Home > Categories > Books > Fantasy > Discworld : Snuff review

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a policeman taking a holiday will barely have time to open his suitcase before he finds his first corpse.
Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is on holiday in the pleasant and innocent countryside. But not for him a mere body in the wardrobe. Rather, many, many bodies - and an ancient crime more terrible than murder.
He is out of his jurisdiction, out of his depth, out of bacon sandwiches, occasionally snookered, oh, and out of his mind. But never is he out of guile. Where there is a crime there must be a finding, there must be a chase, and there must be a punishment.
They say in the end all sins are forgiven. But not quite all...
A Briefer History of Time
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase And Fable 17th Edition
Slide and Find : Trucks
Tricky Video
Twinkle
Mary Queen of Scots and her Hopeless Husbands
Creepella Von Cacklefur 1: The Thirteen Ghosts
Zog
The 39 Clues - Cahill Files - Spymasters
A Perfect Chirpy Christmas
Picture This Animals
Winter of Fire
The Invisible SentenceProduct reviews...
I have had the pleasure of reading every one of Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld titles and quite a few of the rest. This one was particularly intriguing as it contained fewer bad puns and a lot more grit and actual plot than some of his other recent titles. I really liked this one, a lot more than I thought.
The Goblins were, by far, the most fascinating of the characters. Not having come across them in any detail in any previous titles, it was wonderful to begin exploring a new race in this tale. Far from being the 'vermin that are slightly more evolved than rats from anywhere other than Ankh-Morpork (A-M rats being quite evolved really)' these people turn out to be... well... people. They have one of the most complicated languages known on the Discworld, have logical - if somewhat distasteful to human - religious practices, and most importantly understand the "mathematics of necessity" that puts the survival of the species ahead of the individual.
What gets me the most about Terry's works is that underneath the fun and frivolity, there is a commentary on the world of today - events, crises, ethical and moral dilemmas... you'd be surprised what you would see if you dug up the "current events of the day" 1 or 2 years before you read the book - since that was when it was being written. He has a way of taking the absurdities of our world, twisting them into the Discworld frame of references, and giving us a somewhat less guilt-ridden way to examine our own behaviours... and have a good ol' jolly laugh while we are about it - very much in line with the adage "A spoonful of sugar helps the bitter medicine go down".
Overall, another brilliant offering from the master of the Discworld universe... though it may not appeal to everyone due to some rather distasteful scenes, and even a few rather nauseating concepts that only the most hardy can contemplate without feeling a bit squiffy.
Random listing from 'Books'...
Early morning on April 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic, on her glorious maiden voyage from Southampton to New York, sank after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Thus the ship declared to be unsinkable was lost in one of the most infamous tragedies in history . Even now, a century later, the events surrounding the Titanic continue to haunt and intrigue us.
Critically acclaimed author Deborah Hopkinson weaves together the voices of ... more...
All trademarks, images and copyrights on this site are owned by their respective companies.
KIWIreviews is an independent entity, part of the Knock Out News Group. This is a free public forum presenting user opinions on selected products, and as such the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of kiwireviews.nz and are protected under New Zealand law by the "Honest Opinion" clause of the Defamation Act of 1992. KIWIreviews accepts no liability for statements made on this site, on the premise that they have been submitted as the true and honest opinions of the individual posters. In most cases, prices and dates stated are approximate and should be considered as only guidelines.
"Action may not always bring happiness, but there is no happiness without action."
Benjamin Disraeli