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The Fifth Elephant Terry Pratchett 9780552146166 Books

Download As PDF : The Fifth Elephant Terry Pratchett 9780552146166 Books

The Fifth Elephant Terry Pratchett 9780552146166 Books

The Fifth Elephant is one of my favorite Discworld novels but, fair warning, this is an abridged version. It is well done - nothing essential is left out of course - but much of Pratchett's funny meanderings are not included. I would not use this or other similar recordings as a first time experience of Discworld. Tony Robinson (Baldrick from the Black Adder BBC series) does wonderful voices. Unfortunately, it seems like these recordings were never normalized so you have to turn up the volume for his quiet voices and then get blasted by his louder or more projected voices. This aspect is a technical one, not Pratchett's or Robinson's fault but it is why I give this less than the Five Stars.


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The Fifth Elephant Terry Pratchett 9780552146166 Books Reviews

Loyal readers are no doubt familiar with the Uberwald region if Discworld. There, vampires and werewolves rule the night (and day) and dwarves mine elephant lard from deep underground. And an occasional witch, or two, or three. But for the average resident of Ankh-Morpork the Uberwald is a place of mystery and confusion, full of things that would just as soon eat you (or drink you, or chop you in half) as look at you. When a diplomatic mission became necessary, Lord Vetinari quickly decides that it's best to send someone who likely to survive. Thus it is that Commander Vimes, master of the city's police force and Duke of Ankh-Morpork, finds himself bound for Bonk (pronounced beyonk) to attend the coronation of the Low King.

Vimes quickly finds himself the target of everyone's plot to beat everyone else. Werewolves plot to cause war among the dwarves and vampires switch from side to side as the mood strikes them. There's a spy under every gravestone, a lot of irritated critters wandering the woods, and the Scone of Stone can't make up its mind whether it is counterfeit, real, or accidentally thrown out with the bath water. Fortunately, Vimes has his indomitable wife, a couple of Ankh-Morpork's finest (Angua the werewolf and Detritus the troll) to help him out. Vines isn't the kind of diplomat who is inclined to dissemble and the citizens of fair Bonk are in for more than a few surprises.

Meanwhile, back in Ankh-Morpork, Sergeant Colon, who has all the wit and insight of a lamp post, has inadvertently been made captain in the absence of anyone else who has any sense. Convinced of a plot to steal sugar cubes from his tea supplies he manages to bully or offend almost all of his inferiors. In short order, there are more active policemen in the Uberwald than there are in Ankh-Morpork. Only luck keeps the city from becoming even worse than it normally is.

Pratchett's 'upper' themes are about the abuse of political power and the essential dishonesty of diplomacy. Unfortunately, there's only so much humor to be wrung out of now Captain Colon's ineptness or the strange world of dwarven sexual politics. As such, this will never be one of my favorite Discworld books. It has plenty of sarcastic and ironic lines, but it never completely comes together. In the final analysis, the Ankh-Morpork sub-plot never really adds much to the story, which makes the ending a bit of an anti-climax. But, it's still a Terry Pratchett book; it is still a display of humor and intelligence in a world which is often lacking in either. Go forth and read it!
In this book you get to know about the Legend og the Fifth Elephant. Mostly it seems to be a legend originating from the lands closer to the Ramtops, named Uberwald. The home region of Angua the Werewolf, Cheery the female Dwarf, and Detrius the Troll.

A new Lower King ( Head king of the Dwarves ) is about to be elected in Uberwald, and as such Ankh-Morpork needs to be present as it's a major diplomatic occurance. Ankh-Morpork sends some of it's finest people to handle the situation, and meanwhile the Watch goes into a deep sleep back in Ankh-Morpork under the leadership of Srgt. Colon.

We get an insight into the world of Dwarves, Werewolves and even a bit on the Vampire side of the Discworld. Filled again with politics and Deciet just like Jingo, but this time our crew is more alone than they were in Klatch. Vimes nearly escapes with his life after beeing chased by a werewolf\naked man and all for the greatest treasure Uberwald has to offer! The remains of the Fifth Elephant.
Down boy - good dog! Well, it turns out Angua has several siblings and one of them has been a very bad dog indeed!

Vimes is instructed, in no uncertain terms that he has to go to Uberwald as the official diplomat from Ankh-Morpork. He is happy to be a copper, but when Lady Sybil packs his Duke costume he knows all hope is lost. But he leaves the city in the capable hands of Carrot and ventures out into unknown territory. Carrot soon follows leaving Colon in charge of the Watch.

Terry Pratchett has created a masterpiece with this cleverly written novel. Each character has been finely tuned, and display all their special talents in this book. Nuanced humour, and a great plot move the reader along quickly. This is one of those books where I was sorry to reach the end. It left me wanting more. From Colon's paranoia at the watch house, to Carrot's carefully worded statements to Vimes regarding Angua and Gavin, to Lady Sybil's frustration at not being able to talk to her husband, Pratchett does not put a foot wrong.

When I grow up I want to write like Terry Pratchett!
The Fifth Elephant is one of my favorite Discworld novels but, fair warning, this is an abridged version. It is well done - nothing essential is left out of course - but much of Pratchett's funny meanderings are not included. I would not use this or other similar recordings as a first time experience of Discworld. Tony Robinson (Baldrick from the Black Adder BBC series) does wonderful voices. Unfortunately, it seems like these recordings were never normalized so you have to turn up the volume for his quiet voices and then get blasted by his louder or more projected voices. This aspect is a technical one, not Pratchett's or Robinson's fault but it is why I give this less than the Five Stars.