Review: Thud! by Terry Pratchett

 

4 out of 5

Terry Pratchett is one of my favorite authors. His satire is so skillfully done, it either hits you over the head or sneaks up on you, and hits you over the head. I am always amazed at the inventiveness of his work and Thud! is no exception. Commander Vimes, Duke of Ankh-Morpork City, is back and still attempting to solve crimes. This time he is forced to add a vampire to the cultural variety that makes up the Watch. Dwarves, not just any dwarves, deep down dwarves have arrived in the city and are digging something up. The anniversary of a famous dwarf/troll battle is quickly approaching and one of the important Grags, very high up deep downers, turns up dead. As always politics, culture, drugs, alcohol, a game and murder mix in ways that drive the Commander, well you have to read the book. Pratchett once again succeeds in pulling it all together for a very satisfying conclusion. Who knew the power of a child’s book? War, politics and cultural diversity all take a beating in this wonderful book. My only complaint is that the copy I have was not edited well. There are spelling errors and some pages still had editing markups. Harper Collins is a well known publisher, Pratchett is a well known author and this is not his first book so I expect a finished book, someone dropped the ball on this one.