The Truth

Locations
Call Number: Fantasy / Pratchett, Terry
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fantasy / Pratchett, Terry	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fantasy / Pratchett, Terry	4-week checkout	Due 05-11-2024

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

The newspaper in a fantasy world submitted by Jen Chapin-Smith on August 11, 2012, 8:15pm As a former journalist, I particularly loved "The Truth" about two people who establish Ankh-Morpork's first newspaper. The 25th of 39 books Sir Terry Pratchett has set on the Discworld, "The Truth" includes some characters whom readers have met in other Discworld novels, which is why I recommend first reading "Nightwatch" and "The Fifth Elephant" to know the necessary background. Readers will continue to follow the newspaper staff in other Discworld books because once you read one, you'll want to read them all.

discworld submitted by unknown on August 10, 2013, 10:51pm The title of this review notwithstanding, I'm not *quite* a blind fan of Mr. Pratchett. I have a particular fondness for his bits with Nanny Ogg in, "Pyramids" is one of my favorites, and there are some of his books I can take or leave.

This one, I'm honored to inform you, is the former. I'll take it. Pratchett himself is a former newspaperman, and one gets the impression that most of his pokes at the press industry are dead-on, if couched in fiction. We're back in Ankh-Morpork, in which his knack for the surreal and head-scratchingly amusing always seems to be let loosest. Several honored characters return: Death, the Bursar (whose cameo prompted hysterical mirth on my part) the Patrician, the City Guard, Gaspode the Talking Dog, and Foul Ole Ron, among others. New folks who one really feels ought to join the regular cast are introduced: Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip, most notably. Chances are they won't be back, but I look forward to again encountering Otto.

Diversified Pratchett fans may notice a faint resemblance of these two to another pair of black-suited, unscrupulous gentlemen in "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman, with whom Pratchett has collaborated in the past. The resemblance is largely superficial, however, and Mr. Tulip particularly is a cleverly made and vastly amusing character, given to the peculiar mode of cursing permitted by Discworld's Universal Censors: "-ing!" Otto, the reformed vampire and Anhk-Morpork Times staff photographer, is a further joy to read. The complications with his salamander-flash camera made me laugh until I got a cramp.

If there is one failing in this book, it is that the 'side' characters are so fantastically interesting compared to our protagonist, a comparatively normal human citizen. He *is* a disenfranchised noble with family strife, and it is he who, in traditional Pratchett style, conveys the true and even serious 'lesson' of the book. He's a good character, and serves his purpose well, and pushes the story along. But it's the other characters who steal the show.

This is really one of his better offerings. Not just in recent years: I'd rate it as one of his ten best out of his bajillion-some in print. Its obvious and pointed grounding in experience leaves one feeling sager about the business of journalism, as well as delicate about the ribs and damp about the cheeks. Good, good stuff.