Reviews - Pyramids | The StoryGraph

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A fun take on the Discworld equivalent of ancient Egypt.

Although this Discworld book didn’t have as many laugh out loud points for me, I feel the book made up for it in its creativeness of the kingdom of Djelibeybi (Discworld equivalent of ancient Egypt). Having the clash of a more modern world with an ancient Egyptian culture was really fun and so made this a really enjoyable read. I thought the plot was really good, but some of the post climatic decisions with some of these characters weren’t my favorite decisions and so the ending didn’t work out as well in my opinion. However, I didn’t feel like it spoiled the story for me and I still had a fun time reading this book.

cjsrussell's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging funny lighthearted mysterious reflective

runlikelilbunny's review against another edition

3.25

funny medium-paced

inkstained's review against another edition

5.0

I don't know why I'm always so surprised when Discworld books get deep, but I'm glad they do.

klauswaad's review against another edition

2.0

adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Not one of my favorite Discworld books. While this is a true standalone (all Discworld books could be considered standalone in their own right), I don’t believe my relative disliking of Pyramids is because of that fact. I shall list my reasons for liking and disliking this book down below:

Likes:
. The first part which takes place at the Assassin’s Guild. I love Ankh-Morpork but I especially like the various guilds and their silliness. I wish we stayed longer before the story swept us away.
. The overall critique Pratchett writes in this story is a good one. He asks us to question both religion and tradition and whether either have a place in our modern world.
. The clever naming across the board. From the kings and queens to the builders to the camel and beyond. Pratchett is a master with naming.

Dislikes (unfortunately a lot more):
. Lack of character development. I didn’t feel connected to any character except Teppic's father. Actually, both fathers in this book were pretty good.
. Too trope heavy? I know Pratchett likes to make fun but I think he relied on the Egyptian puns to carry the story rather than his characters in this one.
. Lack of care in the plot. At the end of the day, the way the story’s set up, I don’t see how the story impacted my view of the Disc. The story is very isolated (okay so many my reasons are pointing towards this being a super standalone).
. Storylines felt choppy. Could be that the book is one of only books in the Disc to have actually chapters or parts.
. The neighboring kingdoms felt way out of place despite loving their origin stories:

they are basically Greece and Troy

.
. The ending felt like a letdown and or rushed ending.

Why give off the kingdom to your sister? At least formulate some sort of plan with her rather than ditching her when she’s asking you to stay Teppic. Also… he didn’t seem to have a plan for life after kingship since he’s not returning to the Assassins. Like… why… and then there’s Dios, which means god, who seems to keep on preaching. Maybe he’s supposed to represent the eternal question of what should we do with religion and tradition?

.

Anyways, I found my mind wondering a lot while reading this book because I didn’t seem to care what was going on in it. I mean it’s “fun” but perhaps I didn’t enjoy the extreme overdone puns around the kemetic theme unlike the puns in other Pratchett book storylines. Definitely needed a character to root for.