Rating: 
Summary: Vimes is simply wonderful..
Review: ..and his performance in this book is no exception. He's been sent to Uberwald as a diplomat, a role he really does not want to play. However, when the dwarfish Scone of Stone is stolen, he gets to play a role he likes so much more- pulp-detective-fiction star. Not that this one's always pleasant- before the book's half over he's been arrested for touching the dwarfs' Low King and is being hunted down by werewolves. Meanwhile, back in Ankh-Morpork, Angua's gone missing, Carrot resigns to go look for her, and Sergeant Colon becomes Acting Captain Colon, a job he totally and utterly botches. How did the Scone get taken? By who? And why is it so important that that clerk didn't catch an orange?
Rating:
Summary: Vimes Rules!
Review: Pratchett's Disc World series started out as a very silly (and very funny) fantasy series in which the plot did little more than give him a setting for his Pythonesque sense of humour. However, as the series has progressed, his characters have become better developed and so have his storylines. The Rincewind stories still tend to lean towards the earlier, sillier days, but in books like the Fifth Elephant the humour has become more subtle overall (although there is still silliness and laugh-out-loud humour), and has also started to become more satirical, making fun of society and its faults and making brilliant psychological observations. The stories centering around Vimes, captain of the City Guard, have become the best series-within-a-series, especially the scenes in which he interacts with the Patrician, a character straight out of Machiavelli. As with most Vimes stories, there is a lot of genuine suspense and a great mystery tale although the focus in this book is more on political intrigue. The book is set in Uberwald, a land straight out of old horror movies set in Europe or like the black forests of fairy tales, filled with Vampires, Werewolves and Dwarves (with the usual Pratchett twists). Not only that, but Uberwald is a land without laws where Vimes' position in the Ankh-Morpoork city guard is meaningless. We also get to learn more about Angua's (the female werewolf's) family and history as well as see some developements in her relationship with Captain Carrot. A brilliant and highly entertaining mix of fantasy, humour, satire and suspense, this book is highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious!
Review: Quick Synopsis - Vimes is sent as an ambassidor to foreign lands where he runs into vampires and werewolves that don't have his best interest at heart. A great book. I personally found it up there with the best of the series. It has great pacing and fills up the pages with plenty of action. If you are a fan of the series you can't miss this one.
Rating:
Summary: I loved this book!
Review: This is the twenty-fourth book in Terry Pratchett's series on the Discworld--a flat world, supported on the back of four massive elephants riding on the back of a planet-sized turtle, anything hilarious can happen here, and eventually does. When Samuel Vimes, commander of the Ankh-Morpork city watch is sent by Lord Vetinari to represent the city at the crowning of the new Dwarvish Low King, he knows something is afoot. Things begin to unravel when murders begin, a duplicate of a Dwarven artifact is stolen, Sergeant Angua disappears, Captain Carrot quits to search for her, and (worst of all) Sergeant Colon is placed in charge of the Watch. Can Sam Vimes unravel the mysteries surrounding him? And, who should he fear most, the werewolves or the vampires? Ah, once again Terry Pratchett has reached into the ether, and brought forth another fascinating and hilarious work. As always, Terry is a master of running several storyline concurrently, and bringing the whole story together as a logical whole. I loved this book, and highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Slammin' Sammy Vimes, the Diplomat
Review: I like Sam Vimes. I REALLY like Sam Vimes. He's ex-military, hates politicians, and loathes diplomats. His idea of dealing with a diplomatic problem is to take it on head-first. He's a budding "Retief" (that's for all you Keith Laumer fans out there). This book has a lot going for it, and it's "fat" (sorry about that) with jokes that only a government worker could identify (so if you work for the grab-a-mint, look hard!). The premise was one that was expected from developments between Carrot and Angua, because somehow Carrot had to meet the parents. Now we know that dwarves think about other things besides "glod"-there's fat, for instance. We dig for oil and coal-they dig fat. Nice allegory, here. For all that, there's lots here to laugh at and lots to think about. Consider the two dwarf candidates for king and their actions during the course of the book, then REALLY think about the ending. For Americans, the Stone of Scone is not common dinner conversation, so I'd suggest we Colonials look it up. And read this book four, five, six times. You won't regret it. Heavens to... Murgatroyd!
Rating: 
Summary: 3 1/2 Stars for Good but Long and Slightly Bland Novel
Review: It's Sam Vimes and friends to the rescue, this time in far-off Uberwald. But it's not in the same league as the previous Guards novels in the Discworld series. The villains are not at all interesting, there are a couple of meandering subplots, and there can actually be too much of Samuel Vimes in one of these books. I also don't quite get the metaphor that Pratchett is setting up with the otherwise-dopey title. This is still very readable, with a few interesting new characters, and with some good scenes involving Cheery Littlebottom and Angua and Carrot. The quality of the writing is still very good, but could have stood a bit of editing. And Lady Sybil comes into her own as a character. This was the Discworld novel that HarperCollins tried to use to make Pratchett a star here, but I suspect that new Discworld readers might be a bit more lost with this than with earlier books or with the novel after this one, "The Truth." If you're new to Discworld, my suggestion is to find "Men at Arms" or "Jingo" first as they are a bit less dependent on ideas introduced in other books in the series. If you're not new to Discworld, you'll buy this no matter what. You'll like a lot of it. But you might wonder, as I do, whether Pratchett is making a mistake by issuing a new book in the set every six months. A little more time to edit this and it could have been better.
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Summary: Another great book from the master of wit
Review: Superlatives do not exist in enough numbers to describe Mr Pratchett's work. Thats all there is to say really.
Rating:
Summary: Another good one
Review: A quick summary: I have recently been bored by Pratchetts stuff: This is a good one. Takes place in Uberwald, the latest hangout for our Discworld characters. Sam Vimes and his wife are the characters in this story, focusing on the world of dwarfs and all sorts of entertaining, farcical nonsense. Igor makes another appearance and Gaspode too. The perpetual romance of Angua and Carrot. All in all, a pretty entertaining read. I keep thinking I'm going to stop reading this series, but Pratchett always manages to surprise and entertain me yet again.
Rating:
Summary: A great Watch adventure
Review: Ordinarily, if you have to have read books prior, I think that limits the rating to at most a 4 stars; The Fifth Elephant is a prime exception. Yes, you would benefit from a little familiarity with Carrot and Angua's tempestuous interspecies awkwardness, Sam Vimes' reluctant rise to nobility, and the ever-hilarious Dwarves and their deadly bread. This story is so strong and packed with twists, however, that there's never enough time to notice. Terry Pratchett's plotcraft has only gotten better over the years, and this is one of his best. The Fifth Elephant can be a good starting off point, therefore, beacause after meeting all these characters, you'll immediately want to know more.
Rating:
Summary: I Love This Book
Review: I read this in a day because I couldn't put it down. This book is more suspenseful and more of a mystery story than some of the other Pratchett novels but the plot didn't detract from the characters at all. The guards are still going strong and I think they're Pratchett's most successful characters. I found the book funny too, although not the funniest of his books. I definitely recommend it to everyone.
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