Rating: 
Summary: Great
Review: Simply one of the best books I've ever read. A mystery, a comedy, a drama, and sci-fi all rolled into one. Pratchett out did himself with this one. Fantasy can often take itself too seriously (or not seriously enough). This book doesn't even bother except in regards to storyline which stays compeling throughout every page. Pratchett is a craftman, not just a writer.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny - in a Monty Python sort of way
Review: Funny and fast read. Very entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: Quite Possibly the Best of Discworld
Review: For those of you who aren't familiar with Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, you have been missing quite a bit. Not only has he managed to keep the humor and overall quality of his writing at a high level through the years, but he manages to get a new book out every eight months or so. A big plus if you follow his work.
The Fifth Elephant is part the "Watch" series within the Discworld collection. It follows the exploits of Commander Vimes(recently promoted to Duke), Captain Carrot, and the rest of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. This book is the follow-up to "Jingo", and Vimes is currently adjusting to his new role as a nobleman in the city. One of his newly appointed duties is to travel to the neighboring land of Uberwald, where the dwarves are about to crown a new king. Vimes reluctantly agrees to go, despite his general loathing for the nobility in general. The ironic part being that he is now a part of that same nobility, which is a constant source of irritation for him, and a source of amusement for the reader. Of course, this being a Pratchett book, nothing goes according to plan and Vimes finds himself thwarting an assassination plot and uncovering a conspiracy among the dwarf and vampire clans in addition to being forced to "rub elbows" with the werewolves, vampires, and dwarfs of Uberwald.
This is one of the rare books you will read that is as funny as it is well written. For those of you collecting the series, this falls between Jingo and Night Watch and is my personal favorite of the series.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: Once an author is turning out a novel a year in a growing series he can be forgiven for getting rather stale. That isn't really a problem with Terry Pratchett: his output can be a bit uneven but overall the Discworld fantasies just seem to be getting better, and "The Fifth Elephant" is one of the best.
The wonderful Sam Vimes - clever, upwardly mobile but basically honest and down-to-earth chief of police of Ankh-Morpork - is sent with his aristocratic wife on a diplomatic mission to troubled realm of Uberwald. Why did the city's ruler Lord Vetinari, a man who could give Machiavelli lessons in deviousness, chose Vimes of all people for this delicate task? What exactly is going on in Uberwald, where the uneasy balance of power between dwarves, werewolves, and vampires seems to be breaking down? All is revealed in a book that is both dark and humorous, engrossing and highly entertaining.
Many of the usual characters we have come to know from the Discworld novels are here, and trying to make the best of an unfamiliar and threatening place and understand the peoples and their politics.
Once again Pratchett is the master not only of plot and character but also of the little aside, the fascinating but not overdone individual, the sly and amusing reference. We learn, for instance, that it is a social blunder to use the word "bath" to an upper-class werewolf when he is in human form, it makes him uncomfortable. We are introduced to a vampire equivalent of AA where members help each other keep off the human blood and get through "vun night at a time". We discover that the Low King of the Dwarves must be crowned sitting on a large, hard item called the great Scone of Stone - a clever one this, referring not only to the durability and lethal solidity of dwarfish bread as explained in previous novels but also to the Stone of Scone (pronounced "Skoon") on which for centuries the kings of Scotland were crowned. And much more...
If you know the characters you will enjoy the book even more, but Pratchett newbies could find a worse place to start than this one.
Rating:
Summary: Vimes goes to Uberwald!
Review: While this book is a "Watch" book, it seemed almost a kind of weird continuation from "Carpe Jugulum." Yes, there were vampires here, but more so in the background and more of a good type - on the side of justice so to speak (a rare sight before). Here we see also the beginnings the vampire equivalent of AA and other support groups (this is even better developed in a later book "The Truth"). But this book focuses more on the Uberwald dwarves and werewolves. This book is good, too. Even better than Carpe Jugulum because of one good point: Igors. Igors are seemingly everywhere and as quiet and nonchalant and funny as ever. I would recommend reading this book if only to read about Igor and his "family." They are the best of the new characters. Unfortunately, while Igors and Lady MArgolotta the vampire were good characters, the dwarves and werewolves were not my favorites. The Ankh-Morpork dwarves can be funny even in their obsessions, like gold, the Uberwald dwarves were fairly mean and humorless and not likeable at all. I wouldn't miss not hearing about them for a long time. The same goes for the werewolves - they are a match for the elves as my least favorite type of species (except Angua, of course). What have they to recommend them? They are not devoid of humor like the dwarves, just morals. Enough with the Game and the killing - it got a bit old. How strong are they, and why? They seemed to have even vampires beat. Even the real wolf Gavin was a better character (OK, he was pretty good). Vimes was his usual interesting self as was his wife Sibyl. The scenery was good, as were the political repartees and the way Vimes gets his "revenge" of a sort with unexpected "help" from unexpected quarters. But, though he outsmarts Wolf, why do all the humans keep stupidly throwing themselves at werewolves? I suppose Carrot had to do it to give Gavin a chance to jump in and help, but why does Vimes not use Detritus more? A troll can resist a werewolf. Why didn't Vimes just send in Detritus with his bow and blow up the werewolf castle? It's not as if that would really killed anyone? Maybe, because of the prejudice against trolls there? Or maybe that would have upstaged Vimes too much? I am sure there was a reason, but I would have just gone for a frontal assault. But I suppose that is the point - Vimes keeps us guessing, and, in the end, even Wolf couldn't keep up with his devious plans. Hey! That's why Vimes is a commander and diplomat. Lastly, let us not forget the fat mining. That was a funny addition, too: Vimes telling the Low King that all he wanted for Ankh-Morporkh was fat. A very good book - thanks mostly to Vimes and the Igors.
Rating:
Summary: Dwarves.. Excellent!
Review: I give this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. It is really good. Although this episode was a bit... different than I had expected, it still was very entertaining. When I picked this book up, and read a bit of it before purchasing, I was hoping that it'd be a hilarious look into the lives of the dwarves, their customs, and their life as almost a religion itself. What it turned out to be was a story about a crime, and the man to solve it was, as expected, Vimes. With several "sidekicks," Vimes sets off to solve a murder case in Ankh-Morpork, and ends up being an ambassador for the whole of the city when he is forced to go to Bonk to attend the coronation of the new dwarf king, and serve as secret detective to try to find the missing Dwarf relic, the Scone of Stone. While there, he runs into several other problems, mostly concerning werewolves... Quite tough werewolves. You can never forget Igors, too. There are plenty Igor sections, and they are all like you'd expect an Igor; helpful, loyal, and full of stitches. Excellent.. This story may not be his funniest, but is still very entertaining and full of imagery. I enjoyed every aspect of this story, although some werewolf moments near the end were a tad drawn out, and the ending is pretty good, too, except for the very last line. (I don't understand what it now relates to, but oh well..) You should probably go pick this one up now, if you haven't already.
Rating:
Summary: Yet Another Excellent Book of the Watch
Review: This is the 24th of Pratchett's Discworld series. In this one, Pratchett uproots the Watch and has it visit Uberwald. While there, Mr. Vimes meets and old friend of the Patrician and the family of Angua. Like most of the other Watch books, this one's far more "serious" and deeper than standard Discword fare. It reads more like a romantic adventure mystery than a comedy and has a very emotionally satisfying ending. An excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious!
Review: I admit that this is one book that probably doesn't need another review to praise it, but it is just so hard *not* to recommend The 5th Elephant. If you carry it around (esp the hardcover edition) you'll get strange looks from people wondering what kind of weird book you're reading, saying, "Isn't that the Fifth *Element* with Bruce Willis?"
But nothing could be farther from the truth. With its colorful characters, nonstop action, and zany settings Pratchett has once again made Ankh-Morpork and Discworld a wonderful place to get away to. Sometimes the British humor is a little odd for American readers to get used to, but nevertheless is always amusing. A wonderful way to get to know a wonderful fantasy series.
Rating:
Summary: Political Disc
Review: The Fifth Elephant is the latest Discworld book that features the City Watch of Ankh-Morpork, a city on the Disc. The City Watch books have always been my favourite Discworld books, mainly because of the characters. There's the wonderful character of Vimes, who is head of the Watch. He's cynical but fair-minded, always thinking the worst of things, but doing his best to make the city the best it can be. Then there's Captain Carrot, a human who was raised by dwarfs and considers himself one. Even the incidental characters have wonderful moments. This fifth book in the series is probably the best since the original, "Guards, Guards." It was wonderfully funny with lots of good character bits. In this book, Commander Vimes (a recent addition to the nobility of the city) is sent to attend the coronation of the new Dwarf "King." Vimes is new to all of this "politics" stuff, as he generally sees himself as a cop first, and a good one. He feels out of his element in this new political arena. Of course, that's why the head of the city, Patrician Vetinari, has sent him on this mission. In going to this coronation, Vimes stumbles upon a plot between a family of werewolves and some of the dwarfs who don't quite like the way society is being liberalized (i.e. dwarfs actually showing that they're female by wearing dresses and jewelry, dwarfs going to the city of Ankh-Morpork to find better lives, etc). They plan to disrupt the coronation, and Vimes finds himself having to stop them. There are two sub plots in the book, one related, and one seeming to be there just to give some characters something to do. The first one involves Carrot and his girl-wolf, Angua. Angua was supposed to go on this mission with Vimes, but she has disappeared. Carrot enlists the aid of the talking dog, Gaspode, to track her. This plot does end up meeting with the main plot, which is a good thing. Carrot is well portrayed, a combination of innocence, grim determination and genuine (if innocent) caring for Angua. You can see in his actions what he thinks of her, even though he generally can't bring himself to say anything. It's a fairly interesting subplot, especially when it ends up dovetailing with the Vimes plot. The same can't be said for the second subplot, though. It's clearly there just to give some of the other characters a chore. Sgt. Colon, one of the founding members of the Watch (but by no means the most intelligent), finds himself left in charge with Vimes and Carrot gone. This authority, along with a looming paranoia, start to degrade the Watch. He starts watching everybody with a growing intensity, alienating everybody. This plot has its funny moments and involves some of the other Watch characters (Shoe, the zombie; Visit, the religious fanatic; Nobby, the weird one). However, it can't help but feel like filler. I don't know whether it was intended to add to the page count or if it was supposed to give the other characters something to do. Either way, it feels wasted and tacked on. Despite that, the book is a great addition to the mythos. It's hilarious, with wonderful character moments (a vampire on AA?) and a great plot. Unlike the previous books, there doesn't appear to be an overall message to the book (Jingo was anti-war, for example), but it doesn't suffer from that. Sometimes, you just have to tell a good story, and this one does. Watching Vimes try to adjust to his new life and mission is worth the price of admission alone. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention Detritus, the main troll in the Watch. He is the best character in the series, no matter how much or little he is in it. He doesn't have a very large part in The Fifth Elephant, but he lights up the scene whenever he's in there. This is a great book. It also stands alone pretty well. While it is certainly better to read them in order, you won't be missing anything if this is the first one. You don't want to miss it.
Rating:
Summary: Good book with excelent re-readability
Review: I've owned this book for a while and I recently re-discovered it on my bookshelf and I just could not put it down till I'd re-read it. I certainly think the book deserves a re-read or two. This is a great Discworld book full of details of discworld. The watch is back. Trouble in the Uberwald sends Vimes, Cherry and Detritus to the coronation of the new Dwarf King. Meanwhile Carrot and Agnes are having some problems, which leaves Sergeant Colon next in line for promotion to head of the watch.... This is a great story, full of humor, politics and plot twists. So easy to read I picked up the book and I read it without putting it down. It has more of a political tone compared with the watches last outing (Jingo), which was more of an adventure. The fifth elephant expands the disk word by padding out the dwarfs and giving incite to the Uberwald (expect more books from the Uberwald) It's a good book if your just coming into the disk world books and a Great book if your following the disk world series
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