Snuff

While retaining a lot of the humour that Pratchett is well known for, Snuff really gets dark, more than other Discworld books I have read and shows how far Pratchett had come as an author since The colour of Magic

Terry Pratchett schafft es, selbst aus einem Buch mit einem so harten Thema wie Rassismus eine Wohlfühlgeschichte zu machen. Und das ohne das eigentliche Thema zu verharmlosen oder aus den Augen zu verlieren. Wieder einmal beweist Sir Terry, dass er ein Meister seines Faches ist. Bei Pratchett kann das Unschuldige in Gegenwart der Dunkelheit unschuldig sein und bleiben. Und das Raue, Deftige darf sich selbst bleiben. Es darf gelacht werden, es darf geweint werden und es darf sich geprügelt werden. Das Buch ist vielleicht ein wenig zu lang geworden, zumindest aus meiner Sicht, aber Pratchett geht trotzdem immer und enttäuscht nie.

I'll be honest, after finishing this last book in the Discworld Watch Arc, I feel reluctant to pick up anything else because it won't contain nearly enough of Samuel Vimes. However, Snuff ends that storyline rather fittingly (even though that may not necessarily have been Sir Terry's intention). After having been convinced (or coerced?) by his wife (and Lord Vetinari, let's not kid around), to go for a holiday in the countryside, it doesn't take Sam Vimes too long to find himself in a fistfight, closely followed by a moonlit stroll in the hills and a dead body. Is he far out of his jurisdiction? Naturally. But murder is murder and gods be damned if he doesn't do anything about this. I did miss the rest of the Watch a bit in this one, but we get a lot of Willikins, Vimes' martial butler, which nearly makes up for the lack of Carrot, Angua et al. On to the wizards next, I think! 🌟