The Fifth Elephant
(Discworld Novel 24)
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4.6 • 29 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Discover the gloriously inventive and funny fantasy novel from bestselling author Terry Pratchett, the fifth book in the City Watch series, part of the Discworld novels.
'Precisely balanced . . . a cracking comic thriller' The Times
‘One of Sir Terry Pratchett’s funniest fantasy novels!’ 5-star reader review
'Well, he thought, so this is diplomacy. It's lying, only for a better class of people.'
Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is a long way from home.
Sent as reluctant ambassador to Uberwald, a mysterious region inhabited by dwarfs, vampires and werewolves, Vimes must learn the art of diplomacy. Fast.
But when he uncovers a mystery with ties back home, the policeman in him can't help but investigate. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, quite a lot actually. Vimes finds himself on the run through the frozen forests of Uberwald, armed with only his wits and the trousers of Uncle Vanya (don't ask). And if he doesn't make it, there's going to be a terrible war.
But there are monsters on his trail. They're smart. They're fast. They're werewolves.
And they're catching up . . .
The Fifth Elephant is the fifth book in the City Watch series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order.
Praise for the Discworld series:
'[Pratchett’s] spectacular inventiveness makes the Discworld series one of the perennial joys of modern fiction' Mail on Sunday
‘Pratchett is a master storyteller’ Guardian
'One of our greatest fantasists, and beyond a doubt the funniest' George R.R. Martin
'One of those rare writers who appeals to everyone’ Daily Express
‘One of the most consistently funny writers around’ Ben Aaronovitch
‘Masterful and brilliant’ Fantasy & Science Fiction
‘Pratchett uses his other world to hold up a distorting mirror to our own… he is a satirist of enormous talent ... incredibly funny ... compulsively readable' The Times
‘The best humorous English author since P.G. Wodehouse' The Sunday Telegraph
‘Nothing short of magical’ Chicago Tribune
'Consistently funny, consistently clever and consistently surprising in its twists and turns' SFX
‘[Discworld is] compulsively readable, fantastically inventive, surprisingly serious exploration in story form of just about any aspect of our world…There's never been anything quite like it’ Evening Standard
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Acclaimed British author Pratchett continues to distinguish himself from his colleagues with clever plot lines and genuinely likable characters in this first-rate addition to his long-running Discworld fantasy series (Carpe Jugulum, etc.). This time around, the inhabitants of Discworld's Ankh-Morpork have turned their attentions in the direction of Uberwald--a country rich in valuable minerals and high-quality fat deposits. (The fifth elephant, it seems, left all these when he or she crashed and burned in Uberwald at the beginning of time.) Ankh-Morpork's policeman Sam Vimes has been sent there to represent his people at a coronation--and to find the recently stolen, rock-hard and symbolically important (at least to the Dwarf population) Scone of Stone. As he tells Vimes's story (and surrounding ones), Pratchett cheerfully takes readers on an exuberant tale of mystery and invention, including the efforts of a clique of neo-Nazi werewolves to destabilize Uberwald. Along the way, he skewers everything from monarchy to fascism, as well as communism and capitalism, oil wealth and ethnic identities, Russian plays, immigration, condoms and evangelical Christianity--in short, most everything worth talking about. Not as perfect as Pratchett's Hogfather but in the same class, this novel is a heavyweight of lightness. 200,000 ad/promo; 7-city author tour. FYI: At the end of The Fifth Elephant is appended a "handy travel guide" to the "World of Terry Pratchett," including a character guide to the Discworld novels and a Discworld crossword puzzle.
