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A review by dark_reader
The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett
5.0
A. MAY. ZING. Pratchett is at the top of his game here, twenty-four books and sixteen years into the Discworld series. This caps year two of my monthly series re-read, and I continue to be blown away beyond any of my past impressions.
The city watch moves increasingly afield from their city, without losing a whiff of who and what they are about. Sam Vimes finds himself appointed ambassador for Ankh-Morpork to attend the conoration of the dwarf Low King. He finds himself embroiled in murder, international plots, vampires, werewolves, red tights, assassins, and worst of all, diplomacy. But with a cigar in mouth and badge in hand, he will show Uberwald what Ankh-Morpork is all about. Of course it helps to have Detritus and his Piecemaker on his side, along with many other beloved watch members.
This book ties in incredibly well with the preceding [b:Carpe Jugulum|34541|Carpe Jugulum (Discworld #23; Witches #6)|Terry Pratchett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388895900l/34541._SX50_.jpg|1494234] with a deeper look at Uberwald, in essence Discworld's Transylvania. It also launches several new concepts that will come to further define the Disc. We see the first appearance of the Clacks, a low-tech but high-impact visual telegraph system, never a throwaway element but intimately integrated into the plot and the Disc's cultural progression. We get a deep look at the Dwarf under-kingdom which will be revisited in future books. And we get the first direct look at Angua's werewolf kin, a shameful association that has only been teased previously.
Practchett is a scamp. He pulls you in with the humour, then slams you with deep cultural truth. Then tells more jokes. Then slams you with a phenomenal character moment. It's too much! I bow before his Monitorship. My favorite "holy crap!" moment was when I realized that Pratchett took a running gag about how you never see female dwarfs in traditional fantasy from a prior book, and transitioned that into a powerful moment of deep cultural transformation.
It's mostly solid gold looking forward in the series from here, as far as I remember. What a time to be alive.
The city watch moves increasingly afield from their city, without losing a whiff of who and what they are about. Sam Vimes finds himself appointed ambassador for Ankh-Morpork to attend the conoration of the dwarf Low King. He finds himself embroiled in murder, international plots, vampires, werewolves, red tights, assassins, and worst of all, diplomacy. But with a cigar in mouth and badge in hand, he will show Uberwald what Ankh-Morpork is all about. Of course it helps to have Detritus and his Piecemaker on his side, along with many other beloved watch members.
This book ties in incredibly well with the preceding [b:Carpe Jugulum|34541|Carpe Jugulum (Discworld #23; Witches #6)|Terry Pratchett|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388895900l/34541._SX50_.jpg|1494234] with a deeper look at Uberwald, in essence Discworld's Transylvania. It also launches several new concepts that will come to further define the Disc. We see the first appearance of the Clacks, a low-tech but high-impact visual telegraph system, never a throwaway element but intimately integrated into the plot and the Disc's cultural progression. We get a deep look at the Dwarf under-kingdom which will be revisited in future books. And we get the first direct look at Angua's werewolf kin, a shameful association that has only been teased previously.
Practchett is a scamp. He pulls you in with the humour, then slams you with deep cultural truth. Then tells more jokes. Then slams you with a phenomenal character moment. It's too much! I bow before his Monitorship. My favorite "holy crap!" moment was when I realized that Pratchett took a running gag about how you never see female dwarfs in traditional fantasy from a prior book, and transitioned that into a powerful moment of deep cultural transformation.
It's mostly solid gold looking forward in the series from here, as far as I remember. What a time to be alive.