Last Continent

Rating:
Summary: Flogging the dead horse
Review: I love Terry Pratchett. The Colour of Magic holds a prize place on my shelf, with Good Omens and Equal Rites not far behind, but The Last Continent? It's in a box in the garage. In The Last Continent we once again meet the inept wizzard Rincewind and his many-legged Luggage. In this adventure they end up in a place that is the Discworld equivalent of Australia. And just to make sure you know what continent he means, Pratchett rams our (the reader's) faces in cliche` after cliche`. Some of the abused Australian cliche`s are amusing, even to me, an Australian, but enough is enough. Terry Pratchett is a good writer and it shows in the fact that I was able to finish this book. Had it been a less readable author, I would have stopped half-way through. Definately not Pratchett's finest hour and I hope he stops churning novels out in such a manner. He can only rely on his name for so long. And a name and a few good one liners are not enough to make a novel.

Rating:
Summary: Still going strong.....
Review: I thought it was wonderful to see Rincewind and Luggage in a new novel. Yes, some of material is a little dry, but a writer has to do that to keep the new readers informed so they don't feel so left out. I feel that he played Rincewind very throughly and completely in character, which can be hard to do after a series goes on for a while. It's hard to do when you're just writing one book.

Almost all of the plot devices were necessary and well played. Death did a couple of cameo spots and that made me happy (being a huge Discworld Death fan.)

Read it. Pratchett really knows how to put enjoyment back into reading.

Rating:
Summary: Painfully funny! A tad bit shallow I suppose ...?
Review: Many die-hard DiscWorld fans might note that this book does not have as much depth as others in the series, but it certainly does not take away from the humour.

I have read 5 books in the series and found this to be the most fun read. Several of the wizards from Unseen University are in the book for a substantial part, and I they were absolutely hilarious. I had to stop reading at several parts just to catch my breath from laughing so hard (and no, I'm not a smoker, or out of shape). The island they are on, and their personalities are so incredibly creative... and Pratchett milks the situations for all they're worth (in a good way)... he just doesn't miss a beat.

Rincewind's adventures are also, as usual, terribly humorous... He finds himself in a remarkably Australian-esqe continent, and gets caught up in the middle of several cultural misunderstandings...

If you just want a fun read, and some hilarious situations, then pick up The Last Continent... and sorry for my ramblings.

Rating:
Summary: Astoundingly great for most authors. Very good for Pratchett
Review: The Last Continent was hand made some time after the rest of the Disc (as seen in Eric). Named XXXX by the people of the Circle Sea, who believed it to be mythical, it is explicitly _not_ Discworld Australia. It is however vaguely australian.

When Rincewind the "Wizzard" enters this mileau, he finds he has caused it to be dry for thousands of years. In XXXX, you see, time turns into space and space turns into Vegemite. The beliefs of the Aborigines are combined with cutting-edge quantum mechanics as the assembled wizards of UU cause a time paradox I really can't say too much about. Suffice to say that our magic-impaired coward is destined to become the Great FourEcksian Hero.

I know Terry Pratchett is fond of Australia, and it really comes through. Some of the jokes may come across as national stereotypes, but surely not more so than Genua (Southern US) or even Lancre (Northern England). In fact I want to know why there's no country on the Disc that's "vaugely scottish"!

A real beaut of a book, mate.

Rating:
Summary: With Any Luck, the Last Rincewind Book
Review: This was the first Pratchett book I read, and my original review is on Amazon; I still stand by it, but have revised my rating downward after reading the rest of the Discworld novels. It is funny in parts and full of pop-culture references, but does not hold together as a story. There isn't much plot, or, rather, there is far too much to pay attention to. Rincewind is not a character in this book so much as an excuse to roam around Australia; the wizards of Unseen University show up, but if you don't already know them, or even if you do, you'll find their characters quite poorly differentiated. _Interesting Times_ and _The Light Fantastic_ are better Rincewind novels, but I would recommend spending your valuable free time reading the the City Watch or Witches Discworld novels instead.