Scan barcode
A review by kizzia
Pyramids by Terry Pratchett
adventurous
funny
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? N/A
4.25
The seventh Discworld novel and the first of the “standalone” Discworld books - by which I mean the main characters do not appear in any other Discworld novel so you don't need to read it to understand the rest of the series - is set mostly in the Kingdom of Djelibeybi^ (which bears a remarkable resemblance to Ancient Egypt on Roundworld*) but also involves Ankh Morpork, Tsort and Ephebe.
There are shenanigans, as befits a teenage protagonist, although probably not the ones that you'd expect from a teenager. There's "science of pyramids", as Terry takes the concept of what the Ancient Egyptians believed pyramids did and goes "but what if they did work like that", plus some very amusing side quests into the Disc equivalent of the Trojan War and mentions of some of the older philosophical precepts. And some insights into what it is handmaidens actually do.
This book has always held a special place in my heart because I was an Ancient Egypt obsessed teenager and mixing Terry’s (as always) excellent research on the topic with astutely made and amusingly shared observations on the human condition resulted in something that I couldn’t help but love.
It does have a sharper, harder edge to some of the humour which I initially attributed to the fact that a significant portion of the story revolves around the Guild of Assassins but have since learned is probably the influence of Neil Gaiman, who has recently talked about how much of Pyramids Terry phoned him up and talked about (a sort of sample sized run of what would happen when they then fully collaborated on Good Omens).
It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but it’s very much mine and if you happen to be interested in the history of Ancient Egypt and want a low stakes way in to the Discworld series, this might just be the book for you.
^Lit. ‘Child of the Djel
*What Discworld fans call Earth, thanks to the four Science of the Discworld books.
There are shenanigans, as befits a teenage protagonist, although probably not the ones that you'd expect from a teenager. There's "science of pyramids", as Terry takes the concept of what the Ancient Egyptians believed pyramids did and goes "but what if they did work like that", plus some very amusing side quests into the Disc equivalent of the Trojan War and mentions of some of the older philosophical precepts. And some insights into what it is handmaidens actually do.
This book has always held a special place in my heart because I was an Ancient Egypt obsessed teenager and mixing Terry’s (as always) excellent research on the topic with astutely made and amusingly shared observations on the human condition resulted in something that I couldn’t help but love.
It does have a sharper, harder edge to some of the humour which I initially attributed to the fact that a significant portion of the story revolves around the Guild of Assassins but have since learned is probably the influence of Neil Gaiman, who has recently talked about how much of Pyramids Terry phoned him up and talked about (a sort of sample sized run of what would happen when they then fully collaborated on Good Omens).
It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but it’s very much mine and if you happen to be interested in the history of Ancient Egypt and want a low stakes way in to the Discworld series, this might just be the book for you.
^Lit. ‘Child of the Djel
*What Discworld fans call Earth, thanks to the four Science of the Discworld books.