Reviews

The Truth by Terry Pratchett

enigma104's review

inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 Discworld never fails to make me laugh but this is one of my favourites. So much thought has gone into all these characters, and I love their interactions with each other, and growth over the course of this book.

There are so many things I like about this book, but here are some things I especially love:

- William intentionally or unintentionally annoying Vimes. The man has enough work to do as it is, and William is just making everything worse...

He glared darkly at William. The expression was clear. It said: it's been a bad day and now there's you.

- William being so certain that the werewolf in the Watch is Nobby Nobbs...

'I haven't printed that you have a werewolf employed in the watch,' said William. He regretted it instantly, but Vimes was getting on his nerves.

'Where did you hear that?' said a quiet voice behind him. He turned in his chair. A fair-haired young woman in Watch uniform was leaning against the wall. She must have been there all the time.

'This is Sergeant Angua,' said Vimes. 'You can speak freely in front of her.'

'I've...heard rumours,' said William. He'd seen the sergeant in the streets. She had a habit of staring a bit too sharply at people, he'd considered.

'And?'

'Look, I can see this is worrying you,' said William, 'Please let me assure you that Corporal Nobb's secret is safe with me.'

No one spoke. William congratulated himself. It had been a shot in the dark, but he could tell by Sergeant Angua's face that he'd won this one. It seemed to have shut down, locking all expression.

- Otto and all of his interactions with William and Sacharissa

'I sometimes crumble to dust. But zat vich does not kill us makes us stronk.'

'Stronk?'

'Indeed!'

- The dwarfs and their discussions on dwarven culture and marriage
- 'Deep Bone'
- Tulip and his love for art
- Basically any scene with Vetinari or Vimes, and them both realising that William is going to change things in their city whether they like it or not
- The climax!

And just thought I'd include one of my favourite scenes:

A shadow appeared in the doorway. Goodmountain grabbed his axe.
William groaned. It was Vimes. Worse, he was smiling, in a humourless predatory way.

'Ah, Mr de Worde,' he said, stepping inside. 'There are several thousand dogs stampeding through the city at the moment. This is an interesting fact, isn't it?'

He leaned against the wall and produced a cigar, 'Well I say dogs,' he said, striking a match on Goodmountain's helmet, ' Mostly dogs, perhaps I should say. Some cats. More cats now, in fact, 'cos, hah, there's nothing like a, yes, a tidal wave of dogs, fighting and biting and howling, to sort of, how can I put it, give a city a certain...busyness. Especially underfoot, because-did I mention it?-they're very nervous dogs too. Oh, and did I mention cattle?' He went on conversationally, 'You know how it is, market day and so on, people are driving the cows and, my goodness, around the corner comes a wall of wailing dogs...Oh, and I forgot about the sheep. And the chickens, although I imagine there's not much left of the chickens now...'

He stared at William. 'Anything you feel you want to tell me?' he said.

'Uh...we had a bit of a problem...'

'Never! Really? Do tell!'

All in all, a brilliant book. Would actually recommend to anyone new to Discworld too, as it introduces a lot of new characters, and the characters that aren't new are re-introduced quite well as William is meeting them for the first time. (Vimes, Vetinari). 

mommytaco's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

yoshionsax's review against another edition

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? No

4.0

sarahnich3's review

funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.25

evelyncanovan's review against another edition

adventurous funny reflective 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? It's complicated

4.75

lily11's review against another edition

funny fast-paced

5.0

bloung's review against another edition

dark informative reflective 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

4.0

katee17's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

4.75

laura_wilson's review

funny lighthearted mysterious 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? No

5.0

tichamm's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

3.75

 "The truth has got its boots on" he said "its going to start kicking"

Can't believe it took me this long to actually read a book from Terry Pratchett! What a ride this one was.

This is my first book from the Discworld universe, not sure if it's an appropriate start. I can say I struggled a bit to get into the world and character, but once I did, I enjoyed it immensily. I can also say that listening to the audiobook made such a huge different towards my enjoyment of the book. I still read the actual book, but the audiobook gave it an extra entertainment approach, since the narrator often changed his voice to interpret different characters.

The overall mystery was fun to follow - I do love a misfit group of people, and how they work together to solve the mystery.

Will return to the Discworld hopefully soon.