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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
this was quite good! Discworld continues to be very funny
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Guide to my Rating Scale, based on the Storygraph Rating:
* 5 Stars: This book was more or less flawless. One of the best things I’ve ever read.
* 4.75 through 4.25 Stars: This book had slight flaws, but I REALLY loved it. Marked as 4 stars on Goodreads.
* 4 Stars: This book had slight flaws, but I loved it.
* 3.75 through 3.25 Stars: This book had significant flaws, but I REALLY liked it. Marked as 3 stars on Goodreads.
* 3 Stars: This book had significant flaws, but I liked it just fine.
* 2.75 through 2.25 Stars: This book was extremely flawed, but I thought it had some merit. Marked as 2 stars on Goodreads.
* 2 Stars: This book was extremely flawed, but I didn’t actively dislike it. It was a waste of my time but not odious.
* 1.75 through 1.25 Stars: This book was irreparably flawed, and I actively disliked it. Marked as 1 star on Goodreads.
* 1 Star: This book was irreparably flawed. I actively hated this book and am worse off for having read it.
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Guide to my Rating Scale, based on the Storygraph Rating:
* 5 Stars: This book was more or less flawless. One of the best things I’ve ever read.
* 4.75 through 4.25 Stars: This book had slight flaws, but I REALLY loved it. Marked as 4 stars on Goodreads.
* 4 Stars: This book had slight flaws, but I loved it.
* 3.75 through 3.25 Stars: This book had significant flaws, but I REALLY liked it. Marked as 3 stars on Goodreads.
* 3 Stars: This book had significant flaws, but I liked it just fine.
* 2.75 through 2.25 Stars: This book was extremely flawed, but I thought it had some merit. Marked as 2 stars on Goodreads.
* 2 Stars: This book was extremely flawed, but I didn’t actively dislike it. It was a waste of my time but not odious.
* 1.75 through 1.25 Stars: This book was irreparably flawed, and I actively disliked it. Marked as 1 star on Goodreads.
* 1 Star: This book was irreparably flawed. I actively hated this book and am worse off for having read it.
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My first Discworld novel went, as a whole, as expected. Fun, adventurous, and prose with a subtley keen twist. It was entertaining, and pleasant enough that I wanted to finish it quickly. However, it wasn't gripping, or riveting. The storyline started off so well - a bankrupt kingdom sent its precious prince away to earn some money. And he trained to become an ASSASSIN. How badass is that?! They're described as sharp yet subtle, keenly intelligent with deadly moves and a small arsenal on their body to match (the ones who survive the certification, at any rate), and humourously also always have a cutting-edge fashion sense. Teppic, the prince-turned-assassin, became a true assassin at the beginning of the book in the affluent and culturally diverse city of Ankh-Morpork. All of this reminded me of Assassin's Creed (which I have developed a love for), and I expected at least some bloodshed. A little murder maybe.
Then Teppic becomes the king of the kingdom he was sent away from. The pharaoh of the Old Kingdom riddled with pyramids. So now we know that Teppic is something akin to an Egyptian pharaoh-slash-certified badass assassin. The set up was exquisite.
But once he returns to the kingdom, the storyline became somewhat philosophical. Dios, the high priest, embodies the concept of tradition who butts heads with the foundering new king and his radically new and updated ideas, learned from the 'barbaric' lands beyond the kingdom. Tradition exists in all its inexplicably contradictory ways simply because it had existed before, and seemed to have worked well enough then even if it became unnecessary later. So it accumulates, like time, and Dios uses it as he sees fit to control the kingdom.
Time is also an interesting concept. Pratchett uses elements of quantum mechanics to explain it, or rather, uses elements of it to sound like he is explaining it when I get the feeling that he's only using the terms and basic concepts in altered ways because he knows that most readers haven't the faintest clue what it is but everyone knows that it's extremely complicated (he somewhat groups it with magic, and the two tools are used similarly in the novel bc they're so complicated or un-knowable to most people that they act in the same mysterious way and we'd just chalk it up to 'oh, it's just, wossname, magic or quantum thingy' and continue to go about our lives). Perhaps he doesn't know how it works either. I won't ever know.
The above is forgivable since his writing style is just so quirky, like he sees the world from an angle instead of the usual flat 180 degrees most of us see it at. He made it enjoyable and entertaining enough for me to read the book through with pleasure and I'm definitely thinking of picking up another Discoworld novel at some point in the future.
I just wish he didn't include Ptraci so much, or Teppic's visit with Chidder. They could have both been used to infuse some exciting thrill into the storyline - but they kind of felt like a camel plodding along the scene. Which isn't so singular if you had read the book.
Then Teppic becomes the king of the kingdom he was sent away from. The pharaoh of the Old Kingdom riddled with pyramids. So now we know that Teppic is something akin to an Egyptian pharaoh-slash-certified badass assassin. The set up was exquisite.
But once he returns to the kingdom, the storyline became somewhat philosophical. Dios, the high priest, embodies the concept of tradition who butts heads with the foundering new king and his radically new and updated ideas, learned from the 'barbaric' lands beyond the kingdom. Tradition exists in all its inexplicably contradictory ways simply because it had existed before, and seemed to have worked well enough then even if it became unnecessary later. So it accumulates, like time, and Dios uses it as he sees fit to control the kingdom.
Time is also an interesting concept. Pratchett uses elements of quantum mechanics to explain it, or rather, uses elements of it to sound like he is explaining it when I get the feeling that he's only using the terms and basic concepts in altered ways because he knows that most readers haven't the faintest clue what it is but everyone knows that it's extremely complicated (he somewhat groups it with magic, and the two tools are used similarly in the novel bc they're so complicated or un-knowable to most people that they act in the same mysterious way and we'd just chalk it up to 'oh, it's just, wossname, magic or quantum thingy' and continue to go about our lives). Perhaps he doesn't know how it works either. I won't ever know.
The above is forgivable since his writing style is just so quirky, like he sees the world from an angle instead of the usual flat 180 degrees most of us see it at. He made it enjoyable and entertaining enough for me to read the book through with pleasure and I'm definitely thinking of picking up another Discoworld novel at some point in the future.
I just wish he didn't include Ptraci so much, or Teppic's visit with Chidder. They could have both been used to infuse some exciting thrill into the storyline - but they kind of felt like a camel plodding along the scene. Which isn't so singular if you had read the book.
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
I don’t like it that I gave it 3 stars. But it’s just that... In comparison of his other books, it was 3 stars but, But. Oh god I think of “the bastard” doing all the equations how I can say it’s 3 stars? I mean, the power of pyramids and the crazy ass fucking genius he is... cannot be explained in mere words. I don’t have that vocabulary nor the imagination of Terry Pratchett. He is, ONE OF A KIND. When I finish one of his book, I am in wonder. He is a wonder. He has magic in him. His words, thinking, imagination, is magic.
How can one explain a book like this. It’s next to impossible. When a book contains things like “Camels have a very democratic approach to the human race. They hate every member of it, without making any distinction for rank or creed”. All you do is smile, nod in agreement because you understand where the camels come from but explain to a person who never read Pratchett is near impossible. Or when he writes stuff like “How interesting. I wonder what’s causing it? Let V equal 3. Let Tau equal Chi/4, cudcudcud let Kappa/y be an Evil- Smelling- Bugger” differential tensor domain with four imaginary spin coefficients” (this was You Bastard(camel) thinking)
When a god thinks “bloody hell, he thought. I really am a god. This could be very embarrassing” fuck it. He deserves 5 stars just for his writing. I can’t. Just not possible to give anything less than 4.
How can one explain a book like this. It’s next to impossible. When a book contains things like “Camels have a very democratic approach to the human race. They hate every member of it, without making any distinction for rank or creed”. All you do is smile, nod in agreement because you understand where the camels come from but explain to a person who never read Pratchett is near impossible. Or when he writes stuff like “How interesting. I wonder what’s causing it? Let V equal 3. Let Tau equal Chi/4, cudcudcud let Kappa/y be an Evil- Smelling- Bugger” differential tensor domain with four imaginary spin coefficients” (this was You Bastard(camel) thinking)
When a god thinks “bloody hell, he thought. I really am a god. This could be very embarrassing” fuck it. He deserves 5 stars just for his writing. I can’t. Just not possible to give anything less than 4.
It's always good to believe in something, to have something to hold on to. However, just because it's good to have beliefs, does not mean that you want them to be true.
Pyramids by Terry Pratchett can be read as a standalone, as the characters and the setting are largely unconnected with the rest of the Discworld universe.
The book follows Teppic, a prince from the small Old Kingdom which lies in the middle of a desert and has a lot of, you guessed it, pyramids. Upon his graduation from the Assassin school, he gets the news of his father's passing and decides to come home, where he takes the throne and becomes king. However, being a king is not as all-powerful as he initially thought, as he has to follow the rules and tradition strictly enforced by high priest Dios. The tug of war of power shows in almost every decision that a king has to make, including the construction of a pyramid for Teppic's late father.
At its heart, Pyramids satirizes the role of beliefs and tradition in society, as well as how these leftovers from the past came to be. People in the Old Kingdom prides their 7,000 years of history, and yet, by dwelling on the past, they refuse to move on until the present catches up with them.
One passage sums up this conservationism really well: "He’d wanted changes. It was just that he’d wanted things to stay the same, as well."
Pyramids by Terry Pratchett can be read as a standalone, as the characters and the setting are largely unconnected with the rest of the Discworld universe.
The book follows Teppic, a prince from the small Old Kingdom which lies in the middle of a desert and has a lot of, you guessed it, pyramids. Upon his graduation from the Assassin school, he gets the news of his father's passing and decides to come home, where he takes the throne and becomes king. However, being a king is not as all-powerful as he initially thought, as he has to follow the rules and tradition strictly enforced by high priest Dios. The tug of war of power shows in almost every decision that a king has to make, including the construction of a pyramid for Teppic's late father.
At its heart, Pyramids satirizes the role of beliefs and tradition in society, as well as how these leftovers from the past came to be. People in the Old Kingdom prides their 7,000 years of history, and yet, by dwelling on the past, they refuse to move on until the present catches up with them.
One passage sums up this conservationism really well: "He’d wanted changes. It was just that he’d wanted things to stay the same, as well."
This reminds me too much of Sourcery. Not a good thing.
This is basically a farce about egypt - It gave me a few moments where i smiled at a turn of phrase, but this is a straight fantasy really. Its an ok story, but none of hte characters really grabbed me. I do sort of wish there was more about Teppymicon XXVIII the dead king who was now a ghost watching himself get mummified, and dreading ending up in a pyramid.
Honestly wished I'd given this a skip... but I will persevere in reading them all...
This is basically a farce about egypt - It gave me a few moments where i smiled at a turn of phrase, but this is a straight fantasy really. Its an ok story, but none of hte characters really grabbed me. I do sort of wish there was more about Teppymicon XXVIII the dead king who was now a ghost watching himself get mummified, and dreading ending up in a pyramid.
Honestly wished I'd given this a skip... but I will persevere in reading them all...
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated