Terry Pratchett's Thud! mini-review

Thud! is the 30th Discworld novel. 30! That's a lotta novels. Remarkable then, that Terry Pratchett has managed to keep the fires of his creation so strong through all this time. In fact, I think this latest one's absolutely brilliant. It's a cracking read- I devoured in less than 2 days- and also scarily prescient as it tackles the currently rather-sticky issue of ethnic warfare and ideological fanaticism. At the same time, we get to see a new side of Samuel Vimes' (commander of the City Watch and star of some of the best Discworld novels) character as he's pushed to his absolute limits by the investigation in this book while at the same time attempting to be a good father to his baby son. Both aspects of the book are developed simultaneously and collide in a rather exciting finale. Speaking of which, Thud! has one of the best endings of any Discworld book. One thing I love about the Discworld series is how Pratchett evolves the world with every book. And the events at the end of this one shake up the status quo with great aplomb. Absolutely brilliant.