Rating: 
Summary: A clear vision of Pratchett's world
Review: Over the past two years, I've managed to collect every volume of the Discworld Series and a number of books that Terry Pratchett has worked on. Why? Terry Pratchett has produced an array of books that have consistently floored me with their thoughtful insights, hilarious situations, and wonderful characters. All that I have lacked has been a vision. Thanks to Paul Kidby, I now have it. The illustrations for this story are wonderful. And the story is fantastic. The book involves a large number of characters from Terry's world, so it might not be the best starting point for novices. But man, is it pretty. Well worth the price for fans of the series.
Rating:
Summary: The Last Hero
Review: "The Last Hero" is the delightfully illustrated story of an aging hero's final quest and the race to stop him as his quest will, unfortunately end the world. For anyone who has read the Discworld™ Novels it is features many well known characters complete with Paul Kidby's excellent pictures. Anyone new should be able to pick it up quite well without prior knowledge of the characters. Some of the more famous in the book are: Cohen the Barbarian, a ninety-ish year old hero who is experienced at not dieing (featured resplendant on the cover with sword and walking stick), Rincewind, an almost reliigiously devoted coward, who, has the misfortune of always having to save the Disc™, Carrot Irondoundersson, a six foot plus captain of the Watch, technically a dwarf who once came down from the mountains with an ancient and very sharp sword, a crown shaped birthmark and a great amount of zeal which he put into his work. Many other characters feature, some known, some not known all picked up perfectly by Paul Kidby. The pictures feature full and double pages as well as portraits of characters, small detail and the technical plans of Leonard of Quirm, the Disc's™ greatest inventor and artist. A great book.
Rating: 
Summary: Surprise!
Review: I had no idea what kind of book this was. I assumed (you know what happens when you do that) that it was like the previous in the series. Well, it is not. And when I opened the package I was upset. I did use coupons, etc., to bring the cost of the book down, but still, I had paid over (dollar amount) for what looked to be a HEAVILY illustrated coffee table book with much less content.
Still, I am halfway through, I'm trying to take my time, and I am enjoying it. I give it a three for two reasons...so far, it is better than decent but not great (I have every book in the series), and also, I do not think this book is worth the list price, or anywhere near it. If I would have paid (dollar amount) I probably would have given the book a four, but no more than that. Of course, you will have to judge the content for yourself, you may enjoy it more than me. I will say this, I feel almost guilty rating this book a three, however, this is one that I believe may end up in the bargain bin at your local book store in a few months. Still, if you are a discworld fan, you must buy it, so just try to buy it cheap.
Rating:
Summary: Pratchett's latest is one of his best!
Review: Pratchett's latest work brings together many of his classic cast of characters: Rincewind (who has been promoted in the Unseen Univerity to "Professor of Cruel and Unusual Geology"), Cohen the Barbarian and his Silver Horde, DEATH, Lord Vetinari, Captain Carrot, the Librarian (ook!), and the rest of the faculty from the Unseen University. We also have the introduction of Leonard da Quirm, a genius who paints pictures so realistic that their eyes not only follow you, but they'll also follow you home and do the washing. The story is a take on the Prometheus legend with Cohen, after being disillusioned over the ironic death of one of his Horde, vowing to return fire to the Gods in the form of a bomb that could, as a result, destroy Discworld. As usual with Pratchett's stories, most of the fun is in the journey itself. The story is filled with satire on aging, bureaucracies, and the space program. Pratchett also finds time to allude to multiple myths and famous historical figures, and to include references to everything from Joseph Heller's Catch-22 to Star Wars. Up to this point, I have deliberately avoided mentioning the artwork because I wanted to emphasize the great story. However, the artwork cannot be denied. It contains some of the most beautiful fantasy art I have ever seen. I was afraid that I'd be upset because of the potential difference between the paintings and how the characters look in my mind's eye, but Paul Kidby somehow manages to capture the essence of Pratchett's world. One painting that I am desperate to have as a poster is that of Death petting a kitten. As if that weren't enough, the next page has the kitten playing with the Death of Rats' tail. The wide shots of Discworld, with its elephants and the Great A'Tuin are especially breathtaking. Buy this book. Buy it for the sublime artwork. Buy it for the hilarious story. Buy it because since Douglas Adams is gone, Terry Pratchett is now the undeniable king of fantasy wit and satire.
My only negative comment: WHERE'S THE LUGGAGE?!?!?!?!
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, immersive experience.
Review: This book is a must-read for Discworld fans. It's got it all - literally: dragons, wizards, Rincewind, Death discussing quantum physics, Valkyries, the Watch, the Librarian, the gods, and the barbarians. I was afraid that, being an oversize, illustrated novel, the story might be skimpy in favour of the paintings, but I really should've known better. I should've trusted Terry Pratchett. This is now one of my two favourite Discworld tales (the other being Reaper Man, mainly because I like Death a lot). The plot? Cohen and his band of heroes have decided that they're going to give fire back to the gods. In view of the harshness of the divine punishment meted out to the original thief of fire (chained to a rock, eagle pecking out his regenerative liver, you know), they're going to give it back in style. We're talking a monstrous keg of black powder here. What the heroes don't realize is that their plan, if it works, will have disastrous effects for the Disc as a whole. Fortunately, others *do* realize this, and so a plan is put into action to stop Cohen and his Silver Horde. Unfortunately, the plan involves getting to the top of the Disc's highest mountain by falling *off* the edge.... Almost everyone makes an appearance in this tale, including several brand-new characters (like Evil Harry Dread, and Vena the Raven-Haired). Even Great A'tuin and the elephants show up. The illustrations are gorgeous, ranging from two-page paintings to sketches by Leonard da Quirm, and they make a perfect complement to the story being told. They immerse you in the story. Even on the "blank" pages, there are often watermark copies of pictures shown elsewhere in the story. It's raucous, it's hilarious, it's well-paced and it includes much discussion about the unwritten Code of Heroes, which is often seen in other works but never admitted to. (Example: One brave and determined man will *always* win against seven enemies. It's just that way. It's the Code.) And as a final note: If you didn't feel sorry for Rincewind before, you certainly will upon seeing the pictures of him in this book. Enjoy! I sure did.
Rating:
Summary: Very pretty pictures and Pratchett in his prime
Review: I like the book. Rincewind doesn't look like I pictured him, but I'm used to the Kirbey pictures from the front of the old books.
This is a good book. I enjoyed it. It's a little shorter and simpler than some of the Discworld series, but it is a complete novel in picture book form. It isn't the best of the series, but is certainly isn't bad.
Don't start reading Pratchett with this one. It assumes some familiarity with the world and the characters. It doesn't detract for me, but I'm something of a fan.
Rating:
Summary: Short but top-notch Discworld adventure
Review: Despite being shorter, this is not a kids' Discworld book but a fully adult novella. Pratchett returns Cohen the Barbarian and his Silver Horde (see "Interesting Times" for more information) to center stage with their plan to challenge the gods of discworld. Meanwhile some of Ankh-Morpork's finest -- Leonardo of Quirm, Rincewind the 'wizzard' and the stalwart Captain Carrot -- are being sent to stop them in the Disc's second spacecraft. (Rincewind gets to choose the motto for the mission patch -- "we who are about to die don't want to.") The illustrations are gorgeous. Given the brevity of the story there aren't quite as many layers as in the standard Pratchett, but what is here is top quality.
Rating: 
Summary: YACDT (Yet Another Classic Discworld Tale)
Review: This installation of the classic DISCWORLD series features Rincewind, Carrot, Leonard De Quirm and The Silver Horde as Cohen the barbarian (and friends) decide to return something special to the Gods. Moreover, in this illustrated book, the illustrations actually do add to the book and are like something out of a fantasy art book. While maybe not "the best" discworld book out there, I feel that this is still in the upper echelon of the reluctant series. If you are new to the series, you may want to read "Interesting Times" and "Guards Guards" first as these will give you a bit more background. However, being new, it may be helpful for you to actually see some of the players in the drama via the illustrations. It's hard to go wrong with a discworld book. In conclusion, this is a funny book which provides a great diversion from the real (ie round) world. Only Mr Pratchett
can turn a line like, "Houston, we have a problem" into "Ankh-Morpork, we have an orangutan." Enjoy! and happy reading.
Rating:
Summary: ...at least it has pictures!
Review: Famed writer Terry Pratchett has amassed a huge readership in the UK, and a smaller but still BIG readership in the USA. With all that backing his books, he apparently has chosen to branch out and experiment a little in his latest ventures. And this experiment is a roaring success. I was a little nervous about this book, afraid that with big full-color pictures...it would have a lame storyline and just be good pictures. I was grateful to be wrong; in recent years some of Pratchett's books have taken a more serious slant, but this book shows what he is best at: Poking fun. His rapier-sharp wit takes on the barbarians in the typical fantasy novels, as well as god pantheons and a bit of space travel to boot. Cohen the Barbarian was a fearsome hero once before, leader of the Silver Horde. He's pretty old, though, as one can see from the cover--though he often loses his false teeth, he's still pretty feisty and remembers the old days where you could pillage, plunder and "ravish" without that pesky civilization thing getting in the way. So he concocts a scheme: Blow up the gods. There are two teensy problems: The gods are incredibly powerful, and if he were to succeed, Discworld would end. Patrician Vetinari gets news of this, as the Silver Horde (assorted decrepit barbarians: Boy Willie, Truckle the Uncivil, Mad Hamish) travels to the hub of Discworld (where the gods live) with a kidnapped minstrel (to compose a saga about this last amazing heroic quest) and Vena the Raven-haired, an ex-warrior babe who isn't so raven-haired anymore. (She's in better shape than the Silver Horde, tho). They also team up with an ex-Dark-Lord, Evil Harry Dread, who's gotten out of the Dark Lord business and is as old as the rest of them (though considerably saner) Vetinari doesn't intend to let them end the world, however. So he enlists Leonard of Quirm, an immensely talented inventor from a prior book. Leonard creates a spacecraft-like device, and fan faves Carrot and cowardly wizard Rincewind join the mission (and the Librarian). They'll encounte aging barbarians posing as minor gods, the pantheon of deities, dragons of several breeds, zero-gravity comedy, Death's cameos, elephant legs, and will actually walk on the moon! Where to start? Well, the story itself is hilariously told (well duh, it's Pratchett), about barbarians and kick-butt heroines, Dark Lords and nefarious henchmen, straight out of any hack fantasy work--with the small problem that they're all about eighty years old. Since we never see aging hack heroes/villains in other novels, this is a refreshing change. It's also great to see fan faves like Leonard (Leonardo da Vinci of Discworld), naive Carrot, and Rincewind who still doesn't want to be on adventures but has to go anyway. The Librarian gets a bit more action than in many Discworld books! Dialogue is great as always, especially the delicious scene where Cohen and Evil Harry Dread meet up again: "You've GOT to let the Dark Lord escape. Everyone knows that." "Got to leave yourself some work for tomorrow." "I mean, I always left a secret back entrance in my Mountain of Dread, I employed really STUPID people as cell guards..." With that out of the way, let me go on to the illustrations. They're excellent. Many fans may not like having pix of such characters as the Patrician, Rincewind, etc shown to them rather than imagining their own, but I enjoyed them overall. Rincewind's shrinking appearance and sort of tattered beard and clothes are great; Patrician looks sufficiently sinister; the Librarion looks kooky (or "ook-y"); we also get clear views of such characters as Leonard, trolls, Death (with a little kitty), and what the sinister dragon-armor of a Dark Lord looks like after about forty years. Carrot was the only one I was disappointed in--that face looks too hard to be our Carrot! I will continue thinking of him as a Stephen Snedden look-alike. I didn't expect Ponder Stibbins to look like an adult, clinically depressed Harry Potter, but I got used to it. And it's worth it alone for the GORGEOUS two-page spread of Great A'tuin, the four Elephants and Discworld on top of it all! What didn't I like? Well, it's too short--I wished it had been longer, though it does say "fable."... ...this is a hilarious new Discworld adventure, not to be missed. (Also recommended for those who enjoy this sort of spoofery: all Discworld books, Diana Wynne Jones' "Tough Guide to Fantasyland")
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Brlliant!
Review: I must admit that when I first saw this book I thought "Graphic Novel? Ugh" thinking that it would be little more than a cartoon strip effort - I was very very wrong... From page one the as ever brilliant illustrations by Kirby help bring the Discworld to life like never before, from the highly amusing drawings of Rincewind (so that's what he looks like!) to the not-so-subtle Cistene(?)-Chappel-like background picture of Cohen and Blind Io. As for the story, after going off the boil a bit in some of his later books, Pratchett manages to keep his 'revival' of highly amusing and intelligent Discworld stories well on track with this latest effort. All I can say without giving away the story is that anyone who DOESNT buy this cannot call him(her)self a true Discworld fan!
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