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sdelmonteHere are two books I waited for eagerly, the paperback edition of PTerry's Thud and Fables: 1,000 Nights of Snowfall (which I got in hardcover using an Amazon coupon).
What did I think? Not to spoil anything, but while both are worthwhile, neither is as good as the work before.
Thud - It's almost the anniversary of the Battle of Koom Valley, an infamous battle of trolls and dwarves, and tensions are running high in Ankh-Morpork. A leader of a dwarf "back to the mines" movement seems to have been murdered. Gangs of dwarves and trolls are spoling for a battle. A famous painting of the battle is stolen. Can Sam Vimes stop a new war, solve the mystery, cope with an inspection and a vampire guardswoman, and still get home to read "Where's My Cow?" to little Sam?
Well, yes, of course he can. We don't read Discworld books to see the good guys fail. We read them to see how they manage to hold it all together. The good news is that watching Vimes save the day is as fascinating and as gripping as ever. He remains PTerry's greatest creation, a flawed and very human man who wishes he didn't have the weight of the city on his shoulders but who never shirks it. Seeing Sam as father is especially wonderful.
For most of the book, the plot builds quite well and is full of all sorts of subtext - the dwarves, caught in between tradition and innovation, between the demands of greater world and of their own community, can easily be seen as stand-ins for both Muslims and Jews at various points, for one example. However, it gets resolves very neatly, through a handful of characters who, while interesting, are far too perfect to be real. In the text itself, Sam admits that everything seems to pat as things change for the better, and fast. The cynicism of the best Discworld books, which lives in the same room as optimism most times, is missing. And so, IMHO, is a strong ending. Nonetheless, Vimes shines all the way through, facing down not just his adversaries but his own darkness (as usual).
Most of the cast fares quite well, with the execptions of Carrot and Angua. But not in terms of their relationship. That's so solid by now that it's not a plot point. Rather, Carrot's appearance here is rather quiet, even though he serves a mahjor role early on as a human who is also a dwarf. He pretty much vanishes by book's end. In his review of Thud, Donald Westlake suggests that Carrot is getting dull, and perhaps PTerry agrees.
As for Angua, there is a subplot about the arrival of the vampire cop, and how the two don't quite get along. It's an effort to give Angua more to her life than being Carrot's woman or a just a cop. But the vampire is pretty bland, and so the resulting subplot is as well. Angua still gets some very interesting moments, but she deserves better, as does Carrot.
Everyone else, however, has their big moment, even Colon. Detritus gets a few good scenes, Sybil is still Sybil, and there are of course camoes by the Librarian and Death.
A good read, but not as good as Night Watch. But what is?
Fables: 1,000 Nights of Snowfall - In the 19th century, Snow White is sent to the Arabian Fable lands to negotiate a treaty, but is instead is made the unwilling bride of a sultan who weds, bed and beheads a wife every day. To save herself, she begins to tell him stories. Stories of the Fables.
There's no pretense that Willingham isn't simply using the Scheherezade story as a jumping off point to tell stories that he has been saving up. Instead of the complex and crowded multi-part tales we get each month, we get brief tales of (for the most part) familiar characters. Or rather, origin stories. Want to know about Bigby's youth? Snow and the dwarves? Frau Tottenkinder or Ambrose or King Cole? It's all here. And each story is drawn by a Big Name Artist from the Vertigo and indy worlds, people like Charlie Vess and Brian Bolland and Jill Thompson.
It's all very pretty, and all well written, but it doesn't add up to very much except as background for characters we know in the richer setting of the monthly comic. After over four years of Fables, I wanted more. I knew that I would be getting simple stories, true, but I think that there was little here to justify a $20 hardcover anyway. But this is one of DC's big hits, and I don't blame them. Next time, however, I would hope for something more like The Last Castle.
What did I think? Not to spoil anything, but while both are worthwhile, neither is as good as the work before.
Thud - It's almost the anniversary of the Battle of Koom Valley, an infamous battle of trolls and dwarves, and tensions are running high in Ankh-Morpork. A leader of a dwarf "back to the mines" movement seems to have been murdered. Gangs of dwarves and trolls are spoling for a battle. A famous painting of the battle is stolen. Can Sam Vimes stop a new war, solve the mystery, cope with an inspection and a vampire guardswoman, and still get home to read "Where's My Cow?" to little Sam?
Well, yes, of course he can. We don't read Discworld books to see the good guys fail. We read them to see how they manage to hold it all together. The good news is that watching Vimes save the day is as fascinating and as gripping as ever. He remains PTerry's greatest creation, a flawed and very human man who wishes he didn't have the weight of the city on his shoulders but who never shirks it. Seeing Sam as father is especially wonderful.
For most of the book, the plot builds quite well and is full of all sorts of subtext - the dwarves, caught in between tradition and innovation, between the demands of greater world and of their own community, can easily be seen as stand-ins for both Muslims and Jews at various points, for one example. However, it gets resolves very neatly, through a handful of characters who, while interesting, are far too perfect to be real. In the text itself, Sam admits that everything seems to pat as things change for the better, and fast. The cynicism of the best Discworld books, which lives in the same room as optimism most times, is missing. And so, IMHO, is a strong ending. Nonetheless, Vimes shines all the way through, facing down not just his adversaries but his own darkness (as usual).
Most of the cast fares quite well, with the execptions of Carrot and Angua. But not in terms of their relationship. That's so solid by now that it's not a plot point. Rather, Carrot's appearance here is rather quiet, even though he serves a mahjor role early on as a human who is also a dwarf. He pretty much vanishes by book's end. In his review of Thud, Donald Westlake suggests that Carrot is getting dull, and perhaps PTerry agrees.
As for Angua, there is a subplot about the arrival of the vampire cop, and how the two don't quite get along. It's an effort to give Angua more to her life than being Carrot's woman or a just a cop. But the vampire is pretty bland, and so the resulting subplot is as well. Angua still gets some very interesting moments, but she deserves better, as does Carrot.
Everyone else, however, has their big moment, even Colon. Detritus gets a few good scenes, Sybil is still Sybil, and there are of course camoes by the Librarian and Death.
A good read, but not as good as Night Watch. But what is?
Fables: 1,000 Nights of Snowfall - In the 19th century, Snow White is sent to the Arabian Fable lands to negotiate a treaty, but is instead is made the unwilling bride of a sultan who weds, bed and beheads a wife every day. To save herself, she begins to tell him stories. Stories of the Fables.
There's no pretense that Willingham isn't simply using the Scheherezade story as a jumping off point to tell stories that he has been saving up. Instead of the complex and crowded multi-part tales we get each month, we get brief tales of (for the most part) familiar characters. Or rather, origin stories. Want to know about Bigby's youth? Snow and the dwarves? Frau Tottenkinder or Ambrose or King Cole? It's all here. And each story is drawn by a Big Name Artist from the Vertigo and indy worlds, people like Charlie Vess and Brian Bolland and Jill Thompson.
It's all very pretty, and all well written, but it doesn't add up to very much except as background for characters we know in the richer setting of the monthly comic. After over four years of Fables, I wanted more. I knew that I would be getting simple stories, true, but I think that there was little here to justify a $20 hardcover anyway. But this is one of DC's big hits, and I don't blame them. Next time, however, I would hope for something more like The Last Castle.
