|
Loading...
LibraryThing recommendationsMember recommendationsLoading...
won't like
will probably not like
will probably like
will like
will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  Greatrakes | Oct 18, 2009 |  Now this one I think has a little for everyone. No Rincewind this time, but there are Dwarves, Trolls, Vampires, Werewolves, humans, and the random talking dog. It's the time of the crowning of the Low King and Ankh-Morpork needs to send a representative to the crowning. Who better suited than Commander Vimes or is that Duke Vimes? The question is, will he survive what Überwald has in store for him? And while the cats away, will Ankh-Morpork stay afloat with the friendly, but woefully incompetent Colon in charge? (  ) ravenwood0001 | Aug 20, 2009 | Vimes vs. Werewolves. A somewhat mediocre entry in the Watch books, though saved by its exploration of the neglected Uberwald part of the Discworld. (  ) mohi | Jul 5, 2009 | Yet another Terry Pratchett book. Specifically, another City Watch book, though much of this one takes place in Überwald. No witches are visible, though there are plenty of werewolves, dwarves, vampires, and Igors. There is, as usual, a good story. Being a City Watch book, it's largely a detective story, with the details swirling around the coronation of a new dwarven king, a very revered piece of dwarf bread, and the politics of the region, including the involvement of Sergeant Angua's parents. And, of course, plenty of very funny bits; Pratchett has a tendency to make me laugh out loud while on the bus. I had worried that Terry Pratchett was losing his plain humor in being overly satirical, but The Fifth Elephant is merely a funny, well-told story with satirical elements running through some of the details. (Well, "politics" is a pretty big detail, but still...) Yet another Terry Pratchett book I'm happy to add to my collection. asciiphil | Dec 9, 2008 | Another good Pratchett book focusing on race relations, patriotism, and changes towards acceptance and greater tolerance towards others. The first half of the book is the best, as Vimes and his watch are slowly clued in to how diplomacy works. As they catch on, the story slows a bit, but not enough to cause any interruptions in the story. Overall, another nice story from Pratchett. (  ) ironicqueery | Aug 1, 2008 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com (ISBN 0061020400, Mass Market Paperback)Terry Pratchett has a seemingly endless capacity for generating inventively comic novels about the Discworld and its inhabitants, but there is in the hearts of most of his admirers a particular place for those novels that feature the hard-bitten captain of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, Samuel Vimes. Sent as ambassador to the Northern principality of Uberwald where they mine gold, iron, and fat--but never silver--he is caught up in an uneasy truce between dwarfs, werewolves, and vampires in the theft of the Scone of Stone (a particularly important piece of dwarf bread) and in the old werewolf custom of giving humans a short start in the hunt and then cheating.Pratchett is always at his best when the comedy is combined with a real sense of jeopardy that even favorite characters might be hurt if there was a good joke in it. As always, the most unlikely things crop up as the subjects of gags--Chekhov, grand opera, the Caine Mutiny--and as always there are remorselessly funny gags about the inevitability of story:
They say that the fifth elephant came screaming and trumpeting through the atmosphere of the young world all those years ago and landed hard enough to split continents and raise mountains. All this, the usual guest appearances, and Gaspode the Wonder Dog. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:10 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia in English (2)
In to this cauldron Lord Vetinari sends plain speaking copper Sam Vimes as an ambassador. Sam, of course, triumphs as his values are superior. Underlying all of Pratchett's 'satire', it seems to me, is a classically condescending British belief that we should be tolerant of all cultures and races until they see the error of their ways and become just like us.
Features a large role for Angua as her family, the Von Uberwalds, are werewoves, who are planning a Nazi style coup d'état. This is not one of my favourite Discworld books, but it has some good jokes. (