small Gods' as an alternative, simply because it doesn't have many external references.
[I read them all as they were published and had all of them, including the illustrated 'The Last Hero'. Had to give them all away as I'm now living on my yacht and just didn't have anywhere to put them 😞
@@Anti_Woke an excellent suggestion