Rating: 
Summary: Another Great Rincewind Adventure!
Review: This is definitely one of my favorites and my favorite Rincewind and wizards story. Rincewind, having been teleported out of Agatea, now ends up in Fourecks, the discworld "Australia." Once again, a local character takes interest in him and tries to "convince" him to be a hero once more. Naturally, he tries to run away but only runs in the right direction, the one his patron wants him to go. Fourecks in so dry that even the mention of rain makes people scratch their heads - it hasn't rained in 30,000 years! But now the water under the ground in going away; soon there will be none left unless a hero can find a way to bring back the rain. Of course, Rincewind doesn't know this: he just blunders along into glory. Rincewind meets all sorts of people and ideas - kangaroos, rock paintings, beer, vegemite, the opera house on the bay, sheep, desert, koalas (kind of), odd accents, opal mines, road warriors, you name it. While Rincewond is on his strange "walkabout," the other wizards (with their housekeeper) accidentally get trapped 30,000 years in the past on an island of strange animals (odd evolution). They make it to Fourecks 30,000 years too soon and must wait for Rincewind to get them out. This story had so many interesting characters (even more than Jingo). The wizards were funny as usual, especially Ponder Stibbons trying to make sense of it all and the Bursar, to whom it already made sense. The tension between most of the wizards and Mrs. Whitlow was funny as was the Librarian who kept sneezing himself into different shapes. The best of all was Rincewind and his adventures, especially when he becomes the legend Rinso. The sheep stealing and the jail and the local watch were a riot, especially the odd rules about the etiquette of crimes and hangings. It seemed that everytime Rincewind ran, he stumbled into even greater glory. The local wizard (especially the local archchancellor with the interesting name) were good, too. But is was nice to finally see Rincewind and friends happy and on their way home at the end - until the next adventure a few books down the road. Definitely a 5-star adventure!
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Summary: Pratchett Has Done it Again!~By Spatula Jr. Sr. III Jr.
Review: Terry Pratchett has done it! He's managed to combine fantasy, adventure, and humor into one lively, entertaining novel. The Last Continent is an installment in the DiscWorld series, but you need not read the others to comprehend this one. From the moment I read the first page, I knew this author was a good one. I will soon be reading more of his work. The Last Continent is an amusing story with hilarious characters and a plot that never ceases to surprise you.
In addition to being a best-selling author in the United States, Pratchett is also a best-seller in Europe. It's easy to imagine why. This novel is about a librarian (who was turned into an orangutan long ago) with an ailment. The wizards at Unseen University (where the librarian worked) needed to cure the sickness - quickly. That is so, because he was the only one who could control the library. If he is sick, he cannot control the library and when the library is not controlled, terrible things happen, such as magical explosions. The problem is, that to perform the cure, the wizards needed the librarian's name. However, it had been so long since he was human, nobody on the current university staff knew it.
Thus begins the journey to the continent of Fourecks where Rincewind resided after being banished from UU. Rincewind was possibly the last man alive who knew the librarian's name. There were six wizards and one maid who one day found themselves on a desert island that existed thousands of years in the past, while in search of Rincewind. The leader of the pack was Archchancellor Ridcully. He was a man of many words, sometimes intelligent ones, mostly not. The Dean was, for lack of a better word, ditzy. The Bursar was in a constant, peaceful daze, and the Senior Wrangler was head over heels for the maid, Mrs. Whitlow. The youngest of the bunch, in his early 20's, was Ponder Stibbons. He was in-+credibly smart, but oftentimes had problems breaking his logic down into portions his fellow wizards could comprehend. Together, could these people save the librarian?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to potential readers. At times the plot was hard to follow, yet the author's sense of humor kept me laughing on almost every page. The Senior Wrangler's adoration of Mrs. Whitlow was amusing, the Bursar's absent-mindedness was a funny addition to the story, and the fact that every time the librarian sneezed and turned into something with red fur was hilarious. For example, one part I found humorous was the Senior Wrangler's fear of pineapples and prawns. Also, the Roo Beer kangaroo, Scruffy, who often came out of nowhere to talk with Rincewind, made the plot of this book even more surprising.
The Last Continent tells a humorous tale, utilizes great characterization, and keeps the reader guessing. Pratchett is an amazing author. If you're not into fantasy, or even fiction, you will still love this novel. It's a book for people of all ages. I hope Pratchett gets the recognition for his work that he deserves.
Rating:
Summary: Rincewind to the rescue!
Review: How can you not like this book? I mean, really! It had me laughing so hard (and getting a great many strange looks from the public) I was nearly crying.
Next to Death (but only by a tiny amount) Rincewind is my favorite character. How could you not love this cowardly almost-but-never-quite-there hero?
And the almost-Aussie folks were just wonderful. Especially if you've actually heard some of the genuine Aussie expressions. FourEcks was a truly interesting place to visit.
And we can't forget the wizards. What's funnier than THAT group marooned on a prehistoric island? And when they meet the God ... I was laughing so hard I gave myself a coughing fit.
Plus, we have a walking suitcase, and the kangaroo...
My favorite Discworld book, without a doubt. May there be many, many more.
Go Rincewind go!
Rating: 
Summary: An OK Rincewind Book
Review: This is the 22nd of Pratchett's Discworld series. As is always the case, the book is a lot of fun to read. Unfortunately, the storyline is a bit shallow (actually, 2-dimensional is probably a better word since that's a recurring motif in the book). Essentially, there's very little development of a plot. In the major storyline, Rincewind is supposed to do something to save XXXX. But, there's really no progress towards it through 99% of the book (besides the obvious progress of putting one foot in front of the other (in Rincewind's case, very, very quickly)). Basically, the major plotline of the book consists of Rincewind running through various aspects of Australia, and then getting drunk and fixing everything. The secondary storyline is not much better. Reading about the wizards bickering amongst themselves is fun, but after a while you notice that that's ALL it is. Nothing really happens, and they sure don't solve anything themselves. They're essentially a mechanism to introduce a twist in the Rincewind line. For light entertainment, the book is fine. But, for an engrossing plot, it's not really worth it.
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Summary: Rincewind in trouble once again
Review: Although lost in a foreign and different country, Rincewind still manages to get into the most trouble possible. The other wizards of the unseen university also get a lot more character development in this book, which is nice because so often in Terry Pratchett's books, they are mentionned and do quirky things, but the quirks are not explained. Rincewind again ends up being the unwitting hero of this book, with the help of others, and there is some funny parallelism between this new land and the usual discworld scenery.
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Summary: Beer soup
Review: The last continent was one of the best books I have ever seen. Rincewinds charicter has never been so fun as when he dug waterholes for the sheep of the last continant, or when he made soup out of beer, or talked to a local brewery mascot. I laughed till the amazing end.
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Summary: G'day Mate! Discworld goes south
Review: The Last Continent is another Discworld book, a wonderful series of books by Terry Pratchett that takes place on a Disc, on the backs of four elephants that are standing on a cosmic turtle that's hurtling through space. This one features another adventure of the wizard who's not very good at wizardry, Rincewind. One thing he's good at, though, is getting into trouble, and boy does he in this one! Rincewind is stranded in a dry, desolate place called XXXX (that's "ecks-ecks-ecks-ecks" to the locals). There is no rain. Instead, there is some water that you have to dig for. Unfortunately, that's starting to dry up too. Magic is going crazy on this continent, and Rincewind has been chosen to sort things out. Of course, as the kangaroo who gives him the job states, Rincewind already has sorted things out, so the kangaroo has no doubt that Rincewind will come around and accept the responsibility of sorting things out. Make sense? It doesn't to Rincewind either. He is forced to go on a journey around the continent (very obviously, it's supposed to be Australia, though supposedly Pratchett denies this) and falls into adventure after adventure. He's attacked by a drunken wombat, he discovers "Ecksians" can come up with new phrases (this actually seems to make Australian euphemisms make sense). He discovers an alternate group of wizards from another Unseen University, and accepts there help in his mission. Speaking of the Unseen University, a number of faculty wizards end up on a desert island after stepping through a window in the study of one of another faculty member. Unfortunately, that window gets closed, leaving them trapped on this island, ages in the past, with no way to get back home. What would a normal wizard do in this situation? Of course! They panic. The resolution of all this, and how these two stories tie together, is really worth reading. I don't want to give away any more than I already have. The Last Continent is a tremendously funny book. It's not as good as the City Watch books (another series of books taking place on Discworld), but it is well worth the time spent on it. Pratchett is a master at silly humour, and there's lots of it in this one. There's the aforementioned bit on euphemisms, there's one of the wizards trying to explain time paradoxes to a group of wizards that just don't get it. There's a scene taken from the movie The Road Warrior that is just priceless. The jokes never stop. This book does tend to grow on you as well. When I first finished it, I rated it as a 4-star book. I thought it was really good, but not outstanding. However, after having had some time to reflect, it has really risen in my estimation. I'm thinking back to all of the funny bits and I find myself almost laughing out loud while remembering. It's the best of the Rincewind books that I've read (which, admittedly, leaves out any between The Light Fantastic and this one). This is definitely a 5-star book. The characters are just wonderful. While Rincewind has his great moments, the other wizards steal the show. They just can't seem to understand much of anything, with the exception of one of them who keeps trying to explain things. Of course, sometimes his explanations make their misunderstanding even worse. The interplay between these characters, and between them and the university's housekeeper, is outstanding. The characters Rincewind runs into are great, too. There were no characters that I wished would just leave so I wouldn't have to read about them again. Pratchett keeps the sequences that Rincewind gets into short, so there's no real opportunity for them to get stale. I can't say whether or not reading the previous Rincewind books is necessary. I personally didn't feel like I was missing anything by not having read them (with the possible exception of how Rincewind got to XXXX in the first place, though that didn't bother me too much). I picked it up cold and enjoyed it, so you shouldn't be afraid to either. Yet another must-read in the Pratchett collection.
Rating:
Summary: A sparkling page-turner
Review: This is the best of the last three books, I think (the other two being Carpe Jugulum and The Fifth Elephant). It's a bit more of a lightweight romp, focusing on the wizards at the Unseen University (who get stuck on a very strange island) and Rincewind (stuck on the Last Continent and saving it despite himself). It sparkles a lot more with page-by-page witticisms than the other books, and the plot, intertwining between Rincewind and the wizards, make it a real page-turner.
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Summary: HOW DID THIS GET THREE STARS!?
Review: This great book unjustly got three stars! Okay, I will say that the parts with Rincewind are sometimes REALY boring. Still the parts with the faculty are side splitting! If you like
Terry Pratchett you'll want to get this book!
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Summary: Nullus Anxietas!
Review: Well, I don't know why everyone's going on about this book not being so good--unless they simply prefer the more "serious" or not so pop-culture-reference-laden books of the Discworld series. Me, call me cheap, but, as nice as some philosophy can be, I like the ones that make me LAUGH. And the Last Continent did that. BIG-time! In one plotline, we have Rincewind, who I liked from the moment I first read "The Colour of Magic" and have laughed myself silly at any book he's ever been in since. (Including the unpopular "Sourcery", which had me almost DYING with laughter, and even "Eric".) How can a character who's so _cowardly_ be so _likeable_? It defies logic on the surface of it, but, there you go! Terry Pratchett is the only author I've seen so far who can make the most pathetic losery _anti_-hero you can think of--and then genuinely make you cheer for him. Anyway, Rincewind's plotline involves him not only wandering all over "FourEcks" and running into a parody version of just about _every single famous Australian thing known to man_, but also a whole ton of just plain side-splitting jokes and scenes. I LOVED the whole "Priscilla" thing! Assuming that Rincewind was another drag-queen, with his "dress" (wizard robe), oh, gods...! I was so in stitches. And the Luggage in high heels even! The other plotline involves the wizards from Unseen University--but this time, they are OUT of the University! Big improvement! I guess I'm in the minority here, but when it comes to favourite "groups" of characters the wizards are TOPS for me, with the witches, Guards, "Death" family, etc. below them. I dunno. Maybe I just like eccentric whackazoid characters. (And HEX rules.) Anyway, this part of the book takes the wizards out of their usual cloistered surroundings for a welcome (for us; frightening to them) breath of real fresh air and sunshine--and weirdness! Highlights of this plotline include young Ponder Stibbons becoming a very strong character suddenly (he gets a sympathetic background and a hot temper among other things) and Mrs. Whitlow also being developed further. As for the God on the island offending heavily-religious people, listen: He's the GOD of EVOLUTION. Like, since evolution is something you can "believe" in, it must have a god behind it...well, on Discworld, anyway! He was making fun of atheists or secular humanists in a tongue-and-cheek way. Notice it was Ponder, the scientific wizard, who was _horrified_ to find out that such a god could exist (at first...then he thought it was cool...for a while.) Last but not least, I _liked_ the way the two plotlines tied together at the end. I just hope this isn't the end of Rincewind's "adventures", not just yet. In short: BOTH plotlines are funny, have character development and HILARIOUSLY funny lines and scenarios. It _does_ make sense if you pay attention to it, and you don't have to be Australian to get the jokes--just alive and alert for the later part of the 20th century is all. If you want to laugh, get this book! If you didn't like it so much the first time...wait a while, then try it again. I wasn't so impressed the first time. This review is from my _second_ read. And if you STILL don't like it, well, no worries!
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