Soul Music (1994)

I really like parts of this one, and really want to run away from others. ( )

This isnt one of my favourite Pratchett books but any story involving Death is a good one ( )

This is one of my least favorite Discworld books. Pratchett uses this literary device where he describes situations for far too long without telling you what's going on. Usually it works, but it completely fell flat for me in this book. I spent the last 30% having no idea what was going on. Maybe it's that I don't have enough knowledge of rock'n'roll imagery, but that doesn't mean it /works/. ( )

Sixteenth in the Discworld series, this is both amusing and - in places - poignant and thoughtful. There are two main plots. One is that Death goes missing, hoping to discover how to forget some things he doesn't want to remember, and his granddaughter Susan is recruited to take over his duties.

The other plot involves a young man called Imp, from the Discworld equivalent of Wales, who travels to Ankh-Morpork to seek his fortune. He becomes friendly with a dwarf called Glod and a troll called Lias, and they form a band... which leads to a new and unexpected style of music that takes over everybody's lives for a while. Not, as the title might imply, soul music but 'music with rocks in'.

Lots of clever allusions, and a nicely crafted story that weaves the two main plots together neatly.

Recommended, though it's probably best to have read 'Mort' and 'Reaper Man' first.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2020/12/soul-music-by-terry-pratchett.html ( )

Death has a mid-life crisis. Erm...mid-eternity crisis? My favorite Discworld character, Sam Vimes, Commander of the City Watch, is not in this novel at all -- too bad, but this Discworld novel is laugh-out-loud funny, full of common proverbs/sayings that Pratchett has turned inside out (like "a world of hurt"), and based on an explosively creative (re)telling of various mythologies. This book has the added bonus of musical references that tease: Buddy Holly? That one's obvious. Swing dancing? No-brainer. Some might have been less obvious, but Pratchett is very skilled at giving clues.

If you're a fan of the TV show The Big Bang Theory, you'll have fun reading about Pratchett's young wizard nerds. If you're a fan of the Big Bang Theory, you'll have fun reading Pratchett's version of it.

Highly recommended.

~bint ( )