Today I read Snuff by Terry Pratchett, his latest book. The 39th Discworld novel. Another novel about Sam Vimes, Commander of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch.
But it isn't set in the city, oh my no. Lady Sybil decides that Sam Vimes needs a holiday in the country with his family. So a holiday in the country is what he gets.
Is it restful? Well, what would you expect?
The previous novel about Sam Vimes was Thud!, which I thought possibly was Terry Pratchett's best novel. The climax made me cry.
Here, the most moviing part is about a third of the way into the book. At various points we get Terry Pratchett's take on Pride and Prejudice, and a Discworld version of J.K. Rowling, and an interesting murder mystery - even though, technically, no crime was committed. (Sam Vimes doesn't let technicalities stop him.) In some ways, we get Pratchett's most passionate novel to date.
And we get that rare thing: we get to see Sam Vimes being happy with his family. He discovers happiness with something else, too - something unexpected, that has nothing to do with police work.
How is it that Terry Pratchett can write so well with Alzheimer's?
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