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Summary: The part of Santa Claus will be played by....Death?!?
Review: Given Pratchett's unswerving ability to lampoon anything and everything, it was only a matter of time before old St. Nick got his share.
Hogfather primarily focuses on two struggles. First, there is Death, who is trying to prevent the Hogfather's demise by keeping the belief in him alive during Hogswatch(the Discworld equivalent of Christmas). This involves him putting on a fake beard and suit, as well as adopting a VERY necessary fake belly, and masquerading as the Hogfather. Second, we have Death's granddaughter, Susan, who is on the trail of the Hogfather's potential assassin, Mr. Teatime. She is joined by The Death of Rats, a talking raven, and Bilious, the "oh god" of Hangovers.
This book, like the best of Pratchett's work, is loaded with humorous scenes. One of my personal favorites is when Death arrives at the Maul (yeah, that is how it's spelled) so that the children can "sit on the Hogfather's lap and tell him what they want". Between Death giving the children, literally, whatever they want/deserve (be it a doll, a real pony, or a giant broadsword) and the children constantly pointing out that Death's pigs have widdled on everything, I rarely stopped laughing.
This is a perfect addition to the Discworld series and one of my personal favorites. Recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: This was the first Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel that I ever completed. I was rather distracted when I first picked up 'Reaper Man' and never actually managed to get all the way through it.Having read this entire book cover to cover in the course of one afternoon, I can honestly say that it is among my favourites. I have now read it three times within the past two years, and hope to read it again around next Christmastime. The Hogfather is the Discworld's version of Father Christmas, a big, jolly fat man who rides through a sleigh on Hogswatch Night, the sleigh being pulled by four giant hogs. The hero of the story is none other than Death himself, and his granddaughter, Susan. Certainly a very cheery vision for Christmastime! Those readers who are interested in Terry Pratchett's inimitable style and wonderful stories will love this book for everything that the Discworld means. Those of you who love getting deeper into the philosophical meanings of Pratchett's work will also enjoy this story, with it's deeper hints at the meaning of belief and existance. Certainly a must-read book for any Discworld fan, the Hogfather is one of the best I've ever read.
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Summary: A Good "Christmas" Story -- Discworld Style!
Review: This is a decent story - pretty good. I admit, judging by the pervious books featuring Death's family (not counting Death himself), I expected to be dissapointed, but I wasn't. This is not on a par with "Men at Arms," but it is still good. Here we have a lot of variety - Death, the Death of Rats, Death's Grandaughter, secret assassins, the Auditors,... The plot was interesting. The auditors have a nasty plan - get an assassin to kill the Hogfather, the discworld "Santa Claus." The assassin, Mr. Teatime (pronounce the vowels), tries to do that by getting children to disbelieve, thus negating the spirit of Hogswatch. He tries to do that with help from the world of the tooth fairies. Of course, Death takes it upon himself to play "Hogfather" with Albert in tow. And his granddaughter, pretty good at beating up bogeymen and other monsters, has to stop Teatime and foil the auditors. Most of this story is good. Sto Helit, never really a milktoast like Magrat in the early Lancre books, becomes a fairly aggressive, take charge character. It was fun to watch her wield the fireplace poker against all foes. Bilious was somewhat funny, and so was the "manifestation syndrome" of objects seemingly appearing when people mentioned them (like the "sock-eating demon elephant"). But after the first one or two times, it got too old. Enough with these insignificant characters adding to the confusion. Also, I know that wizards rarely make sense, but here they waste way too much time talking about non-consequentials - it becomes a big draggy and boring. The criminals are funny - especially with the brothers who live by what their mother told them. It was funny to watch nursery-rhyme bogeys chasing grown men around screaming, and, while Teatime was not the best bad guy (although pretty good), it was great to see how Death and family finally dealt with him, and how someone finally pronounces Teatime's name correctly at the end. All in all, a good book, an improvement for several characters. But Death can usually pep up just about any story - he's just such a memorable character. You would never see Death the same way again. 4 well-earned stars.
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Summary: Hogfather
Review: Terry Pratchet's Hogfather is a comedy that deals with what happens when Death has to assume the role of Hogfather (like Santa Clause). The reader is easily drawn into Pratchet's Discworld; a vivid and comical world filled with character that can only make one laugh. Three characters particularly caught my attention, Teatime, Death, and Susan. Their descriptions and quirky traits always brought a smile to my face. Yet it is worth mentioning the background characters, who in turn provide most of the comical relief (in my opinion). Characters such as the Death of Rats, and the guard at the university were really hilarious as their comments were so original that I couldn't help but go and tell others. "The Death of rats nibbled a bit of the pork pie because when you are the personification of the death of small rodents you have to behave in certain ways." Page 49-50. The theme that I see in this book is that one should accept who you are, this can be clearly seen with Susan and Death both trying to be someone there not. I agree with this theme because I too have dreamed of a different life, one where I am a SWAT team member. Yet due to my poor eyesight this dream is currently nothing but a daydream. I strongly recommend this book to all readers that want to escape reality by becoming part of another world such as Discworld or J.R.Toliens middle-earth. It is also a book for people who enjoy sophisticated humor.
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Summary: A Book of Susan
Review: This is the 20th in Pratchett's Discworld series. In general, it's a book about Death. But, more correctly, it's a book centering on Susan (Death's granddaughter). As in "Soul Music," she's once again "teamed" with the Death of Rats and the raven to solve a problem while Death is busy elsewhere (though for a very different reason this time). Along with the main plot, Pratchett also does a good bit of development on the Unseen University's Hex. The wizards, too, get a big slice of the book as a "comedy relief" for Susan's "serious" outlook on life. One detail that bothered me, though, was that at the end of "Soul Music," Susan was supposedly getting together with Buddy. He's entirely missing from this book (not just missing -- it's like he never existed at all). But, other than that, a very good book with a very interesting plot and a lot of funny moments.
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Summary: HO HO HO!!!
Review: HO HO HO! Pratchett at his best. Death is one of my two favorite characters, the other being the Luggage, and I must say that this is Death as I've never seen him before. He was funny in Mort, but this book brings out a new side of him (which, I might add, Pratchett also tried to do in Mort, but not as well). The ending is a little bland, but the department store scene was quite possibly the funniest thing I've ever read. HO HO HO!
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Summary: unbelieeeeeeeeeeeeevably funny
Review: this book is, hands down, probably the funnies pratchett book i have read thus far. i am a big fan of the character of Death, and see him as one of the funniest characters in pratchett's series. but i would say that the faculty from unseen university are probably the funniest characters here. they play off of each other real well, and i end up laughing so hard my side hurts during each of their dialogs. as ever, though, pratchett does a good job of keeping the reader guessing, and providing hilarious explanations for all of the mysteries that happen in the story. however, i would recommend reading this after the other ones featuring Death as the main character (mort, reaper man, and soul music) in order to understand better what they mean when they talk about Death's attempts at helping.
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Summary: A great novel
Review: Perhaps one of my favorite Terry Pratchett novels, Susan Sto Helit and her grandfather, Death, are back and play well off each other. Pratchett gives Susan a great deal of rationality, which seems to be something a lot of his characters in this world lack and therefore leads to being a side splitting read.
Rating:
Summary: HO HO HO
Review: This was my first Pratchett novel and I don't think that there could be a better introduction to Discworld. It has Susan, Death, Binky, Death of Rats, the oh god of Hangovers, the Wizards...all of the best. Highly recommended.
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Summary: A Christmas Eve's Novel
Review: I must say this is one of my favorite Discword Books, ranking among Interesting Time, The Last Continent, The Science of Discword and The Fifth Elephant. As you'd probalbly read the editorial reviews, I wont repeat the story twice for your sakes. If you haven't read them yet, you should have.
My personal favorite parts are the ones that concerned the wizard of Unseen University, the masters of dynamic inactivity. Having their Hogswatchnight feast being disrupted by the sudden appearance of things they utter (e.g. They joked about the Tooth fairy,and then suddenly: guess who appears?) Another interesting piece is when the wizards decided to wait for the Hogfather in the dark and fearful UU Library. When Archancellor Mustrum Ridcully wonders about whether the Librarian(an orangutan by the way) will recieve his gifts before us humans. Ponder Stibbons' immediate response is to agree with him on account of the theory of evolution. Ridcully's bitter reply is:"I just thought that because, aphabetically, apes come before man." And they sure do.
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