The Fifth Elephant

There were no chapters in the table of contents, just Go To Beginning, Chapter One, and the author info/praise/read-next end matter. I also had to make a note of the page I was on before I tapped on a footnote. The * links would send me to the back of the book and then I’d have to laboriously flip pages to return to where I was. That became tiring FAST as the footnotes, being a big part of Discworld humor, are plentiful.

The story itself was wonderful, of course, I love Pratchett, but if I’m going to spend so much money for the e-reader version then I expect Harper Collins to deliver competent formatting.

Down boy – good dog! Well, it turns out Angua has several siblings and one of them has been a very bad dog indeed!

Vimes is instructed, in no uncertain terms that he has to go to Uberwald as the official diplomat from Ankh-Morpork. He is happy to be a copper, but when Lady Sybil packs his Duke costume he knows all hope is lost. But he leaves the city in the capable hands of Carrot and ventures out into unknown territory. Carrot soon follows leaving Colon in charge of the Watch.

Terry Pratchett has created a masterpiece with this cleverly written novel. Each character has been finely tuned, and display all their special talents in this book. Nuanced humour, and a great plot move the reader along quickly. This is one of those books where I was sorry to reach the end. It left me wanting more. From Colon’s paranoia at the watch house, to Carrot’s carefully worded statements to Vimes regarding Angua and Gavin, to Lady Sybil’s frustration at not being able to talk to her husband, Pratchett does not put a foot wrong.

When I grow up I want to write like Terry Pratchett!

Although I couldn’t quite get my mind around the idea of a fat mine (created by the fiery crash of the fifth elephant that supported Discworld on top of A’Tuin, the Cosmic Turtle), this fantasy is nevertheless a savoury entry in the Sam Vimes/Night Watch series (in spite of all that fat).

Sam Vimes, Commander of Ankh-Morpork’s Night Watch is ‘asked’ by the city’s Patrician (with the approval of Sam’s wife, Sybil) to represent the city at the coronation of Uberwald’s new dwarf Low King.

The last thing Sam wants to do is dress up in ceremonial tights and gallop off to a country filled with werewolves and vampires, not to mention two sects of battling dwarfs. He’s got the murder of a condom manufacturer to solve right in Ankh-Morpork, plus the theft of a replica of the holy Scone of Stone from the Dwarf Bread Museum.

However Lady Sybil thinks her husband needs a vacation, so off they go, tights and all, leaving Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson (a six-foot adopted dwarf) in charge of the Watch. Then Corporal Angua, the only werewolf on the Watch disappears and Captain Carrot resigns to go after her, taking only Gaspode, the talking dog with him.

Sergeant Colon is now acting-Captain of the Watch, much to the dismay of everyone, including himself.

While his beloved Night Watch slides swiftly into an abyss of incompetence in Ankh-Morpork, Sam discovers that being an ambassador is not all champagne and cucumber sandwiches. On his first day in Uberwald’s capital city, he becomes both a murder suspect and a participant in the Game–a werewolf version of ‘Fox and Hounds’—with himself as the unwilling fox.

The alpha female among the werewolves calls Sam a “nothing…a paper man. A man of straw. An insult.” She will have to learn the hard way that she grossly underestimated the new ambassador.

If you’d like to read the Sam Vimes/Night Watch books in order of publication, they are: “Guards! Guards!” (1989); “Men at Arms” (1993); “Feet of Clay” (1996); “Jingo” (1997); “The Fifth Elephant” (2000); “Night Watch” (2002); and “Thud!” (2005).

Although I couldn’t quite get my mind around the idea of a fat mine (created by the fiery crash of the fifth elephant that supported Discworld on top of A’Tuin, the Cosmic Turtle), this fantasy is nevertheless a savoury entry in the Sam Vimes/Night Watch series (in spite of all that fat).

Sam Vimes, Commander of Ankh-Morpork’s Night Watch is ‘asked’ by the city’s Patrician (with the approval of Sam’s wife, Sybil) to represent the city at the coronation of Uberwald’s new dwarf Low King.

The last thing Sam wants to do is dress up in ceremonial tights and gallop off to a country filled with werewolves and vampires, not to mention two sects of battling dwarfs. He’s got the murder of a condom manufacturer to solve right in Ankh-Morpork, plus the theft of a replica of the holy Scone of Stone from the Dwarf Bread Museum.

However Lady Sybil thinks her husband needs a vacation, so off they go, tights and all, leaving Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson (a six-foot adopted dwarf) in charge of the Watch. Then Corporal Angua, the only werewolf on the Watch disappears and Captain Carrot resigns to go after her, taking only Gaspode, the talking dog with him.

Sergeant Colon is now acting-Captain of the Watch, much to the dismay of everyone, including himself.

While his beloved Night Watch slides swiftly into an abyss of incompetence in Ankh-Morpork, Sam discovers that being an ambassador is not all champagne and cucumber sandwiches. On his first day in Uberwald’s capital city, he becomes both a murder suspect and a participant in the Game–a werewolf version of ‘Fox and Hounds’—with himself as the unwilling fox.

The alpha female among the werewolves calls Sam a “nothing…a paper man. A man of straw. An insult.” She will have to learn the hard way that she grossly underestimated the new ambassador.

If you’d like to read the Sam Vimes/Night Watch books in order of publication, they are: “Guards! Guards!” (1989); “Men at Arms” (1993); “Feet of Clay” (1996); “Jingo” (1997); “The Fifth Elephant” (2000); “Night Watch” (2002); and “Thud!” (2005).

A dramatic, very funny look at life on Earth via the lens of Disc World. Yet another stunning novel from Terry Pratchett that you can read with pleasure just for the story itself and the wonderful depth of the characters. But you can also see how accurately it reflects the problems of the world and the potential in people.

This is the sixth or seventh time I have read this book (but a first as an ebook) since it was first published. It doesnt matter that I know exactly what is going to happen, the book still makes you shake with laughter. A fantastic novel that should be compulsory reading for everyone.