Thud! by Terry Prachett

Basic Plot

Commander Vimes has his hands full running the city watch especially since a vampire has decided to join. His band of trolls, dwarfs, humans and werewolves are hard enough to handle without adding a vampire into the mix. Everyone is on edge and with the Koom Valley battle looming ahead, the tension in the air is almost palpable. When a dwarf leader is murdered, all suspicions point to the culprit being one of their sworn enemies, a troll. However, it is not an open and shut case. Commander Vimes and his motley crew of officers must work together regardless of shape or form to solve not only one murder but perhaps discover the centuries old secret of Koom Valley.

What I liked about this book

This book was lent to me by my Head of Department and I am so grateful because it was an excellent read. Trying to describe why I like this book is akin to describing why I like ice cream or rainbows or weekends. It was a treat. Even though Thud! is the 30th (!) novel in the Discworld series, it was a story unto itself, which was perfect since I had not read any of the previous books. The characters are all very lively and painted with deep brushstrokes, so that the reader does not only know them superficially but knew their motivations and essence. He describes what it feels like to be a werewolf, mundane things like resisting the urge to wag its tail when happy, or how they deal with bad hair days to the immense need to just rip the nearest vampire apart. We get to understand why a vampire needs to turn into hundred of bats instead of one and how they carry emergency kits with dust pans and instructions just in case they accidentally turn to dust. All these mythical creatures are described in such a human way or more precisely so that a human would understand them. My favourite part of the book is how Commander Vimes deals with his Gooseberry, a small box containing an imp which reminds him of appointments, send messages to other people by running very fast and is a whiz with numbers. The imp is often chastising him for losing the instruction manual and calls him Insert Name Here. Haha. The story line was well thought out and each character contributed to the story. This was truly a great book filled with smart humour.

What I did not like about the book

Not much, overall it was a very good read.

A quote I liked from the book

It could only have been a troll. Is it not said that behind every crime you will find the troll?

Rating: 4.5/5