Opinion

Thief of Time

Written by: Terry Pratchett
Published by Doubleday

Someone, or something, has a plan to have an ultimate clock constructed: A clock that will be able to measure the beat of the universe. And such a clock will effectively end time. That is to say, not 'bring it to an end', but stop it, resulting in an endless stability that the entities called The Auditors Of Reality would consider an entirely satisfactory state of affairs. The only ones to stand against this catastrophe are one of the mysterious History Monks and his disciple, and the young woman called Susan, who through a complex series of circumstances is Death's granddaughter.

Regular readers of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels will find certain elements of that summary comfortably familiar, and it's true that after 26 of these books, they have a rhythm and a style that can occasionally tip over into obviousness. That said, this one escapes that charge completely, and it does so largely through the characters he employs. Those regular readers will know that broadly-speaking, the books can be grouped according to their central characters, so there are the Night Watch books, the Witches books, the Rincewind and the wizards books, and so on. This one belongs to the set loosely gathered as the Death books, in that the Grim one himself (and the other four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - yes, that's right - everyone always forgets about the one who left before they became famous) features prominently, as do his regular supports the Death of Rats and granddaughter Susan. But even more prominent for the most part are the History Monk Lu Tze and his apprentice Lobsang Ludd, and this represents sound judgment on Pratchett's part, because the Death 'family', while being the most interesting and certainly intriguing characters among his regular cast, are inevitably a little one-note. The monks, on the other hand, are well-rounded and interesting, each with their own moments to shine, and playing well off each other. The truth of Lobsang's origin is pretty obvious, but as Pratchett never tries to hide it, that's hardly a criticism The plot, too, is one of those which serves the essentially all-powerful nature of its protagonists, because this really is a threat to everything.

Pratchett has, by the regularity of his output, become an easy target for the label 'hack', but what those who dismiss him as such fail to give credit for is how clever these books are. This is intelligent entertainment, drawing on arguments from many philosophies, from science, from religion, and from art. What started out as a set of clever parodies of traditional sword and sorcery books has become a series of intelligent satires of real life. In its careful exploration of the nature of time and experience, Thief of Time is among the very best of these he has yet created. This is one that would work whether the reader is familiar with the Discworld or not.

No question - nine out of ten.

Thief of Time Website