Thief of Time is the 26th Discworld by Terry Pratchett. It
is sometimes difficult to review books in a series like the Discworld,
without erring towards repetition. Fortunately, there is no risk of that
on this occasion. Yet again, Terry has taken a throw away sentence in an
earlier novel, concerning the History Monks, and turned it into an
absorbing description of the workings of a previously unknown portion of
the Discworld. To be precise, how waste / under-used time such as from
under the seas (after all, as TP says "how much time does a codfish
need?"), is pumped to places like cities where it is obviously needed
more. Of course, things go badly awry when The Auditors commission the
construction of the Discworld's most accurate clock which threatens to put
a spanner in the works and stop time.
Trying to prevent time being stopped by the clockmaker Jeremy Clockson
aided by an Igor, is the History Monk Lu Tze and his apprentice Lobsang
Ludd, together with Miss Susan and the Death of Rats. Ronnie the fifth
Horseman of the Apocalypse also appears. You must remember him, he left
before the other four became famous. Thief of Time is a very readable and
genuinely funny novel. There are some wonderful descriptions of the
complex machinery - the spinning Procrastinators that control time. And
finally, after nearly 20 books, Susan sto Helit's life is 'progressed'.
It was very sad to hear that Josh Kirby died recently. I have enjoyed his
artwork for many years, particularly his marvellous covers on the
Discworld novels. He will be a hard act to follow. |