n Discworld cosmology, the world is flat and is carried on the backs
of four titanic elephants who ride the back of a giant turtle through
space. Once there was a fifth elephant, which somehow fell off the turtle's
back and into orbit, eventually crashing onto the Disc and splitting the
land into continents. Millennia later, its bones of iron and nerves of gold
are still being mined in the resource-rich land of Überwald. So is its fat,
which produces the best candles, lamp oils and soap on the Discworld.
As Terry Pratchett's 24th Discworld novel begins, Commander
Samuel Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is pressed into service as an
ambassador to Überwald. That land is an unstable collection of fiefdoms ruled by a dwarf king in the underground mines and a variety of vampire and werewolf
lords in the frigid forests above. The imminent crowning of a new dwarf
ruler will be an important time for diplomacy and trade, neither of which
interests Vimes much.
It will also be an important time for intrigue, violence, theft and
murder--which are more in Vimes' area of expertise. Even before Vimes leaves
town, Überwald's problems spread to Ankh-Morpork, where dwarves are
rioting in the streets. In Überwald itself, Vimes faces a hostile
reception. Many of the conservative local dwarves think of Ankh-Morpork as
an obscenely modern place, where some female dwarves actually use the
pronoun "her" instead of "him" and wear leather skirts instead of the
traditional leather pants (although they still don't trim their beards).
It doesn't help that Vimes' retinue includes Corporal Littlebottom--a liberal dwarf on the cutting edge who wears makeup and covers her formal dress
axe with glitter. But the biggest problem is that Vimes is nosy, honest,
smart, unable to let crime go unpunished and walking into a dangerous political conspiracy.
Shiny surfaces, hidden depths
Terry Pratchett isn't the only major fantasy writer who
churns out a book a year in a popular ongoing series, but he
may be the only one consistently fighting off authorial entropy. Rather
than degenerating into contractual-obligation clones, the Discworld books
are actually improving year by year. The series began as fluffy, funny
fantasy, but it has gradually matured without losing sight of its roots.
While Pratchett still puts out the occasional silly shaggy-dog story (most
recently, the Rincewind book Last Continent), he also produces
complicated comedy with heart, soul and wicked edges.
The Fifth Elephant is simultaneously a locked-door mystery, a
thriller and a screwball comedy. Pratchett juggles his usual large cast of
distinctive personalities for maximum humor without sacrificing
drama. In this case, the action is split as Vimes and his companions face
complex politics, hair's-breadth escapes and a homicidal maniac while, in
their absence, the Ankh-Morpork City Watch disintegrates in the
overburdened and paranoid hands of Sergeant Fred Colon. But Vimes'
situation still has its share of slapstick and sly referential humor--particularly in the presence of the ubiquitous "Igors," a race of
near-identical lisping servitors that cater to Überwald's needs.
(Particularly the needs that involve fetching body parts and saying "Yeth,
Mithtreth?") And Colon's sorry collapse has its serious
points as well. The entire book resonates with sharp one-liners and non-sequiturial, absurdist metaphors even as it presents a
series of lessons about racism, sexism, fascism and old-fashioned
moral goodness.
Pratchett's
greatest gift is that he can pack this much serious complexity into a
succession of light jokes and still make it look easy. The Fifth
Elephant is a breathless book, and
reading it is like skating effortlessly across a highly polished mirror.
But Pratchett's surfaces consistently reflect hidden depths, and the
combination is probably what keeps millions of readers coming
back every year for more.
About the only thing wrong with this book is the horrendous copyediting.
Spell-checkers may root out those pesky references to "the Discwordl," but
they still can't tell the grammatical difference between that, than, and the, or between of and off.
-- Tasha
n Frank M. Robinson's new revision to his 1956 novel The Power, Professor Tanner is the head of a research team investigating traits
that lead to higher survivability rates in deadly situations. But one of
his committee members, John Olson, appears to be going crazy. At a meeting
to discuss the results of a survey given to the committee members, Olson
reveals the results of a very suspicious response. Terrified, he claims
someone on the team has special and dangerous powers. And during an
impromptu group test, persuasive evidence of telekinesis emerges. Not long
after, Olson dies in the middle of the night while writing a
letter to Tanner about the alleged superman, whose real name, he claims, is Adam Hart, though no one on the committee is using that name.
At first, the police believe Olson died of natural causes. But someone ransacks Tanner's house. He gets fired from the university, his
bank accounts go missing, and people seem to have forgotten him.
Desperate, he decides to use what little money he has to travel to Olson's
hometown and find out whatever he can. He quickly discovers that
Olson and Hart grew up together and were best friends. But while he
doesn't find out much about Olson, Hart is a legendary figure in the town.
But even more interesting than the universal admiration is the fact that
everyone Tanner talks to remembers Hart differently, even down to his
appearance. As Tanner pieces together the evidence, he realizes that Hart
used his power to manipulate Olson, and that eventually Olson came to
resent and fear his friend.
Back in the city, the police are waiting for Tanner. Now they believe he murdered Olson. And while he's trying to find out which committee member is really Hart, Hart is trying to find and kill him.
Suspenseful mystery, flawed logic
The Power is an interesting, suspenseful, and exciting novel
that's entertaining, but has a major flaw that ultimately undermines its
internal logic. The novel itself is a mystery-thriller built around Adam
Hart's psi powers, and on that level it's an engaging book that moves
swiftly. Robinson's prose style is perfectly suited for this type of
novel, and Tanner is a strong protagonist. He's intelligent, sympathetic
and, for the most part, quick to realize the significance of new
information as he struggles to identify Hart before being killed himself.
His insights are always interesting, and even in his desperation he finds
the ability to trust potential allies who might be under Hart's influence.
The novel provides an effective portrait of someone trying to survive under
these circumstances. The supporting cast is equally effective. Robinson
is adept at creating characters that fill their roles perfectly, while
at the same time have more depth than mere adjuncts to the plot.
The logic problem occurs, however, after Tanner enlists the help of
another committee member, physicist Karl Grossman. Together, they concoct
an elaborate scheme to expose Hart, which involves Tanner attempting to
assassinate committee members while Grossman thwarts the attempt at the
last moment. Even at the novel's conclusion, it's a mystery why Tanner
thinks this could possibly work and why he didn't even consider a far
simpler and more sensible approach suggested by his investigations in
Hart's hometown. It's certainly uncharacteristic for Tanner to make errors
of logic as large as this. The answer is that the simpler path wouldn't lead
very cleanly to Robinson's desired finale, and while it's a
logical and interesting conclusion, it's not enough to redeem the
preceding lapses in logic.
Nevertheless, this novel has enough good characteristics to be an enjoyable
read. Even during its flawed chapters, the story remains exciting, the
writing smooth and Tanner an engaging character.
I still think it's worth reading, despite the problems I saw in it. I haven't read the original version, so I don't know how extensive this
revision is.
-- Clint
n Discworld cosmology, the world is flat and is carried on the backs
of four titanic elephants who ride the back of a giant turtle through
space. Once there was a fifth elephant, which somehow fell off the turtle's
back and into orbit, eventually crashing onto the Disc and splitting the
land into continents. Millennia later, its bones of iron and nerves of gold
are still being mined in the resource-rich land of Überwald. So is its fat,
which produces the best candles, lamp oils and soap on the Discworld.
