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The Fifth Elephant | Rating | |
| B | |||
| Terry Pratchett | |||
| Series | Related Books | ||
| Discworld | The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Equal Rites, Mort, Sourcery, Wyrd Sisters, Pyramids, Guards! Guards!, Eric, Moving Pictures, Reaper Man, Witches Abroad, Small Gods, Soul Music, Feet of Clay, Interesting Times, Jingo, The Firth Elephant, Going Postal | ||
Commander Vimes of the Watch is off to... play diplomat? Ankh-Morpork needs fat, and the lard mines of Uberwald are brimming with the stuff. Luckily, Uberwald is a land of plots and schemes, perfect for a man whose entire sense of self is wrapped up in being a constable. It also is a land of werewolves and vampires and other nasties, though, and they don't take too kindly to interference from foreigners. Unless, of course, they're counting on it!
Perhaps the biggest flaw in The Fifth Elephant is that it ismply isn't funny. I laughed a few times, I admit, but not really enough for me to consider this a successful comedy. Light fantasy, yes, but entirely lacking the whimsy I associate with the series. All in all, this comes across mostly as a mystery of sorts set in a fantasy world, as do most books starring Vimes — but lacking any disctinction from the dozens of other such mysteries. If it didn't include a few names used elsewhere in the series, then it might not even have not taken place on the Discworld.
The story itself is fine, albeit a bit ordinary. The characters are a bit peculiar, but for the most part they are surface quirks. Considering that they rarely rise into the realm of actual humor — certainly not consistently — it makes the case seem almost ordinary, werewolves notwithstanding. It's good but never noteworthy.
On the good side, tt does get Vimes out of Ankh-Morpork and into a setting new both to him and the readers. Along with learning a good deal more detail about werewolves in general and Angua's family in particular, it does actually expand on the Discworld setting. If only slightly.
For that matter, I was also a bit puzzled by the books title. The fifth elephant barely has anything to do with anything. It barely even counts as a MacGuffin.
This is an adequate story, but I can't help but feel it is missing something important. It is not especially memorable. And given Pratchett's tendency of late to keep his books internally consistent and how his setting is expanding and evolving, it is especially disappointing to find that this book has no real influence in the greater scheme of things. So far from Ankh-Morpork, not involving any sort of world crisis, what happens here affects nothing anywhere else. While I do not consider it a bad book or one to avoid, I simply find it hard to recommend actually seeking it out, either.
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