Pratchett Terry 01

Reviews & Overviews by Rod Cameron

The Truth by Terry Pratchett

Finally, a Diskworld novel that is back up to the standard of his earlier works such as Small Gods, and Pyramids. For some time, the new Diskworld novels have seemed tired and pedestrian. The Truth pleasingly is much fresher and original - I wanted to see where TP would take the plot lines, rather than just reading it for the odd smile. I also laughed out loud a couple of times which has not happened for a while, while reading the last few Diskworld novels. The book concerns William de Worde who has been commissioned to write letters to select clients about what is happening in Ankh Morpork. He suddenly finds himself editing The Ankh Morpork Times, and the usual Pratchett chaos occurs. There are a number of new characters, such as William himself; and we run across a number of the regulars, for example Gaspode, Vimes and Dibbler. Pleasingly, some sub-characters such as Foul Old Ron & the Duck Man are used extensively. What makes the story original is that for an Ankh-Morpork novel it does not use the members of the Watch as the main protagonists. The plot lines are taken from the journalist's perspective which gave Terry a bit more room to work with. For those interested in these things, there are brief cameos from DEATH and Carrot (fear not - on different pages!). But no sign of the Librarian.
It must be said that the book is much darker than usual. This is wholly due to two killers - Mr Pin and Mr Tulip. They have been taken straight from Pulp Fiction (there is a glorious skit on the foreign burgers scene) and a number of similar tales. The pair swear like troopers - although only by means of the expression "__ing". In an attempt to get high, Mr Tulip has an unfortunate habit of stuffing anything of a powdery consistency up his nose e.g flour, moth balls, slag etc. The fact that he comes to a sticky end provides a justifiable moral, but I do wonder about the suitability of the story-line for his younger fans.
I throughly recommend The Truth to Pratchett's older Diskworld fans. And I am eagerly looking forward to his next offering. Welcome back Terry!

Publisher: Doubleday
Date: 2000
Pages: 324 pp
Price:
Format: Hardback Reviewed by: Rod Cameron
Date Reviewed: November 2000