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Thud, by Terry Pratchett | posted by alexmc6 on Sunday January 29, @02:44PM ( Printer Friendly Version.| Email this article) | | | |  Adam Corres (who didn't provide us with an email address for your feedback...) reviews Thud by Terry Pratchett.
This is the 2nd review for this book we've received (here is the first one), and I'm not sure the two of them read the same book!
Compare, and send us your own review of the book, the more the merrier! |
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| | Adam Corres writes "
Thud
by Terry Pratchett
Where is Koom Valley? No, that’s not the right question. What is Koom Valley? Is this the story of a place or a state of mind?
I’ll begin at the beginning. Thud, by Terry Pratchett, is a novel inspired by the Discworld board game, also called ‘Thud’, in which dwarves are pitted against trolls in parody of an ancient battle. The book Thud, in turn, will soon have a spin-off children’s story of its own called ‘Where’s My Cow?’. In other words, it’s another piece of the increasingly convoluted and self-referencing, twenty-two year long, Discworld series.
The plot centres around an ancient battleground called Koom Valley, where the dwarves ambushed the trolls, or perhaps it was the trolls who ambushed the dwarves. Who knows exactly, or dares to care? The important bit is that the dwarves and trolls remember. They remember that’s why they detest the other side and why they can never get along. That’s why their historical re-enactments lead to the original battle being re-fought again and again after all these years, with perhaps more authentic reality than the Sealed Knot’s insurance company might be keen to quote for. This time it’s different. There’s been a murder and the only thing keeping the sides apart is the author’s favourite character, Commander Sam Vimes of the City Watch.
Okay, so it’s about dwarves and trolls and badgered detectives. Although it isn’t really, is it? Terry Pratchett has long been an exponent of the modern parable. The themes he explores are those of our world, as seen through the distorted lens of fantasy. This is another Discworld story with a grand humanist message for us. A message which reads: Sectarian violence is silly.
Perhaps we all have our own ‘Koom Valley’. We carry it with us, lurking deep within the psyche. It’s often an historical event, usually a piece of ancient craziness or national injustice, which helps to define who we are. Which side we’re really on. A beacon for the disaffected, an anchor of tribal identity we seemingly need to feel safe. Safety in numbers and a world-view in purest black & white. You weren’t there, but if you were, things might have been different. You would have done it properly.
What’s your Koom Valley? The Battle of the Boyne? The abject surrender at Maastricht? The Bodyline cricket series of 1933? Whatever form it takes, the Koom Valley Syndrome affects many people in the world. It propagates sectarianism, re-fighting the old battles, teaching the next generation to hate. Of course, things rumble on. That’s what unfinished business does. An image The Cranberries summed up with “In your head, they’re still fighting”.
What really, accurately, happened then? Does it matter to minds already entrenched? Mild and reasonable after the long years, in much the same way that diamonds are squishy. Can anyone really win now? Pratchett thinks so. His Discworld is a place of fantasy, where goodwill and reconciliation can still win through. In our reality, although this message is not lost, it all seems so much harder to do.
Thud is a thought-provoking book, but seldom the most outrageous fun in the Discworld canon. However, the author should be applauded for using his fantasy skills to convey rationality. A sweetened pill to encourage readers to re-evaluate their own behaviour. A brave balance this, between social responsibility and light entertainment.
By Adam Corres"
Title: Thud
Author: Terry Pratchett
Reviewer: Adam Corres
Publisher: Doubleday
Publication Date: 1st October 2005
Review Date: September 2005
ISBN: 0-385-60867-5
Price: RRP UKP17.99
Format: hardback
Topic: fantasy fiction
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