Interesting Times

Terry Pratchett

5/29/2003

In Hunghung, on the Counterweight Continent on Discworld, the Red Army is finally rebelling. Someone sends a secret message to Ankh-Morpork asking for the Great Wizzard to be sent to them. After consultation, the Dean and professors at the Unseen University decide to bring Rincewind in for the job.

Rincewind has spent his lifetime in and out of trouble. He doesn't look for it. It finds him anyway. Now he has been sent reluctantly to the Counterweight Continent. The first thing he does there is meet Genghiz Cohen the Barbarian. Cohen is old; his horde is older. Their new name, the Silver Horde, is appropriate. They are heading into Hunghung to steal something from the Forbidden City in the center.

After separting from the Horde, Rincewind tries to flee away from Hunghung. Instead he is shanghaied and finds himself there anyway. Now he is with the Red Army, all ten or twenty of them, all teenaged or younger. They are looking to him to help them take over the government. He knows whatever he touches will turn into a disaster.

Discworld is a humorous land unto itself. Pratchett has created a fantasy world that is flat and revolves on the back of four elephants who walk on the back of a giant turtle. Anything can and does happen there. Rincewind is one of his recurring characters. He is a wannabe wizard. I picked it up because the title was intriguing. We've heard the curse, "May you live in interesting times." Well, life isn't boring in Hunghung.

This is a light book, as all the Discworld books are. It is cute, sarcastic, and satirical. The aged barbarian and his horde are a hoot. Deaf Hamish had me chuckling everytime he went "Whut?" by the end of the book. Lotus Blossom, and her trust in Rincewind, are similar to the winsomeness of an earlier character in Rincewind's life. The luggage follows him, as usual, but has its own special adventure while in Hunghung as well. Have fun.

You can find more about this book at .

The Discworld Series:

The Colour of Magic
The Light Fantastic
Equal Rites
Mort
Sourcery
Wyrd Sisters
Pyramids
Guards! Guards!
The Truth
The Last Hero
Eric
Moving Pictures
Reaper Man
Witches Abroad
Small Gods
Lords and Ladies
Men at Arms
Soul Music
Feet of Clay
Interesting Times
Maskerade
Hogfather
Jingi
The Last Continent
Carpe Jugulum
The Fifth Elephant
The Truth
The Thief of Time
The Last Hero
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents
Night Watch
Wee Free Men
Monstrous Regiment
A Hat Full of Sky
Going Postal
Making Money