Rating: 
Summary: If it makes you laugh, buy it!
Review: It is impossible to convey in mere words the feelings that Mr Pratchett can invoke in the heart and mind of his readers. Suffice it to say, that if there was no terry pratchett, the world would be a very boring place to live in. What can I say to make other people buy his books, so that they can partake in the joy and pleasure that comes from reading his books? I can not recommend one of his books without urging you to read the other chapters in the discworld saga. To read one of his books is to for the first time in your life know what it to breathe really fresh air, and you can not go back to the stale air you used to breathe. The last continent, like all other discworld books, did not in any way disappoint me. It was a stark contrast to the watch, death or witches novels, but that is why I keep reading book after book. I have fallen in love with all the characters and the world they live in. I always want more. The last continent might not bring the sudden, loud, or the delayed laughter caused by reading the same passage over and over again ten times, that other books have brought, but when I read this book I experienced the kind of feeling that I can only find when spending time with a loved one, be it organic or inanimate. When I read the book I could really feel as if I were in Australia, and I have never even been there. I would like to give the book five stars, but there are better books. These books would also be pratchett's. The four stars does not mean that the book is lacking in anything, it just means that this book which is "merely" fantastic could not attain the divine position of the other stupendous, fabulous and utterly breath-taking books that he has written. This is a book which I would not have wanted to have left unread.
Rating: 
Summary: Witty and very imaginative, but incoherent
Review: I decided to give Terry Pratchett a shot after reading A.S. Byatt's comments in the New York Times on Harry Potter; she raves about Pratchett. I'm a long-time science fiction and fantasy reader. I had just finished the first 5 Harry Potter books along with my son, and understood what Byatt was talking about when she criticized the series: in my not-very-humble opinion, the Potter books are far too tame, and fail to give that impression of a true and untamed world beyond the boundaries of the book.I read the Last Continent, and I was amused: Pratchett's writing is very witty, his sentences dynamic, and he has an eye for the improbable and ludicrous. His world is close enough to our world for just about everything to stand as good satire, and he basks in nearly, but not quite, bringing in obvious modern cultural references directly, such as nods to the film "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert." His mockery of academia is dead-on. Australian culture ("not really Australia," as the book jacket informs us) gets skewered and he mocks everything from the invention of Marmite to meat pies served with mushy peas and tomato sauce to how the platypus really came to be. (It was, as it appears, designed by committee). Discword seems to really be a very rich place in which just about anything can happen, and does... but this makes it also seems to lack rules, and a world in which anything can happen without any internal consistency or reason starts to feel a little uninteresting, as if it were more a playground for the author than designed for the reader. In particular, Pratchett introduces a half-dozen characters at once, and they are insufficiently differentiated. We're apparently supposed to know all about them from earlier books, but yet I was told you don't have to read the Discworld books in order. That's sloppy. There is really only a very vague sense of plot. Two parallel stories meet up at the end, but both stories individually just kind of bumble along from one bizarre happening to another without much of a sense of urgency. It seems unbelievable given the ridiculous things happening all around us, but the story becomes dull. There are a lot of references to Australian aboriginal culture and rock drawings and creation myths, but it never quite gels. I really like the games Pratchett plays with time: the "last continent" is many thousands of years old, but only showed up a few minutes ago. There's a god of evolution, who is busy cranking out new creations at a dizzying rate. The world spins around the characters and changes paragraph by paragraph and it is all very funny, and suggestive of a larger imaginative structure where the reader can feel at home, but ultimately it seems to collapse like an imploding cave and we're left back where we started without much to show for the trip. Douglas Adams used this same form in his early books, and did it better. This book reads like the later Adams book "So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish," in which the narrator admits that "there was a point to this story, but it has temporarily escaped the chronicler's mind." I'm giving Pratchett another chance, though; I'm now reading Good Omens, to see if working with a coauthor gives his storytelling a little bit of much-needed discipline. If that goes well, I'll give the Discworld books another shot... there are a lot more of them to choose from!
Rating:
Summary: Not his best
Review: I am a truely obsessive Pratchett fan and could hardly fail to enjoy anything he has written. However if I had to choose I would put this as one of my least favourive of his books. Possibly my lack of knowlege of Australian culture has made me miss out on some of the subtler satire. I found that the main plot with Rincewind dragged a little in places. There were some funny jokes but I felt that his quest, the actual plot I suppose, failed to interest me in the least and served more as a background for the gags. Some of his other books have managed to mix humour with a truely gripping story.
This book would probably have been rated lower if it wasn't for the antics of the wizards. It's not Pratchett's most mature or inteligent humour but it had me in stitches. It is almost worth reading this book just for their bickering. Oh and the origins of the duck-billed platypus are pure genius.
All together it is an enjoyable read in places but he has written better.
Rating:
Summary: Still going strong.....
Review: I thought it was wonderful to see Rincewind and Luggage in a new novel. Yes, some of material is a little dry, but a writer has to do that to keep the new readers informed so they don't feel so left out. I feel that he played Rincewind very throughly and completely in character, which can be hard to do after a series goes on for a while. It's hard to do when you're just writing one book. Almost all of the plot devices were necessary and well played. Death did a couple of cameo spots and that made me happy (being a huge Discworld Death fan.) Read it. Pratchett really knows how to put enjoyment back into reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Painfully funny! A tad bit shallow I suppose ...?
Review: Many die-hard DiscWorld fans might note that this book does not have as much depth as others in the series, but it certainly does not take away from the humour. I have read 5 books in the series and found this to be the most fun read. Several of the wizards from Unseen University are in the book for a substantial part, and I they were absolutely hilarious. I had to stop reading at several parts just to catch my breath from laughing so hard (and no, I'm not a smoker, or out of shape). The island they are on, and their personalities are so incredibly creative... and Pratchett milks the situations for all they're worth (in a good way)... he just doesn't miss a beat. Rincewind's adventures are also, as usual, terribly humorous... He finds himself in a remarkably Australian-esqe continent, and gets caught up in the middle of several cultural misunderstandings... If you just want a fun read, and some hilarious situations, then pick up The Last Continent... and sorry for my ramblings.
Rating: 
Summary: With Any Luck, the Last Rincewind Book
Review: This was the first Pratchett book I read, and my review is on Amazon; I still stand by it. It is funny in parts and full of pop-culture references, but does not hold together as a story. There isn't much plot, or, rather, there is far too much to pay attention to. Rincewind is not a character in this book so much as an excuse to roam around Australia; the wizards of Unseen University show up, but if you don't already know them, or even if you do, you'll find their characters quite poorly differentiated.
Rating:
Summary: a waste of time
Review: Funny in an infantile kind of a way, this book. In other words, Pointless and Silly.
Rating:
Summary: Light hearted send up of Australia
Review: As an Australian reader I found this book set in the Discworld equivalent of Australia (Fourecks) very enjoyable. I have been reading through a number of Pratchett's books this year and I think this is one of the funniest (though not the deepest). He sends up a number of Australian icons such as Waltzing Matilda, The Man From Snowy River, the Opera House and various others, though I am not sure how much non-Australians will get. The scene where Rincewind meets the drunk wombat in the pub telling him about how good our wines are does have our national self defensiveness nailed. For those new to Discworld it may not be the best place to start since they may confused why Rincewind is in Fourecks. So for the newbies I would recommend say Mort or Wyrd Sisters.
Rating:
Summary: Funny, clever... vintage Pratchett !
Review: I loved The Last Continent. I am a great Pratchett fun, I have practically each and every one of his Diskworld novels and often I re-read them to relax and have fun. In his latest books, I have often found his humour had taken a more subtle, dry turn, while in earlier books I used to laugh out loud in every second page (something extremely annoying to my family who had to put up with me giggling in any irrelevant surrounding such as the bus or the lunch table). I had missed that aspect of Pratchett, and I found it again in The Last Continent. I have never been to Australia, but I have heard a lot about the country, its unique fauna and even more unique people. During the Syndey Olympic Games I read and heard and even saw in TV even more. So, although I probably did miss some inside jokes, I think I was able to enjoy as much as the next reader. And I did enjoy it, very much. So, why the four stars, instead of five? Because, like many reviewers of this and other Pratchett books, I do feel that he is in some cases repeating himself, something which is no wonder given the speed he produces new Discworld novels. I think, (and I hope his editors and himself glance from time to time at these or similar pages and take the readers into account), that he should take a break from the Discworld, so that he can refresh his approach and the themes he uses. We need books that make us laugh out loud, genuine original humorous books, and indeed Pratchett is one of the best of his kind.
Rating:
Summary: Best of Pratchett
Review: I have not read everything that Pratchett has written, but of the 15 or so Discworld books that I have read, this is far and away my favourite. It had me laughing aloud, something that happens rarely. A very enjoyable, relaxing read - and I believe the humour will translate well to those unfortunates who aren't Australian as well as delighting those who see a lot of similarities to their own home in Fourecks.
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