Miss Felicity Beadle’s The World of Poo by Terry Pratchett

Title: Miss Felicity Beadle’s The World of Poo
Author: Terry Pratchett
ISBN: 978-0857521217
Publisher: Doubleday
First Published: June 2012 (hardback/Kindle/audio)
No .of pages: 128

Rating: 3/5

Synopsis (from Amazon):
From Snuff: ‘Vimes’ prompt arrival got a nod of approval from Sybil, who gingerly handed him a new book to read to Young Sam. Vimes looked at the cover. The title was The World of Poo. When his wife was out of eyeshot he carefully leafed through it. Well, okay, you had to accept that the world had moved on and these days fairy stories were probably not going to be about twinkly little things with wings. As he turned page after page, it dawned on him that whoever had written this book, they certainly knew what would make kids like Young Sam laugh until they were nearly sick. The bit about sailing down the river almost made him smile. But interspersed with the scatology was actually quite interesting stuff about septic tanks and dunnakin divers and gongfermors and how dog muck helped make the very best leather, and other things that you never thought you would need to know, but once heard somehow lodged in your mind.’

Review:
The books that are released to accompany the main Discworld novels are always fun, and this is no exception. This is a delightful little tale of a young boy named Geoffrey who, while visiting his Grand-mama in Ankh-Morpork, develops an interest in all kinds of poo – so much so that he creates a poo museum in the shed – and meets some very interesting people who work with waste of all kinds.

As would  be expected, it’s filled with interesting little footnotes of fascinating facts about faeces, other bodily waste, its uses, and the people who remove it, as well as the industries that flourish because of it.

Adult fans of the Discworld series will chuckle knowingly as they enjoy it, but those who are parents may also find they decide to read it to their young children who must surely appreciate a good story about poo, and will love the little black and white line drawings – just don’t be surprised if you open it one day to find your little darlings have coloured in all the pictures!!

A must-have addition to any Discworld fan’s collection!

Reviewed by Kell Smurthwaite

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett

Waterstones Synopsis

Maurice, a streetwise tomcat, has come up with the perfect scam. Inspired by the Pied Piper tale, cat and kid lead a band of rats from town to town to fake invasions of vermin. The rewards to get the rats out of town are plentiful. It works perfectly – until their little con game is sussed.

This is a children’s Discworld novel, and number 28 in the series. The star of the show is Maurice, a cat who has learnt how to think and talk like a human. With his new intelligence he teams up with equally intelligent rats to con humans our of money by paying the rat’s Pier Piper to get rid of them.

Once again, Pratchett has taken a classic tale and put his own spin on it, and of course, it was a good book. It isn’t my favourite, but there were some wonderful moments in the story – like tap-dancing rats and the rat-catches drinking a whole load of laxatives! I liked the rat’s names as well – they were just random words taken from discarded packets of food.

As ever, this book was gripping, entertaining and well worth reading. It can be read as a stand-alone book as the only character which features in any of the other books that appeared in this one was Death. Of course, being my favourite Discworld character I was pleased with this!

I enjoyed this book and think that this is a must-read series.

3/5

The Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

Synopsis from terrypratchett.co.uk:

IT’S THE NIGHT BEFORE HOGSWATCH. AND IT’S TOO QUIET.

Where is the big jolly fat man? Why is Death creeping down chimneys and trying to say Ho Ho Ho? The darkest night of the year is getting a lot darker…

Susan the gothic governess has got to sort it out by morning, otherwise there won’t be a morning. Ever again…

The 20th Discworld novel is a festive feast of darkness and Death (but with jolly robins and tinsel too).

As they say: ‘You’d better watch out…’

This has become my favourite Discworld novel. I love the Death novels, especially if you add in the humour that is the Wizards. This is number 20 in the Discworld series and it is the Christmas novel.

In this book the Hogfather is in danger. The Auditors want to change things and get rid of the Fat Man. To keep him safe, Death has decided to pretend to be the Hogfather to keep the belief alive. And while this is going on, Susan, Death’s granddaughter is fighting a man who is controlling children through teeth.

Pratchett’s imagination is genious in this book. I loved Susan and the poker – a great way to deal with monsters and it added to a nice finale in the book. Death made me laugh all the way through. I especially liked it when he gate-crashed the shopping mall and his pigs urinated on the floor. I just laughed everytime a child mentioned it.

This book is full of humour and action. We see a lot of the Discworld and a range of characters. Pratchett throws in Susan, Death and the Wizards, tooth fairies and the assassins.

I was gripped from the beginning, laughing most of the way through and was eager to be reading it when I wasn’t. I have no complaints of this book and it is definately my favourite. I loved the plot, the characters and I love the way Pratchett writes. He is always descriptive, he writes great events and just keeps the reader wanting more.

10/10

Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett

Synopsis from www.terrypratchatt.co.uk:

Mightily Oats has not picked a good time to be priest. He thought he’d come to Lancre for a simple ceremony. Now he’s caught up in a war between vampires and witches.

There’s Young Agnes, who is really in two minds about everything. Magrat, who is trying to combine witchcraft and nappies, Nanny Ogg … and Granny Weatherwax, who is big trouble.

And the vampires are intelligent. They’ve got style and fancy waistcoats. They’re out of the casket and want a bite of the future. Mightily Oats knows he has a prayer, but he wishes he had an axe.

Carpe Jugulum is Terry Pratchett’s twenty-third Discworld novel – but the first to star vampires.

As the synopsis says, this is the 23rd book in the Discworld series, and the stars of this book are the Witches. In this adventure they are fighting vampires – or vampyres as they wanted to be known as. These are modern vampires, who want to fit in with the population, until they need to fed of course. Influencing people with mind tricks they are set on domination. Except they picked a fight with Granny Weatherwax. Seemingly old and weak, how will Granny fight back?

I love the Witches novels. Nanny Ogg is my favourite. She has a vast collection of rude jokes and carries everything she could possibly need in her knickers. She is practical, blunt and just hilarious. I had to laugh at Agnes as well, with her second mind.

There is a lot of humour in this book. Pratchett is very good at writing books which make me laugh. I loved the idea of modern vampires and them learning how to become immune to things such as garlic. The Count and his enthusiasm made me laugh. Pratchett also writes a good adventure and great fight scenes. This book had me gripped and I finished in within a couple of days. I loved it. I laughed and cringed, enjoyed the characters, loved having vampires in the book and alongside Death, the Witches are my favourite Discworld characters. I have no complaints about this book. Top marks from me.

10/10

Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett

Amazon description:

There’s a werewolf with the pre-lunar tension in Ankh-Morpork. And a dwarf with attitude and a golem who’s begun to think for itself. But for Commander Vimes, Head of Ankh-Morpork City Watch, that’s only the start…There’s treason in the air. A crime has happened. He’s not only got to find out whodunit, buthowdunit too. He’s not even sure what they dun. But soon as he knows what the questions are, he’s going to want some answers.

To be honest, this has been my least favourite Discworld novel. I actually found myself mildly disappointed with it. This is book number 19 in the Discworld series, and although enjoyable, not as humorous or engaging as the rest of the series.

This is is Watch novel and we follow Vimes as he leads the team, which includes a dwarf and a werewolf as they investigate a crime that has not been authorised by any of the city’s Guilds. We meetgolums that have created their own king, but the said creation has gone wild and is killing people. It is thinking for itself, which agolum should not do.

I usually enjoy Watch novels, but there was something lacking in this book. We are transported to the Discworld in Pratchett’s usual way; and this book contains some characters we are fond of, such as Corporal Carrot, but I felt it lacked the usual adventure and endless humour that theDiscworld books usually entail. There is so much potential for this book, I just didn’t feel it delivered the goods. I wasn’t really a fan of thegolum’s – they didn’t interest me much. And being such a key part of the story, I think this was the problem.

Although not a bad book, this is the worst one of the series so far.

6/10

Maskerade by Terry Pratchett

Synopsis from Amazon:

THE SHOW MUST GO ON, AS MURDER, MUSIC AND MAYHEM RUN RIOT IN THE NIGHT…

The Opera House, Ankh-Morpork…a huge, rambling building, where innocent young sopranos are lured to their destiny by a strangely-familiar evil mastermind in a hideously-deformed evening dress…

At least, he hopes so. But Granny Weatherwax, Discworld’s most famous witch, is in the audience. And she doesn’t hold with that sort of thing.

So there’s going to be trouble (but nevertheless a good evening’s entertainment with murders you can really hum…)

This is book 18 in the Discworld Series, and one of my favourites. This is Terry Pratchett’s take on The Phantom of the Opera. Now I love that musical, and this book just added to my love. I willdefinitely watch it in a completely different light now.

This is a Witches novel, and sees Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg travelling to Ankh-Morpork to see an opera. Yet there are strange goings-on in the opera house. There are a series of murders and money disappearing out the window. It seems that there is an Opera Ghost, who likes to leave notes that just say: “Ha ha, ha ha, ha ha!!!!!” The fear is rife in the opera, but the show must go on. So Granny sets herself up to investigate, while the show goes on, and unmasks the Opera Ghost.

This is classic Pratchett. I love the Witches novels. Both Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax are hilarious. This is a very funny take on The Phantom of the Opera – mainly mocking the idea that a small mask that only covers the eyes would hide someones identity. Death features in this book as well, and he is probably my favourite character. Pretty much all he says is funny, and I enjoyed his game of poker with Granny.

Pratchett yet again transported me to Ankh-Morpork and incorporated some of the funniest characters in this adventure. Of course it is unrealistic, but it is an amazing fantasy novel. I have no complaints and as ever, I am eager for the next Pratchett book. This is a great series, full of adventure, humour and amazing characters. I highly recommend this novel. It is very, very good.

10/10

Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett

Synopsis from Amazon:

Mighty battles! Revolution! Death! War! (and his sons terror and panic, and daughter Clancy). The oldest and most inscrutable empire on the Discworld is in turmoil, brought about by the revolutionary treatise What I did on My Holidays. Workers are uniting, with nothing to lose but their water buffaloes. Warlords are struggling for power. War (and Clancy) are spreading throughout the ancient cities. And all that stands in the way of terrible doom for everyone is: Rincewind the Wizard, who can’t even spell the word ‘wizard’…Cohen the barbarian hero, five foot tall in his surgical sandals, who has had a lifetime’s experience of not dying…and a very special butterfly.

This is book 18 in the Discworld series, and as enjoyable as the rest. In this novel we are taken on an adventure with the not-so-great wizard Rincewind. Known to get himself into trouble, he finds himself a pawn in the god’s game. Sent by the wizards at Unseen University Rincewind ends up in an unknown kingdom were they were planning a very civilised revolution. He is believed to be The Great Wizard, and again, through running away he gives off this impression. Working alongside Cohen the Barbarian – not that either realise it – they embark on an adventure to take over the Empire and see which god is going to win their game.

I love this series. I have really enjoyed all of them, and this one is no exception. Rincewind novels make me laugh because he finds himself in the oddest situations and yet still comes out looking like a hero. I particularly enjoyed the return of Two Flower and Cohen the Barbarian. The Barbarian Horde were probably my favourite characters because they were all in their 90s or older and yet won many battles and still sniggered at sexual innuendoes. Their whole mentality and them trying to become ‘civilised’ was great reading.

I enjoyed the storyline of this book too. Emperors dying, the Red Army rising out of the ground, and a polite revolution – it was good fun. As ever, Pratchett leads headlong into the Discworld and his writing is so good he makes it seem real. He is witty, writes a good adventure and well worth reading.

As with his other novels, there is not a lot I can complain about – this is just a really good story that I enjoyed immensely. The Discworld books are high on my list of recommendations.

9/10

Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett

Synopsis from Amazon:

Be a MAN in the City Watch! The City Watch needs MEN!

But what it’s got includes Corporal Carrot (technically a dwarf), Lance-constable Cuddy (really a dwarf), Lance-constable Detrius (a troll), Lance-constable Angua (a woman…most of the time) and Corporal Nobbs (disqualified from the human race for shoving).

And they need all the help they can get. Because they’ve only got twenty-four hours to clean up the town and this is Ankh-Morpork we’re talking about…

Ankh-Morpork is in trouble. There are a series of mysterious murders, a student who wants a king put on the throne and the “Gone”, a very dangerous weapon with a mind of its own. So who is there to solve this mystery? The Night-Watch, consisting of an adopted dwarf, a real dwarf, a werewolf and a troll. How will pan out….?

This is another Discworld classic. It is number 15 in the series. I found this book just as enjoyable as the others. Pratchett’s writing was engaging and inviting. As ever, Ankh-Morpork is described so well that you lose yourself there. The characters have been seen in other books, and were hilarious at times. My favourites were Death, who makes a  couple of appearances, with some very wittyone-liners; Corporal Carrot, a very simple human who was adopted by dwarfs and Gaspode the talking dog. His manipulation of humans was classic. The conversations between Cuddy and Detrius were amusing, as trolls and dwarfs traditionally dislike each other, so they rivalry had to continue for show. Detrius learning to count and his use of numbers had me laughing too. Pratchett is very original with his ideas of a Fools Guild, an Assassin Guild and even a Dog Guild. This is a very well thought out and well written book.

I recommend this book because it is engaging, full of danger, and adventure and hilarious. This is a grea fantasy book and well worth reading.

9/10

Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett

Synopsis from Amazon:

It seemed an easy job…After all, how difficult could it be to make sure that a servant girl doesn’t marry a prince?

But for the witches Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick, travelling to the distant city of Genua, things are never that simple…

Servant girls have to marry the prince. That’s what life is all about. You can’t fight a Happy Ending.

At least – up until now…

Book 12 of the Discworld series sees a return of Granny Weatherwax. This time, with her partners, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick, they go travelling. Their aim: to stop a servant girl from marrying a prince. Based around fairy tales, namely The Wizard of Oz and Cinderella, the three witches travel abroad to fight mirror magic and happy endings.

As usual, Pratchett has delivered a treat. I love the Discworld books. None of them have disappointed me. Pratchett writes in a way that draws you in; he is engaging and funny; and when reading, although these books are fantasy, you have no trouble believing them. His descriptions are near perfect, and you find yourself there in the Disworld alongside the characters. I really enjoy how Terry Pratchett takes a story or a concept, so in this book it was fairy tales, and reinvents them and makes them his own. He is a very talented writer.

Along with his other books, Pratchett has a feast of characters who you just enjoy reading. The witches are so funny. Every book that features them is funny. Granny Weatherwax is legendary. She is witty, intelligent, and never backs down. My favourite bit was when she tried to dance. As for Nanny Ogg – she is a genius creation. Her post cards, and her translations, along with the drinking was very funny. Of course, Death features in this book too. And of course, he was not a let down. He is a very funny character.

I enjoyed this novel. It is full of fantasy, adventure, and a few family secrets. This book wasn’t a let down.

8/10

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett

Synopsis from Amazon:

DEATH IS MISSING – PRESUMED…ER…GONE.

Which leads to the kind of chaos you always get when an important public service is withdrawn.

Meanwhile, on a little farm far, far away, a tall dark stranger is turning out to be really good with a scythe. There’s a harvest to be gathered in…

This is book 11 of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld Series. The main character is Death. He retires. The Grey Shadows have come and told him his time is u, so he sets off to the Discworld with his horse Binky. He gets a job as a reaper man on a farm, and goes by the name of Bill Door. He works hard, makes friends by being excellent at being awful and plots a way to fight the new Death. Meanwhile, in Ankh-Morpor, there is too much life force around, bringing items to life, and preventing the dead for moving on. This causes mayhem, an attack of trollies, and wizards going mad.

I found this book to be a little bit like the first in the series, The Colour of Magic – enjoyable, but with maybe a little bit too much going on. With so many characters I sometimes struggled to remember who was who, what they doing, and why. That said, there were areas of the book that just had me laughing out loud. Pratchett’s humour is well captured in this book, as is his sense of imagination, I just found there to be too much taking place.

My favourite Discworld character, right from the start, has been Death. He is great with the one-liners, sarcasm and irony. The other character I really enjoyed in this book was the university’s Dean. I laughed so much when he started going around like a gangster, and how his catch-phrase became “Yo!”. I found myself almost crying with laughter at him.

Overall, I enjoyed this book even though there were times when I was unsure as to what was going on. The comedy in the book made up for any complaints I have. Worth reading if you like Pratchett.

7/10