Customer Reviews

Snuff: A Novel of Discworld (Discworld Novels)

5 star:		(75)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

But, as usual, brings his work with him.

His Grace, Sir Samuel Vimes, Commander of the City Watch of Ankh Morpork, and Blackboard Monitor has given himself over to the will of a higher power, his wife, Lady Sybil Vimes, née Ramkin. She has determined that their son should see their country residence and where food comes from (hint: meat does not spontaneously appear in the butcher shop), so Sam finds himself in a new and unnerving place; the rolling hills outside his beloved (and often beloathed, but it is HIS city regardless) Ankh Morpork. But Sybil has arranged this sabbatical with Lord Vetinari (the tyrant of Ankh Morpork, and the most subtle and nuanced absolute ruler ever portrayed), so it shouldn't surprise anyone that the quiet countryside is full of surprises for Sam Vimes.

In this, the latest chronicle of Discworld, we learn more of the intricacies of marriage (and if you are not yet married, "Jesters do oft prove prophets"), the belief system of goblins is expounded upon, the qualifications of a gentleman's gentleman are illustrated, the difficulties of life for the nobility, the diverse and fascinating world of poo, the influence of Dwarf substition (substition: a thing that is true, but not generally believed), the intimidation and menace wielded by an accountant, and the budding romance of Nobby Nobbs (Corporal, Ankh Morpork City Watch, and alleged human). Police procedural, Victorian scientific inquiry, race relations, novelists, river boats, the expectations of the landed gentry, privilege, and smuggling are at the top of the list of things parodied, poked at, and presented in "Snuff".

It was brilliant. New characters were introduced, old characters brought back and developed, and several names were unexpectedly revived, including some from the earliest volumes of the Discworld series. Several story lines were deftly woven together, spanning the Disc and its cultures. I got the impression more characters were incorporated into this story than previous, but all contributed to the story and shaped the conclusion.
The width and breadth of this story made it a bit overwhelming, but in a good way. The range of settings, characters, and themes made reading this one a powerful experience, while retaining Pratchett's trademark humor and on-going cultural literacy test. The closest thing to criticism is that it felt as if Pratchett was trying to put too much into a single book, but this is a manifestation of the rich world that he has created.

"Snuff" is a brilliant success by Terry Pratchett, and well worth the wait.

Hang.

E.M. Van Court

Like many other readers and long-time fans of Sir Terry, I really wanted to like, even love, this book. Unfortunately, I don't.

Snuff just doesn't feel like a Discworld novel. I found myself unable to recognise Sam Vimes and Sybil as the characters I'd grown to love over many books - Vimes especially felt very out-of-character (inasmuch as you can say that about an author writing his own characters). The novel suffers from cumbersome narrative and dialogue: at times it feels as though characters exchange ponderous speeches rather than converse naturally. This is something I also noticed in "I Shall Wear Midnight". The humour of previous books is simply not present.

Some people have suggested that the novel will be polarizing because of its dark subject matter. I am not averse to "darker" themes at all - Terry Pratchett has often tackled some of the darkest aspects of humanity with exceptional skill. However, in my opinion, the problem with this novel is not that it is "too dark" but that it is simply not very well-written.

Given the circumstances and the author's health, I feel guilty writing this, but it is my honest opinion. I've been a fan of Discworld for over 15 years, and Terry Pratchett remains my all-time favourite author. I don't think I can imagine myself *not* buying a Discworld book, for as long as Sir Terry chooses to continue writing them. But I cannot say that reading Snuff was in any way an enjoyable experience. In truth: it feels like somebody else trying to imitate Terry's style, and not being able to pull it off. And I'm genuinely sorry to have to say that.

It should be noted that this is not in fact a City Watch novel, but a Sam Vimes novel. Its also of note that this book, unlike almost every other disc work novel, is Not a comedy, but actually a quite serious police story. The normal fun characters of the Watch are almost entirely absent, the normal sarcasm and wit is also gone. Instead you just have a story about the oppression of the lower class goblins and their exploitation. While it does get the message across in a fair and well written manner, its not the disc world novel I was expecting.

It is sad to say that this hardly seems like a "Terry Pratchett" novel. I realize that Sir Terry is struggling under a great difficulty, and so perhaps to give faint praise, it's hard to imagine very many writers being able to turn out a novel THIS GOOD in the throes of Alzheimers. However. As has been said in other reviews, it's not that this is a very "dark" story (and it is) that is the problem. It is that it seems to be a dark story set in the Discworld universe and using Discworld characters - but written by someone ELSE. Pratchett's trademark humor (by which I mean not simply "jokes" but his way of LOOKING at the world and turning it sideways) just doesn't appear here. Sam Vimes could have been "any policeman." Actually, I'd say Young Sam rather stole the show here.

For those who have followed the series, and love the endless footnotes, well, in this case "jokes" seemed to have been created simply to write a footnote that, unfortunately, was rarely particularly funny.

It's also unfortunate to see, as I had noted in "Unseen Academicals," an increasing reliance on "toilet" humor; in Snuff, the obsession with various "bodily secretions" threatens to take over the plot.

Of all the "races" that Pratchett has developed, the goblins, sadly, have the least to offer; rather than giving us a lively mix of positive traits and flaws, Pratchett simply gives us a race of victims -- they must be good because they're oppressed!

I can remember when one had to wait for a new Pratchett to be released in the US -- and the joy of discovering that one could, at the cost of international shipping, buy a new Pratchett from Amazon.co.uk. I have no doubt that I'll go on buying the latest Pratchetts to the bitter end. But if you're new to the series, DO start at the beginning, and save this (and "Academicals") until you've come to know the world and simply want to know how things turn out.

And don't expect to laugh.

I've been re-reading a lot of Pratchett recently (Going Postal, Making Money (Discworld Novels), Monstrous Regiment,Thud!, Guards! Guards!) and thought it'd be lovely to get the new book, Snuff: A Novel of Discworld (Discworld Novels). My significant other ended up reading it before I did and let me know it was weird before I started reading. Maybe this is why I was so particularly sensitive to the style and story, but I think his initial assessment was correct.

Every few chapters I was able to note something else that just didn't seem like Sir Terry's writing. Much of the beginning of the book feels as if someone else has taken Discworld and jotted down a fanfic... as if making a Vimes stew in which there's a little of Sybil, a little of Willikins, and of course Vetinari to begin with, along with some token cameo appearances... except, they're just sort of the outward things we know about them, instead of the personalities that were shown to us before. One thing that seemed odd was Vimes' swearing. When before swear words were used for emphasis, it seemed like they were thrown around rather violently and with less thought of whether they were really needed. I swear like a sailor, so it's not shocking to me except that the characters were acting so uncharacteristically.

The story near the middle/end "feels" more like Pratchett stylistically, but the story seems disjointed. We readers are sent back and forth a few times without that much reason. I've never had so many moral issues with Sam Vimes' behavior, either. For me, he acted like a terrible bully for most of the book. A moral, righteous bully... but still a bully. In other books, it felt more like he used force in a more passive way, whereas here it just seemed like he was overtly forcing his way into every situation. The story just isn't tightened up and the characters don't feel like themselves any longer.

If this were fanfic, I think it'd be a great fanfic. With the Pratchett name on it, it just doesn't seem right. Buy it if you feel like reading some Discworld, but don't expect the laugh out loud funnies in previous books or a smooth ride.

Lively and funny, and best of all, a Sam Vimes book! Terry Pratchett hasn't lost his touch. My low star review isn't for Sir Pratchett's work, but for the Kindle edition.

Unfortunately, the Kindle version (I'm on the newest version of Kindle but one, using the default font) appears to have been produced at speed and without proofing on the electronic format; as a result, a third of the way through the book I'm still struggling to get engaged with the story, since the formatting problems continue to jog me out of reading enjoyment. Almost every page has merged words; the beginnings of each subsection has a larger capital letter, which breaks up the first word into two separate lines.

If you're the kind of person who can ignore that and enjoy anyway, go for it. If not, get the paper version instead. Hopefully, the publisher is less challenged with that format.

UPDATE 10/14: By some reports, it appears that a less error-riddled version of the Kindle edition has been released. I haven't been able to get it onto my Kindle yet, so I don't know the extent of the improvement, but it sounds as though the worst of the problems are addressed.

UPDATE 10/19: I received an email from Amazon informing me that a corrected version of the book had been issued, and would be uploaded onto my Kindle. I am in the process of rereading it, but thus far it looks like the egregious errors in the first version have been resolved. While I haven't made it all the way through to verify it's a consistent change, I applaud the customer service of notification and automatic download.

If you look at the books he's written since being diagnosed with alzheimer's, it may occur to you that we're witnessing a trend. Storylines are being closed, and it looks in general as though the Discworld series is coming to an end. The impression I get is of an author trying to leave no loose ends. This could definitely explain some of the darker tones, especially in I Shall Wear Midnight as well as in Snuff. Also remember the brief update we got on Rincewind in Unseen Academicals, this could easily be another level of closure for us.

If you read this book and simply compare it to other discworld novels, you may not be entirely satisfied. If you decide to read it as an insight as to what's happening when a great mind sees the end of his ability to write approaching, and wants to ensure that his fans aren't left hanging, you will likely take away a completely different opinion of the book.

I myself enjoyed the story, and the evolution of the characters makes sense to me, when you consider this book takes place 6 years after Thud!.

The bottom line is that I would recommend this book, while communicating the above take on it to any Pratchett fan. To anyone new to the series, I would recommend they start with an earlier novel.

Terry Pratchett is the most consistent writer to ever work in the fantasy genre. He has for decades, pumped out novel after novel of exceptional quality. I'm sad to say that this has come to an end. Some have called Pratchett's latest entrees into the Discworld mythos uneven. Moments of the same quality fans expected and others where the magic just seems to be absent, the words streaming along without any heart.

"Snuff" is not longer just uneven as can be said about "Making Money" or "Unseen Academicals". "Snuff" is instead...just plain odd.

The writing feels blocky. The dialogue is labored. The jokes just fall flat. I didn't laugh once...a first for Discworld. Actually...I rarely even enjoyed the novel. It felt like work to get through. The characters were hollow...Vimes felt...weird. The other guards felt tacked on. Exposition was explained and reexplained. The same jokes were told twice or even thrice.

Worst of all...I skimmed.

This probably hasn't been a very helpful review; I don't blame anyone who marks it as such. I've written probably a thousand words that I've promptly backspaced out of existence. It's a hard to say bad things about an author you love, especially an author who has always respected the readers as much as Pratchett has.

But...got to tell the truth. Didn't like "Snuff". Will not reread "Snuff". It's hard to think of a Discworld novel I dislike more.

Two stars.

I have read everything Discworld-related that Sir Terry Pratchett has written, many of them multiple times. This book was incomprehensible to me. The quality of the writing was so far below his last two novels that I ended up skimming... SKIMMING for the sake of Seven-Handed Sek! Unheard of!

The things that Pratchett does so excellently, such as using clear differences in linguistic style for different characters, using as few words as possible in dialogue, having consistent personalities, and a fresh take in each story are ALL missing here.

Warning, may contain minor spoilers.

First the characters. Vimes has become verbose, which is unheard of, and uses phrases he would not be caught dead using in any other book. In some ways, he seems to have picked up some of Carrot's personality as well.

Willikins is unrecognizable. Read him in Jingo and compare to this. And he calls Vimes by at least a dozen different titles.

Sybil likewise becomes less recognizable as the "Sybil we know".

Then the problems with writing style. I swear, there were Americanisms in there where they have not existed in prior novels. Who wrote this? Or was it just a very poor editing job?

And now plot points. As an example, Vimes meets former copper Jiminy at three different points in the book and each time Vimes seems to have reset the relationship completely resorting back to "I'm a copper, you're a copper, work with me here!"

And the bad guy is a wimpy Carcer clone with almost a repeat of many plot elements there. In addition to that, the man behind all the mayhem never even appears in the story except by reference.

And seriously??? Now Vimes has special superpowers?!? Honestly? Oh but he won't use them, don't worry, because it just wouldn't be fair. Can't trust 'em. Geez guys, what happened to Vimes' internal watchman that Pratchett so eloquently described in Thud?

Add to this the horrible formatting errors in the Kindle version (the worst I have EVER seen) and if I didn't know better I would say someone wrote a fraudulent version of a Pratchett novel and slipped it to Amazon when they weren't looking. How did Harper let this out the door???

All that said, the story itself has some great elements, and was very entertaining at times. But I can't see how this was a Pratchett-written book, especially comparing the quality and writing style to his last three novels.

I don't want to zing the author for Amazon's shoddy product.

So, the book isn't Pratchett's strongest but even his slightly off efforts are miles better than many other authors' best. Plenty of reviewers have summarized the plot so I won't repeat it. Vimes is at the center of the book but he's not quite the character I remember so fondly, or expected him to become. For lack of a better way to put it, Vimes is now *too much*. Of everything. He's positively revered by the humble and powerful alike, and now endowed with a typically skewed Pratchettian superpower. It's been interesting watching gritty, down-to-earth Vimes learn to cope with being a nobleman. But he's somehow less nuanced and that's just a tiny bit disappointing. As a reviewer (or someone) once said of Dorothy Sayer that she made the mistake of falling in love with her main character. "Snuff" makes me wonder whether Terry Pratchett is verging on identifying too closely with Vimes.

Actually this is a very minor quibble. Pratchett is still a giant, simply one of the best out there. "Snuff" is funny, thoughtful and of course gently satirical. Vintage Pratchett, in fact.

As for advice to the buying public, beware of Amazon's Kindle editions. This is the worst I've ever seen. It's riddled with formatting errors, so badly that reading it is difficult. There were sections I had to parse word by word to wring sense from the text. I've e-mailed Amazon to see if they will replace it with a readable version. I am becoming VERY disenchanted with Kindle books. "Snuff" isn't the first bad Kindle edition, just the most flagrant and the most recent. Amazon needs to drastically improve its reliability, and do it soon.

Follow-up: Amazon's response? They want detailed information on the page numbers, locations on the page and nature of the errors. Since I don't think it's my responsibility as a customer to do their proof reading, that spells the end of Kindles for me. I'd thought about upgrading to the spiffy new Kindle coming out soon and planned to give several Kindles as Christmas gifts. Won't happen.

It's time to dump Amazon.