Terry Pratchett's Discworld - Pyramids

Firstly, apologies this has taken a few weeks longer to get to than I was expecting. March was filled with stuff and well the world on fire really cramped my reading. Starting with a Discworld then next week hopefully back to a normal schedule on the other books.

In my last review with Wyrd Sisters I felt Pratchett had reached a new highpoint using plot, character and worldbuilding to a new level but it’s always interesting to see where an author goes next in terms of development. Pyramids (aka the Book of Going Forth) is now the seventh discworld and I think continues to explore this structure and starts to bring some of Pratchett’s later themes into the story. I’m not sure it’s quite as successful as Sisters but it does have the honour of having one the scenes I always find one of the funniest!

Now this comes from 1989 – the year the final original Doctor Who series ended!! (BOOO) The end of the Berlin War (YAY). The Satanic Verses created controversy; Iceland allowed beer to be sold (who knew!) the proposal for the World Wide Web gets produced and in the movies The Abyss, The last good Indiana Jones movie and of course EVERYTHING had a bat-logo on it as Batman started the superhero revival. For me I’m 13 unsuspecting that my favourite TV show would be ending, loving the nearby cinema we have moved near to and worst of all the teenage years are beginning!!

My copy I suspect was read in 1993 so I covered my impressions of that year in Wyrd Sisters

Publisher – Corgi

Price - £3.99!! paperback

Being trained by the Assassin’s Guild in Ankh-Morpork did not find Teppic for the task assigned to him by fate. He inherited the throne of the desert kingdom of Djelibeybi rather earlier than he expected (his father wasn’t too happy about it either), but that was only the beginning of his problems…

There are points when you regularly read an author that you can start to spot the themes that they’re really interested in. With Pyramids I can see certain ideas Pratchett has already touched upon – death and accepting change while now also to a much stronger level he takes look at science and philosophy to the table too. There are lots of great ideas and some boldness here too, but it doesn’t quite gel for me the way I was hoping for on re-read.

Really quickly a summary of the plot – Teppic is the heir to the King of Djelibeybi; an impoverished kingdom that has stayed pretty much the same for thousands of years spending most of the country’s budget on the various pyramids and temples. The powerful High Priest Dios always there in the background to helpfully ensure that tradition is followed. Strangely though Teppic was sent to get another profession – an assassin and by luck having survived his finals (literally) Teppic finds out his father is dead and he has inherited the throne. Under pressure from Dios the largest ever Pyramid is ordered to be constructed but the stonemasons have forgotten about how much reality can be changed by the magical monuments. Meanwhile Teppic’s Dad finds out the afterlife isn’t what it is supposed to be.

The opening start of the novel really sings. Pratchett this time has gone for an interesting filmic approach where we follow Teppic on his final assassins’ exam with traps, falls and an examiner who doesn’t seem to want him to survive with episodic catch up on Teppic’s early life. Firstly, this really helps with pacing (exactly why its used in films) but also we get a running gag of equating an assassin’s test with the British driving test (equally as nerve-wracking) It’s a wonderful comparison and its very very funny and innovative in how its constructed.

Then we get the Teppic’s unexpected return to Djelibeybi. Here we have a clash of old and new. The kingdom is very much stuck in a religious rut; every hour is the ame ritual and Dios knows exactly how things should be performed. Teppic though having lived in Ankh-Morpork knows feather beds and plumbing could offer countless benefits. There is a interesting theme of religion versus technology progression. Its really hard for me not to see in Dios an early version of Vorbis from Small Gods (we will get to that one in a few weeks) and there are a lot of barbs about religious control as well as later on when Teppic goes on the run a look at Ephebian culture which pokes many fingers at ancient philosophy. Teppic’s father as a ghost and then an undead mummy also starts to realise perhaps focusing on actual living may have been better than dreaming of heaven. I absolutely love the literal pyramid scheme that the stonemasons’ get themselves sucked into using the reality bending power of a pyramid to help them get rich and rip people off – that’s brilliantly done as a sub-plot but for me it often feels a dry run for themes that Pratchett’s passion will revisit again in later books but for me there is a really only two thirds a great book here.

The story gets unusually epic – the great pyramid removes the kingdom; all the dead kings and queen are brought back to undead life and the gods are made real. Pratchett initially does do a lot with the idea of what happens when you’re faced with your gods but the final third really loses steam for me. The Ephebian encounter doesn’t add to the story and we never really get a great confrontation with Dios. I think it’s a great plot and characters all set up but end up lost in a search for a decent conclusion and this misses the target. Despite that there are a huge number of gags used throughout and the story flows really well.

So Pyramids was a fun relaxing read but while does lots of interesting things I think for me its aim though just falls short of being a truly great read. I do find it interesting how a few books later in Small Gods we get the themes again but possibly in the angriest Pratchett novel I remember reading. But one book I always enjoy coming back to regardless. Overall though I think a good step towards the classic Pratchett tale…

I shall be tweeting favourite passages via #Discworld reads and feel free to tell me your impressions

Next week – Guards Guards! Time to properly meet the Watch!!