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lividphoenix's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
einnymydog's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
gracefullypunk's review against another edition
5.0
Favorite discworld book thus far. Much more insightful than hilarious this time.
bhnmt61's review against another edition
4.0
I’ve read a couple dozen-ish Discworld books- nowhere close to all of them but enough that I can say I’m a fan. My usual experience with a Pratchett book is that I am glued to it for the first half or so— while he is establishing another loony, brilliant premise— but the endings rarely live up to the promise of the beginning. Things kind of just stumble on until the end.
This one was the opposite. For the past three years, I’ve decided I would read Hogfather during the Christmas season, because what could be more perfect? One of my favorite authors has a Christmas novel! But it takes so dang long for the story to get going in this one that I’ve never made it past the first 30 or so pages.
This year I was determined to plow through no matter what, so I kept plugging away at it, and finally about halfway through things started coming together. From there to the end I was thoroughly absorbed, and I loved it.
The premise is that the Hogfather (a Discworld-skewed version of Santa Claus) has disappeared. Death (who is a recurring character in many Discworld novels) has taken over the job of delivering toys and gifts to the world’s children (plus maybe a few extras). Death’s granddaughter Susan, who is just trying to live like a normal human, gets sucked in to solving the mystery of the Hogfather’s disappearance. Meanwhile the academics at the Unseen University are up to their usual inexplicable antics. It’s all good fun until — as is often the case in Discworld— some surprisingly deep insights about the nature of human belief become clear.
If you can slog through the first bit, I ended up loving this. But it took awhile.
This one was the opposite. For the past three years, I’ve decided I would read Hogfather during the Christmas season, because what could be more perfect? One of my favorite authors has a Christmas novel! But it takes so dang long for the story to get going in this one that I’ve never made it past the first 30 or so pages.
This year I was determined to plow through no matter what, so I kept plugging away at it, and finally about halfway through things started coming together. From there to the end I was thoroughly absorbed, and I loved it.
The premise is that the Hogfather (a Discworld-skewed version of Santa Claus) has disappeared. Death (who is a recurring character in many Discworld novels) has taken over the job of delivering toys and gifts to the world’s children (plus maybe a few extras). Death’s granddaughter Susan, who is just trying to live like a normal human, gets sucked in to solving the mystery of the Hogfather’s disappearance. Meanwhile the academics at the Unseen University are up to their usual inexplicable antics. It’s all good fun until — as is often the case in Discworld— some surprisingly deep insights about the nature of human belief become clear.
If you can slog through the first bit, I ended up loving this. But it took awhile.
soniac's review against another edition
4.0
Discworld is a reliably good time. This is my first Death-focused book, but it wasn’t hard to pick up the new characters. Mister Teatime is a surprisingly frightening villain, which is not something I expected from this series, but was very impressed by. The story was as fun as the premise promised, and it had my favorite part of Discworld, which is the relationship between people and the gods. The only thing keeping it from five stars was that there were a few too many storylines and it felt a little too erratic jumping from scene to scene.
baccou's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
kristicuse's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
naveenpiedy's review against another edition
5.0
Original post: https://www.npiedy.com/hogfather-books-i-love/
What I liked?
One of the things I like is that fact the author doesn't with hold or hide information just for the sake of mystery. I always hate it when the reader is kept in the dark. Instead, half through the book, I got a fair sense of where the book is heading towards. But this never diminished my enjoyment of the story. There is a good flow to the story which makes it easier to read despite the lack of chapters.
Did I mention how funny this book is? The humor enhances the quirkiness of the world without undercutting other emotions. Anything that involved the thinking machine called Hex and the wizards was particularly relatable to me as a professional software engineer, and I found myself chuckling through those parts. The humor is dry and satirical, but there is a certain sincerity to it. One of my favorite moments, reading, is when Death pretending to be Santa is in a mall handing out presents.
Another thing I appreciate is that, how the author fleshes out even the minor characters and the world. I was astonished on how familiar and how much I ended up liking the cast. The world building never felt out of place and despite the premise on the outside being silly, the internal logic surprisingly is solid. Things don't just happen because the author wants it to happen or has cornered himself to writing it. Everything that happens, feels natural and consistent within the world. At the same time, the world created doesn't alienate the readers. Instead, it juxtaposes and gets philosophical, makes you think. The book does all this without losing the humor.
Susan (Death's granddaughter) and Death are the two that stand out. And Susan is a low-key badass without coming off as a Mary Sue.
Why it is one of my all-time favorites?
Over the years, as time passed, I could sense how I changed. As I age, my priorities have shifted. I could go on to even say, I have become jaded over the years. I have stopped believing in a lot of things in the name of self-preservation, and this book holds a mirror to it. There is a fascinating conversation between Death and his granddaughter on the importance of belief and how it is tied to humanity towards the end. It resonated with me and made me take a hard look at how nihilistic and apathetic I have become (as one usually does).
I am not going to claim that this book helped me change overnight. But it made me laugh, gave me the warm fuzzy feeling and helped me introspect. What more can I ask?
What I liked?
One of the things I like is that fact the author doesn't with hold or hide information just for the sake of mystery. I always hate it when the reader is kept in the dark. Instead, half through the book, I got a fair sense of where the book is heading towards. But this never diminished my enjoyment of the story. There is a good flow to the story which makes it easier to read despite the lack of chapters.
Did I mention how funny this book is? The humor enhances the quirkiness of the world without undercutting other emotions. Anything that involved the thinking machine called Hex and the wizards was particularly relatable to me as a professional software engineer, and I found myself chuckling through those parts. The humor is dry and satirical, but there is a certain sincerity to it. One of my favorite moments, reading, is when Death pretending to be Santa is in a mall handing out presents.
Another thing I appreciate is that, how the author fleshes out even the minor characters and the world. I was astonished on how familiar and how much I ended up liking the cast. The world building never felt out of place and despite the premise on the outside being silly, the internal logic surprisingly is solid. Things don't just happen because the author wants it to happen or has cornered himself to writing it. Everything that happens, feels natural and consistent within the world. At the same time, the world created doesn't alienate the readers. Instead, it juxtaposes and gets philosophical, makes you think. The book does all this without losing the humor.
Susan (Death's granddaughter) and Death are the two that stand out. And Susan is a low-key badass without coming off as a Mary Sue.
Why it is one of my all-time favorites?
Over the years, as time passed, I could sense how I changed. As I age, my priorities have shifted. I could go on to even say, I have become jaded over the years. I have stopped believing in a lot of things in the name of self-preservation, and this book holds a mirror to it. There is a fascinating conversation between Death and his granddaughter on the importance of belief and how it is tied to humanity towards the end. It resonated with me and made me take a hard look at how nihilistic and apathetic I have become (as one usually does).
I am not going to claim that this book helped me change overnight. But it made me laugh, gave me the warm fuzzy feeling and helped me introspect. What more can I ask?
bcardoso's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0