Product Description

Once, in a gods-forsaken hellhole called Koom Valley, trolls and dwarfs met in bloody combat. Centuries later, each species still views the other with simmering animosity. Lately, the influential dwarf, Grag Hamcrusher, has been fomenting unrest among Ankh-Morpork's more diminutive citizens—a volatile situation made far worse when the pint-size provocateur is discovered bashed to death . . . with a troll club lying conveniently nearby.

Commander Sam Vimes of the City Watch is aware of the importance of solving the Hamcrusher homicide without delay. (Vimes's second most-pressing responsibility, in fact, next to always being home at six p.m. sharp to read Where's My Cow? to Sam, Jr.) But more than one corpse is waiting for Vimes in the eerie, summoning darkness of a labyrinthine mine network being secretly excavated beneath Ankh-Morpork's streets. And the deadly puzzle is pulling him deep into the muck and mire of superstition, hatred, and fear—and perhaps all the way to Koom Valley itself.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81914 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-01
• Released on: 2006-08-29
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 416 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Ankh-Morpork's City Watch Commander, Sam Vimes, stars in the latest entry in Pratchett's popular Discworld series (Going Postal, etc.). "Thud" is the sound that commences the novel, as a dwarf is bludgeoned to death; it's also the name of a chesslike match that recreates the battle of Koom Valley, a long-ago fight between trolls and dwarfs. As the anniversary of the battle approaches, ancient politics and the present-day murder cause tensions between the trolls and dwarfs to boil. Though Koom Valley was a disaster for both sides, certain community leaders from each side have been spoiling for a rematch—something Vimes is duty-bound to prevent. In the midst of this, a push toward affirmative action forces Vimes to hire a vampire named Sally to the Watch. She's sworn off human blood, but that's cold comfort to the assortment of humans, dwarfs, trolls, werewolves and golems that make up the police force. Vimes and his motley crew of coppers are called upon to not only find the murderer and keep the peace but also, in a jab at The Da Vinci Code, solve the riddle of a painting that reputedly holds the secret to what really happened at Koom Valley. Pratchett's fantastic imagination and satirical wit are on full display.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com
One problem with writing a comic series is that the later books have to include all the brilliant inventions from the earlier books, leaving less room for new brilliant inventions, which are, after all, the reason for writing the series in the first place. Terry Pratchett wrestles with this problem in his latest Discworld novel, Thud!, and mostly pins it to the mat.

Just how many Discworld novels are there by now? I would guess at least 30, though the actual number seems to be as difficult to locate as Unseen University, a magician's college founded in Ankh-Morpork, principal city of the principal continent of Discworld, about 15 years before Hogwarts and a much tougher place in which to matriculate.

The problems inherent in an amassed back story -- very like, I think, those clanking boxes Dickens's Marley had to tow through the afterlife -- are best shown by a comparison between the current installment and the first book to introduce Discworld, The Color of Magic. There the basic structure and what we might call the rules of engagement were laid out. Discworld, in a universe not quite parallel to ours, is, as the name suggests, a giant disc, containing continents and oceans and many populations, and resting on the backs of four elephants, who in turn stand on a giant turtle, who is swimming steadily, relentlessly, across the universe.

If this picture seems familiar, you have seen it in some art from the Indian sub-continent, but Pratchett purloins the concept and goes his own way with it. In The Color of Magic, Ankh-Morpork is a dangerous, seedy, bloody city, whose rulers learn that a tourist has come from some other part of Discworld to take in the sights. Once the disbelief dissipates -- Ankh-Morpork never had a tourist before, nor ever expected one -- the city fathers realize that, if they can keep this tourist alive, they just might have the beginning of a new industry. With this wisp of a hope, they hire a failed magician, a dropout from Unseen University, to follow the tourist around and, if possible, keep him from being slaughtered. That's the setup, and the whole novel is ingenious, brilliant and hilarious.

Terry Pratchett himself is still ingenious, brilliant and hilarious, but by now he has a lot of baggage to lug along. The hero of Thud! is Sam Vimes, an earnest young man who in an earlier book married a wealthy aristocrat, Lady Sybil, which would make him Duke of Ankh-Morpork if he were willing to accept the role. For now, though, he is the local police chief or, to give him the proper nomenclature, Commander of the Watch. And the Watch, instead of the ragtag, corrupt, defeated few hopeless cases who, way back in The Color of Magic, wouldn't even be asked to help keep a tourist alive, is now a serious modern police department suffering from, as so many police departments are these days, political correctness.

An equal opportunity employer, the Watch contains, in addition to Sam Vimes and a few other humans and sorta humans, an array of trolls, dwarfs, golems and one girl werewolf, and is about to integrate their first vampire, a shapely lady named Sally, whose elegance appears to be borrowed from Bela Lugosi's tuxedo.

The primary tasks of this cleaned-up Watch are two: forestall a riot-cum-war between the city's dwarfs and trolls, and solve the murder of a dwarf in a tunnel under the city. The looming riot, if it occurs, will be yet another re-enactment of a battle between the two groups hundreds of years ago, up in the wild country of Koom Valley, a battle out of which both sides emerged feeling betrayed and thirsting for revenge. If an echo of the Balkans comes to mind, I don't think Pratchett would object.

The working out of these two problems, with many asides for Pratchett's corkscrew brain to riff on the material, is the meat of the book. By the end, the members of the Watch even seem to believe they've solved the murder, though I confess I still haven't. But that's all right; the riot is averted, and the farmers and the cowboys -- sorry, the dwarfs and the trolls -- can perhaps be friends. Sally the vampire is becoming girl chums with Angua the werewolf, and peace temporarily stalks the land.

But the plot of a Discworld novel is never the point. The asides and the general goofiness and the imagination run amok are the point, every time and this time, too. And if, for instance, Carrot, the shy six-foot-tall dwarf (you had to be there), seems by this episode to be overstaying his welcome, that's also okay. All in all the only thing to be said about a Discworld novel is: Read it. You'll like it.

Reviewed by Donald E. Westlake
Copyright 2005, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

From AudioFile
"Where there is trouble, you will always find a troll." How true. How observant. How Pratchett. In his 34th Discworld novel, Terry Pratchett is at the top of his game, taking on honest cops, vampires, loyalty, fatherhood, and, of course, historic battlefield reenactments to create yet another irreverent, adventure-filled yarn. Gleefully finding both the parody and distinctive voice in each character, Stephen Briggs has a rip-roaring time creating a cornucopia of goofy British Isle accents. Briggs adds the right vocal tension and gravity at the right times as Commander Sam Vimes and the City Watch (a police force that dons "one size doesn't fit anybody" helmets) attempt to bring the murderer of four subterranean dwarfs to justice before another interspecies game of Thud! becomes all too real. Wonderful fun. B.P. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Thud! by Terry Pratchett
Thud! by Terry Pratchett starts as a case of murder, but the case is emotionally charged by politics. A prominent dwarf leader in Ankh-Morpork has been murdered, and because a troll club was left there, almost all the dwarves assume a troll did it.

A little backstory for the book: Ever since the Battle of Koom Valley, dwarves and trolls have been at war. No one knows who attacked first. The dwarves say the trolls did, and vice versa. Every time a troll slighted a dwarf or vice versa, it was like a repeat of Koom Valley. The real truth of this battle is part of the plot, and the truth revealed at the end is satisfying.

The main character, Sam Vimes, is the commander of the City Watch and the Duke of Ankh-Morpork (although he hates being called "Your Grace"). We see Vimes's inner emotions and the conflict he faces, especially near the end. Vimes is fleshed out enough that he could exist as a real person.

Terry Pratchett as usual employs his sense of humor, although I feel he could have added a few more funny parts at points. However, where there is humor, it is excellent for those who like somewhat sarcastic, dry humor. Some of the characters are endearingly quirky, such as Nobby Nobbs.

With its excellent plot, characters, and humor, I recommend this book to anyone who can read.

Still taking risks
It's almost time for the anniversary of the Battle of Koom Valley and this time it seems as if the battle, which keeps getting fought over and over again, is going to erupt in the streets of the largest city of Discworld, Ankh-Morpork.

The ever vigilant Commander of the City Watch, Sam Vimes, is not going to stand for that, because it might keep him from his daily appointment. Every evening, at 6pm sharp, he has to be home to read to his infant son, Sam the second.

Magical devices, devious murders, stoned trolls and a stolen painting are not enough to keep Sam from his fatherly duty. This is another romp through Discworld, where plain Sam Vimes takes on his largest villain yet.

Most fantasy series are exhausted well before 31 books. The fact that the Discworld series seems fresher, funnier, darker and edgier than ever testifies to Pratchett's willingness to risk one of his favorite characters by allowing him to change, grow into new roles and tackle ever larger challenges. Highly recommended.

Not great...
Terry Practhett is one of my all time favourite writers, I've bought every book he's written since Mort and usually make sure to get them in hardcover. However I'm just not that impressed with Thud (or Going Postal for that matter). Over his last several books Pratchett seems to have dropped his previous tendency to rotate characters and scenarios, and bar Thief of Time and Monstrous Regiment, hasn't set a book beyond the borders of Ankh Morkpork in almost a decade.

This would be all very good and well if Pratchett hadn't decided to invest his personal philosophy in the situations his characters encounter in Ankh Morpork. More often than not I have felt like Pratchett's work is attempting to push a philsophical, ethical position and amounts to an amusing attempt to proselytize. As a result, humour takes a back seat to Pratchett's attempts to make points about the real world using the Discworld. After a while this becomes as annoying and patronising, and has the effect of blunting the edge of Pratchett's usually keen wit.

Personally I feel Pratchett hit his peak between Wyrd Sisters and Carpe Jugulum. The earlier work is like silly intellectual scattershot, and the more recent stuff is, quite frankly, rather flat. Perhaps if Pratchett wasn't being forced to knock out two books a year he could return to his previous levels of inspiration. Of course the very fact that I can only rate Pratchett against his own work is a testament to his genius, it's just I feel rather sad that I no longer feel the instant urge to buy a Discworld novel when I see it on the new arrivals shelf of my local bookstore.