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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"For, as the world tumbles lazily, it is revealed as the Discworld - flat, circular, and carried through space on the back of four elephants who stand on the back of Great A'tuin, the only turtle ever to feature on the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram, a turtle ten thousand miles long, dusted with the frost of dead comets, meteor-pocked, albedo-eyed. No one knows the reason for all this, but it is probably quantum."
No wonder an old physicist and astronomy fan like me enjoyed a book with such a paragraph on its first page. (Don't fret, though - most of the technical hints in the remainder of Pyramids are more subtle and not too distracting if you're not that much into quantum physics, geometry, and differential calculus.)
The clash of the worlds of assassins and kings is hysterical. I just had a really good time reading this book.
No wonder an old physicist and astronomy fan like me enjoyed a book with such a paragraph on its first page. (Don't fret, though - most of the technical hints in the remainder of Pyramids are more subtle and not too distracting if you're not that much into quantum physics, geometry, and differential calculus.)
The clash of the worlds of assassins and kings is hysterical. I just had a really good time reading this book.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I finally put my finger on what it is about the Discworld books that makes them seem to be missing something. So this review is about Pyramids but also about the issues with it that are the same across the first seven Discworld books.
As far as the book itself goes, it was significantly less irritating than Wyrd Sisters and actually a lot of fun in places. Teppic is the crown prince of Djelibeybi (pronounced “jelly baby”), which is a tiny country filled to the brim with pyramids and quite obviously the Discworld’s version of ancient Egypt – except it’s in modern types, it just seems ancient because they keep strictly to tradition. Teppic’s mother was not from Djelibeybi, and his father honored her wish to send Teppic to be educated in Ankh-Morpok. He went to the assassin school there, until his father died and he had to return to Djelibeybi to become king. There, his newfangled ideas from his time in Ankh-Morpok start conflicting with Djelibeybi’s slavish devotion to “the way we’ve always done it.” Plus now the god-king is a trained assassin, which was a ton of fun.
The part that rankled me was that the story could have been so much more. Yes, it was a fun adventure about an assassin-king who really doesn’t want to be king, a high priest who is way too old for his own good, and time-space continuum shenanigans. But there was also so much potential. There was a very strong theme of the tension of tradition and modernity, not only with Teppic and his desire for indoor plumbing, but even with side characters like the pyramid-builder and his sons, but nothing ever happens with it. The story says, “Hey, tradition and modernity sure seem to be at odds, don’t they?” and then that idea is never explored.
I don’t think this would have bothered me so much if I had started at book one and read in order. But I’ve read a bunch of the later books, and even The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, the weakest of the later books I’ve read so far, actually comments on the theme of instinct versus sentience instead of saying it exists and leaving it at that.
All that said, Pyramids isn’t a bad book. The new king being a trained assassin and also a clueless teenager made for some hilarious moments, the side characters were fun, I loved the bits of Djelibeybi religion that were included, there was a twist with the true identity of the high priest, and the main plot was some delightfully wacky space-time shenanigans. Plus it’s full of Sir Terry’s signature witticisms and one-liners and I finally understand where the “Sir Pterry” joke comes from. Taken on its own merits, it’s not spectacular but is a perfectly enjoyable and entertaining read.
I think my opinion of Pyramids would be a lot higher if I hadn’t previously read any of the later Discworld books. It is a good story. I just can’t help seeing how it could have been so much more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent
Moderate: Animal cruelty
Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Vomit, Trafficking, Alcohol
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Not my favourite of the Discworld books so far, but still deserving of five stars. I’m really enjoying reading Pratchett slowly fall in love with his world, especially Ankh Morpork, and begin to pick apart what the people (aside from the magically gifted) would actually do in it!
The con? The math. Because oh my god, it got a BIT too abstract for me a couple times there. I still have no idea what the pyramid moved to - did it simply rotate, or did it flip onto its side, balancing on its edge and sticking its pointed top out to the side? I still have no idea.
And the gods? Wow, I wish we’d seen a tiny bit more of them since it was STUNNING. The sheer visual of a giant goddess hung over the kingdom like the night sky, just staring at the people below? AMAZING. That kinda stuff, happening every book, just continues to amaze me - how much imagination did Pratchett have?!
The con? The math. Because oh my god, it got a BIT too abstract for me a couple times there. I still have no idea what the pyramid moved to - did it simply rotate, or did it flip onto its side, balancing on its edge and sticking its pointed top out to the side? I still have no idea.
And the gods? Wow, I wish we’d seen a tiny bit more of them since it was STUNNING. The sheer visual of a giant goddess hung over the kingdom like the night sky, just staring at the people below? AMAZING. That kinda stuff, happening every book, just continues to amaze me - how much imagination did Pratchett have?!
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's not peak Pratchett, but it _is_ Pratchett. Fun fantasy frivolity with wit and cosmic weirdness. The latter is particularly strong in this one, with dimensional switcharoos at the centre of an overtly Egyptian cast of kings, assassins, high priests, Gods, mummies, and handmaidens. (With some characters playing multiple parts.)
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes