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3.96 AVERAGE
3.96 AVERAGE
3.5, not just 3.
Anyhow, where to start? This is TP's go at China, much like the last continent was his parody of Australia.
Let's start with the plot. Fate & Luck are playing a board game (I thought he had given up on that by this point, but nope.) for the future of the Agatean Empire (China) Fate is playing with Hong (An agatean lord) and The Lady with Rincewind and Cohen (along with his silver horde. The emperor is dying, and five (I think) families are fighting over who shall be the next ruler. Going much further would be spoilers, so I'll stop. (Oh yes, there are revolutionaries who put up posters against the state.)
So walking through some bits of this, there's the silver horde, essentially Cohen x 7. Caleb the Ripper was a bit problematic, he was a "little" too into rape for a protagonist. Sir Terry took away Cohen's accent seeing as he got dentures which cleaned up the dialogue significantly. Oh yes, seeing as we're on dialogue, what's up with urinating dog [urinating dog] I get in writing and there it's fine, but why is it in sentences? You don't say exclamation mark, you don't say "line with the dot" even if that's what you write. That pissed me off.
Rincewind is still Rincewind, but he now confuses potatoes with sex.
The jokes are funny, but some are pretty problematic. ex. Raining cats and food. I have a Chinese friend who gets upset if you mention eating dogs (understandable ) and he would lose his shit if he read that.
Funny, but, you know, rape and racism. And like most Rincewind books, somewhat lacking in plot and character depth. That's why it gets 3.5 as opposed to the default 5 for Sir Terry.
Anyhow, where to start? This is TP's go at China, much like the last continent was his parody of Australia.
Let's start with the plot. Fate & Luck are playing a board game (I thought he had given up on that by this point, but nope.) for the future of the Agatean Empire (China) Fate is playing with Hong (An agatean lord) and The Lady with Rincewind and Cohen (along with his silver horde. The emperor is dying, and five (I think) families are fighting over who shall be the next ruler. Going much further would be spoilers, so I'll stop. (Oh yes, there are revolutionaries who put up posters against the state.)
So walking through some bits of this, there's the silver horde, essentially Cohen x 7. Caleb the Ripper was a bit problematic, he was a "little" too into rape for a protagonist. Sir Terry took away Cohen's accent seeing as he got dentures which cleaned up the dialogue significantly. Oh yes, seeing as we're on dialogue, what's up with urinating dog [urinating dog] I get in writing and there it's fine, but why is it in sentences? You don't say exclamation mark, you don't say "line with the dot" even if that's what you write. That pissed me off.
Rincewind is still Rincewind, but he now confuses potatoes with sex.
The jokes are funny, but some are pretty problematic. ex. Raining cats and food. I have a Chinese friend who gets upset if you mention eating dogs (understandable ) and he would lose his shit if he read that.
Funny, but, you know, rape and racism. And like most Rincewind books, somewhat lacking in plot and character depth. That's why it gets 3.5 as opposed to the default 5 for Sir Terry.
adventurous
funny
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:
Yes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I think Colin Morgan's reading of the Rincewind books is great, even though the Rincewind books are not my favourites. This book hasn't quite aged as well as some of the other ones in the series.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
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:
Yes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
Other than Hat Full of Sky and the various Witches books in the Discworld series, this is my favorite strictly-in-the-Discworld-series book so far. The Agatean Empire with its enclosing wall, incredibly polite rebels, Red Army and terracotta soldiers is an obvious stand-in for China (and occasionally Japan, with "tsimo" wrestlers of great fatness, kimonos, and samurai). Rather than being or seeming racist or nationalistic, Pratchett is an equal opportunity gadfly regarding human foolishness and the hunger for power. Yet he is so blessedly funny that the reader who doesn't get (or want to get) any persuasive political statement out of this book will still enjoy it. Cohen the Barbarian gets to be Genghiz Cohen - and what could be better than that?
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Good book found it strange that there was no chapters
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
funny
hopeful
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No