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The Fifth Elephant (Discworld) by Terry…
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The Fifth Elephant (Discworld) (original 1999; edition 2001)

by Terry Pratchett

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
9,818103763 (4.07)211
Sam Vimes is a man on the run. Yesterday he was a duke, a chief of police and the ambassador to the mysterious fat-rich country of Uberwald. Now he has nothing but his native wit and the gloomy trousers of Uncle Vanya (don't ask). It's snowing. It's freezing. And if he can't make it through the forest to civilisation there's going to be a terrible war. But there are monsters on his trail. They're bright. They're fast. They're werewolves--and they're catching up. Sam Vimes is out of time, out of luck, and already out of breath ...… (more)
Member:coffeezombie
Title:The Fifth Elephant (Discworld)
Authors:Terry Pratchett
Info:HarperTorch (2001), Mass Market Paperback, 400 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:****
Tags:fiction, satire, social commentary, humor

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The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett (1999)

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» See also 211 mentions

English (93)  German (3)  Spanish (2)  Norwegian (1)  Swedish (1)  Dutch (1)  Polish (1)  All languages (102)
Showing 1-5 of 93 (next | show all)
4.5, really. I think my favorite of the Watch series, so far. Certainly the one that makes me want to think and talk and argue the most. Also, werewolves and gender and nuanced dwarf Judaism really are my cup of tea, so. ( )
  localgayangel | Mar 5, 2024 |
I think the City Guard series are my favorite of the discworld books, followed closely by Death. The king of the dwarves died and everyone is invited to attend the coronation of the new king. though there is a bit of debate on who should be the next king. Commander Vimes was sent as the ambassador for Ankh-Morpork. Vimes has his work cut out for him, but he gets to do his policing which he likes vs the ambassador stuff which he doesn't really care for. But mysteries are his cup of tea and he needs to solve it to help prevent international relations from going south. ( )
  readafew | Nov 4, 2023 |
Enn eitt létt grínið hjá Pratchett. Nú er merkasti gripurinn á dvergasafninu í Ankh-Morpogh stolið og hann tengist krýningu næsta konungs dverganna í Ubervald. Yfirmaður löggæslunnar í A-M, Sam Vines, er sendur til að aðstoða við rannsókn þjófnaðirins enda var raunverulega gripnum sjálfum stolið í Ubervald. Allt er að sjóða upp úr og því þarf að sýna sérstaklega pólitíska næmni í samskiptum við fylkingar dverga, varúlfa og vampíra í Ubervald. Vines er kjörinn í starfið. Fíllinn er mættur í postulínsbúðina! ( )
  SkuliSael | Apr 28, 2022 |
Very good! Top form Pratchett.

The Clacks are very cool, Uberwald is a great setting, and the werewolves and dwarves both had a lot of interesting stuff going on (and Lady Margoletta floating around too, of course). There were some really well-written scenes, like The Game, and Gaspode & Carrot’s journey. Still dislike Colon a lot but you’re supposed to this time, and I appreciate Nobby more now that he’s a union man.

Btw, I like Angua and Carrot’s relationship quite a bit, but I feel like I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop— and Angua seems to be waiting for it too. Either Carrot needs to fail at something, or Angua needs to accept she’s worthy of perfect love from him, I think. Not to overanalyze the relationship of two fictional characters. ( )
  misslevel | Sep 22, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 93 (next | show all)
Trying to summarize the plot of a Pratchett novel is like describing "Hamlet" as a play about a troubled guy with an Oedipus complex and a murderous uncle. Pratchett isn't Shakespeare -- for one thing, he's funnier -- but his books are richly textured, as the pundits say, and far more complex than they appear at first. You don't have to be familiar with folklore, Leonardo da Vinci and Capability Brown, the history of religion, "Macbeth" and Laurel and Hardy to appreciate them, but if you aren't, you will miss some of the in-jokes. Just consider yourself grabbed by the collar, with me shouting, "You've got to read this book!"
added by Shortride | editThe Washington Post, Barbara Mertz (pay site) (Apr 2, 2000)
 

» Add other authors (44 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Pratchett, Terryprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Briggs, StephenNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Culshaw, JonNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kidd, ChipCover designersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kirby, JoshCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Matthews, RobinPhotographersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Mazzone, PhilipDesignersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Nighy, BillNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Serafinowicz, PeterNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Epigraph
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Dedication
Many thanks to Peter Bleackley for his help with the dwarf opera Bloodaxe and Ironhammer, which was probably a lot better in his version (and had a lot more songs about gold).
First words
They say the world is flat and supported on the back of four elephants who themselves stand on the back of a giant turtle.

They say that the elephants, being such huge beasts, have bones of rock and iron, and nerves of gold for better conductivity over long distances.*

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.

*Not rock and iron in their dead form, as they are now, but living rock and iron. The dwarfs have quite an inventive mythology about minerals.
Quotations
Sam Vimes could parallel process. Most husbands can. They learn to follow their own line of thought while at the same time listening to what their wives say. And the listening is important, because at any time they could be challenged and must be ready to quote the last sentence in full. A vital additional skill is being able to scan the dialogue for telltale phrases such as "and they can deliver it tomorrow" or "so I've invited them for dinner?" or "they can do it in blue, really quite cheaply."
He wasn't strictly aware of it, but he treated even geography as if he was investigating a crime (did you see who carved out the valley? Would you recognize that glacier if you saw it again?)
A marriage is always made up of two people who are prepared to swear that only the other one snores.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Sam Vimes is a man on the run. Yesterday he was a duke, a chief of police and the ambassador to the mysterious fat-rich country of Uberwald. Now he has nothing but his native wit and the gloomy trousers of Uncle Vanya (don't ask). It's snowing. It's freezing. And if he can't make it through the forest to civilisation there's going to be a terrible war. But there are monsters on his trail. They're bright. They're fast. They're werewolves--and they're catching up. Sam Vimes is out of time, out of luck, and already out of breath ...

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Book description
SAM VIMES IS A MAN ON THE RUN. YESTERDAY HE WAS A DUKE, A CHIEF OF POLICE AND THE AMBASSADOR TO THE MYSTERIOUS FAT-RICH COUNTRY OF UBERWALD.

Now he has nothing but his native wit and the gloomy trousers of Uncle Vanya (don't ask). It's snowing. It's freezing. And if he can't make it through the forest to civilization there's going to be a terrible war.

But there are monsters on his trail. They're bright. They're fast. They're werewolves - and they're catching up.

The Fifth Elephant is Terry Pratchett's latest installment in the Discworld cycle, this time starring dwarfs, diplomacy, intrigue and big lumps of fat.
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