Rating: 
Summary: Funny funny funny
Review: but it will rock your world when all is said and done. Somehow Pratchett keeps up the humor and intriguing plot while bringing up some questions about fundamentals like moral agency. The supporting characters flesh out a novel that is a pleasure to read. You will be pulling for Vimes as he pieces together a puzzle of a mysterious, unauthorized assassin who leaves strange footprints. You will cheer at the unexpectedly powerful ending.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious mystery, pure fun!
Review: Commander Vimes, Head of Ankh-Morpork City Watch, is used to hunting down illegal crime in the most crowded city of the Discworld. But this time the clues are numerous, as are the answers. If Vimes only knew what the questions were. Two murders: first a dead priest is found with a slip of paper in his mouth, and then a curator of the Dwarf Bread Museum is killed using a loaf of bread. When it turns out that someone even tries to assassinate Lord Vetinari, Vimes finds himself faced with the most puzzling case in Discworld history.The amazing thing about the Discworld saga is that it keeps getting better. Where the earlier episodes did lack a good storyline, Terry Pratchett now clearly has no problems spinning a complex mystery out on paper. The complexity of the case does easily compare to an Agatha Christie novel and the denouement is as hilarious as it is surprising. I really loved the way Terry constantly makes references to great detective stories and in doing so feeds the reader a plate of really nice red herrings (false clues). Of course, when the City Watch appears in a Discworld novel it can only mean one thing: absurd humor at its best! I have to admit that the jokes are a slight bit less pungent than in Guards! Guards!, but that is certainly not enough reason to complain. The new character Cherry Littlebottom is a neat addition to the Watch. When Cherry goes on patrol with Angua, not knowing that she truly is a werewolf, you get that kind of chemistry that will blow your socks off.
Rating: 
Summary: Golems and dwarfs and trolls, oh my!
Review: Feet of Clay is Pratchett's eighteenth Discworld novel and is the third one about the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, commanded by the world-weary and recently elevated Sir Samuel Vimes. Pratchett's cheerfully off-kilter fantasy world curiously overlaps our own in some ways---though the "time" is medieval, the characters in the book face problems like gender discrimination and a rising crime rate. This gives the author the chance to be satirical (usually in a funny and effective way) at the same time he spins an interesting fantasy yarn---and, incidentally, to spoof cop movies, most notably the "Lethal Weapon" convention of an older policeman on the verge of retiring but faced with just one more case. . . . This time around, the Patrician of the city, Lord Vetinari, is apparently being poisoned in an "impossible crime" (one devised with some ingenuity), and golems seem to be involved---creatures of animated clay, with no wills of their own. There are plots within plots, wheels within wheels, and dwarfs (including a hilariously named new addition to the Watch), vampires, werewolves, and trolls in the mix as well as humans, actual or dubious (Nobby Nobbs of the watch is nominally human but has been disqualified for shoving). Pratchett cares about his characters, and you find yourself caring, too: will the noble-minded young Captain Carrot's beloved desert him over differences in species? Will Vimes, a reforming alcoholic, backslide in the despair of a thankless job? But even with such concerns, the novel's a fun read, though if you're new to the sub-series dealing with the Watch you might want to begin with Guards! Guards! before reading this one
Rating:
Summary: The Watch returns
Review: First, I'll give a brief synopsis, then what I liked and disliked about the book.
Okay, the great mystery is who killed two old men, and where is this mysterious clay found at the scene of the crime coming from. Vimes and the watch struggle to solve this, and suddenly, Nobby Nobbses royalty is brought to attention, Cherry Littlebottom joins the watch, and the Angua Carrot relationship is heightened a few more steps. In the midst of all this, Lord Vetinari (a FANTASTIC character) is being poisoned. All these come together in one of the most satisfying climaxes I've witnessed in a Pratchett Book yet.
There, that's out of the way.
The Guard are among the best characters Pratchett has introduced, standing next only to... Death. And even though you don't get to see the Grim Reaper, you'll have to settle for the Grim Squeaker (the death of rats). Anyways, Pratchett, as always, delights the reader with the two most vivid main characters. I'd be speaking of Sir Samuel Vimes, and Nobby Nobbs. Vimes has so much of a Dirty Harry-esque feel to him, and he... ahem... prods buttock so thoroughly that you have to cheer him on. The cigar smoking, teetotaling commander is best portrayed in the opening pages in which a VERY foolish assassin tries to end Vimes's life. Bad move.
Onto Nobbs. Nobbs is such a fantastic character, Pratchett gives him great scenes, the best in my mind being the scene in which a few Puppetmasters are trying to get Nobby to assume his royal position. Through most of this, he is saying, "Vimes would go spare! I can't do that! He'd go spare!"
Okay, here is what I disliked about the book.
Angua is a very weak POV, personally. I understand the need for a strong anchoring character to counterbalance the nuttiness of Nobbs, Vimes, and Carrot, but Angua comes off as too whiny, and her chapters take away from the irreverance that Pratchett infuses his book with. I also felt that Vetinari should have been giving a larger role in the scheme of things, particularly around the mystery involving him. He and Vimes have an excellent scene together at the end, but that is all that really stands out.
My biggest problem, would have to be with the Dragon character. I don't want to spoil any of the plot twists revolving around him, but he is too much of a cut out, with no real idiosyncracies other than his "Ah-ha" in every sentence.
There, thats the review.
On the whole, Feet of Clay really does a great job of keeping you occupied. Its 4 stars is definitely warranted.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not the best of Discworld and the City Watch
Review: It started with two old men--a priest and a baker--both murdered. Then the Patrician Vetinari himself is poisoned, but the watch can find no evidence of how he is being poisoned. When a golem confesses, it appears that Commander Vimes and the city watch have solved the case--but the golem confesses to all the unsolved crimes in the city. There is something going on and Vimes can't find the connecting thread. His new forensics officer, Cheery Littlebottom (a dwarf who wants to be seen as female and feminine despite all dwarf traditions) finds evidence of arsenic, but nowhere near Vetinari. Instead, one of the murdered men has arsenic under his finger-nails--this despite the fact that he died because his head was bashed in. Under Vetinari, the city of Ankh-Morpork has prospered. Vetinari has allowed all races into the city, making it wealthy. He has cut down on the inter-guild sniping, resulting in more of Ankh-Morpork's efforts going into production rather than into wasteful shootouts. As a result, he has scarcely any supporters. Desite history, the people and nobility yearn for a King. Vimes will do whatever he can to ensure that doesn't happen, but what can a watchman do against the power of the guilds? Underlying the Ankh-Morpork economy are the golems. Golems work endlessly for no pay, taking all of the worst jobs without complaining. This ultimate proletariat isn't even considered alive. Because Vimes is equal opportunity in his contempt, he doesn't mind looking beneath the surface, but still, what possible motives would golems have in overthrowing Vetinari and installing a King? Author Terry Pratchett keeps the laughter coming in this story. Although FEET OF CLAY lacks the character development and nuances of some of the other Discworld stories (see our review of the BooksForABuck.com 2002 SF Book of the Year NIGHT WATCH), it an enjoyable short read. Vetinari, Vimes, and Captain Carrot all show moments of brilliance and manage to do so in amusing ways. Carrot's bumbling affair with the were Agula continues as Agula continues to wonder what she should do and Carrot continues inviting her to Dwarf Bread exibits. Fans of the Discworld series will find FEET OF CLAY an important addition to the series. If you are new to the series, you might consider starting with one of the other novels (NIGHT WATCH or GUARDS! GUARDS! would be excellent places to start).
Rating:
Summary: Lots of fun!
Review: Mr. Pratchett beats his own records with every new Watch book.
This one is no exception. It starts interesting and just gets better with every paragraph.
The book is almost too funny - with the scene of employing a dwarf applicant or another one when Carrot is stopping unlicensed thieves.
Pratchett achieved an impossible goal - he wrote a touching book about simple people's persistent lack of luck, about the idiocy of the so called higher classes, about death, nature of humanity, duty, watchmen solidarity - and he did make it screamingly funny.
Read it. You'll laugh your head off.
Rating:
Summary: This is a great story - Pratchett at his best
Review: Some of the other Pratchett books I've had to give only four stars - because of Feet of Clay. This, to me, was the most memorably enjoyable book in the Discworld series. A series of brutal, yet inexplicable crimes once again lead Sam Vimes and the Watch down the alleys and backstreets of Ankh-Morpork ... well, not Nobby, because he's been appointed a lord by the Registrar of Heraldry! For those who relish in the early Pratchett non-stop puns, Feet of Clay has it; like the plot twists? got you covered; like a little message about free will? No problem. You want fries with that? Anyone who enjoys humor will enjoy Terry Pratchett - people who like a very engaging plot with a surprising ending will really enjoy Feet of Clay. Since you don't really have to read the Discworld books in order, this can be a great starting point - just on the strength of the read. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: A Worthy Addition to the Watch Sequence
Review: Someone is poisoning the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, and Vimes must solve the mystery. This is the basic plot of _Feet of Clay_, and it is a serviceable plot; it gives this Discworld book more structure than many of them, ensuring that there is enough of a story to support all the digressions and subplots. These digressions, along with Pratchett's good use of the minor City Watch characters, are the tidbits that make this Discworld book so much fun. I enjoyed especially the College of Heraldry and the bad jokes and Latin puns found on the heraldic devices. This is the kind of comic detail that is hard work, but really fleshes out Pratchett's world. We meet Cheery Littlebottom, a dwarf who joins the city watch and is apprenticed to Angua and whose experience in alchemy makes her a natural as a kind of forensic crime-scene investigator, and we experience some of the details of life in the Patrician's castle. We also meet the golems of Discworld, and face the interesting moral dilemmas inherent in a labor uprising and civil rights movement among beings that are essentially animated pottery.
Rating:
Summary: Murder mystery, Discworld style
Review: The Watch is made of the weirdest bunch of cops you can imagine, including werewolves, dwarves, trolls, gargoyles -- and those are the ordinary ones. If you like mysteries in general, and murder mysteries in particular, then "Feet of Clay" is an offbeat story that you might just enjoy. First a priest is murdered, and found with a slip of paper in his mouth. Then a curator. And Vimes has no idea how this is happening, or why anyone would kill a couple of harmless old men. To make things worse, he learns that the extremely un-royal Corporal Nobby Nobbs may be the rightful king of Ankh-Morpork (if that doesn't warp your view of reality, nothing will), and that the Patrician is being slowly poisoned -- but no one knows just how the poison is being administered. The answer to the mysteries may lie in the golems: Not-living-but-not-dead creatures made out of clay, who don't speak and always follow orders. Theoretically they can't kill . But they come under suspicion when, inexplicably, they start destroying themselves as the evidence starts to point toward a golem murderer. However, Vimes soon learns that the conspiracy is far more extensive -- and sinister -- than the golems... "Feet of Clay" is not merely a murder mystery (although it has one of the coolest ways of murdering a person that I've ever heard of). Pratchett also offers some commentary on society, on what makes a person a person. His handling of the golems is remarkably thought-provoking. And their connection to the attempted murder is also very hard to unravel -- you won't guess who or how or why. This is, in some ways, more serious at times than his other books; one scene has Vimes exploding over the death of a little child and a cleaning lady. But don't think he's abandond his skewed brand of Discworld humor: the rebelling dwarf, the unsuccessful assassination at the beginning, Nobby's outrageous behavior and seven grandmothes, and especially a vampire with self-destructive tendencies (sunglasses tester, garlic stacker, pencil factory worker, holy water supplier). Not to mention the organizer with the little imp inside. As always, Vimes is the hard-boiled scrap of sanity among the weirder characters. Angua is, unfortunately, much flatter than the weirder characters; Carrot is his usual likable self, while Nobby gets to act more bizarrely than usual as he is accepted into the upper crust as an aristocrat (a thieving, unsanitary one). Detritus is a likable clod, and we get a new character in Cheery Littlebottom, a dwarf female who wants to start looking like one. And Pratchett outdoes himself with Dorfl, a secretive golem who never speaks or changes expression. While not Pratchett's best, "Feet of Clay" is a solid mystery/fantasy/commentary with plenty of humor and suspense. Definitely worth looking at.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding reader-actor on audio. Highly entertaining.
Review: Thoroughly enjoyable, laugh-out-loud funny. One of Pratchett's best novels. The CD audio version read by Nigel Planer is wonderful! Nigel Planer does an excellent job of giving zany voices to the zany characters. The reading is closer to acting.
|
