Rating: 
Summary: A -ing good read!
Review: The twenty-fifth Discworld novel tells the story of the first (and second) Ankh-Morpork newspaper(s).As the youngest son of a well-to-do family, William was destined to a cleric, or a land manager, or maybe a soldier career. But in fact he's always liked reading and writing, and having moved to Ankh-Morpork he's trying to make words his living. Therefore for some time now, and five dollars, he has been writing a monthly news-letter to some select members of the nobility in several corners of the Discworld, in close collaboration with the Guild of Engravers... until one day, when he finds himself knocked down by the dwarf Goodmountain carrying a huge engine: a press. And so the Ankh-Morpork Times was born. Being able to have many copies much quicker, and to sell them to much more people, he is also faced with the problem of having to find lots of new interesting things to say. And even though he realises that people are ready to take everything for granted as long as it's in the paper, he wants to tell only the TRUTH. And when the Patrician, Lord Vetinari, is arrested for the apparent murder of his clerk and the theft of seventy thousand dollars (in coins), William starts to investigate. At the same time, competition arrives too. Less fussy about veracity, The Inquirer quickly becomes the people's favourite. The Truth is a wonderful satire of the world of journalism and the power of media. But aside from that, with great new characters such as Sacharissa and Otto the vampire Iconographer, as well as dear old ones such as Gaspode the Wonder Dog and Vimes, it's also a -ing funny book... well of course it is!
Rating:
Summary: ...is Out There
Review: Pratchett does it yet again with this, the 25th installment in the highly entertaining Discworld series. This time, it's the Times- the Ankh-Morpork Times. Yes, the Discworld's most famous (or perhaps infamous) city now has a newspaper. And of course, it contains nothing but the truth... This novel features many of the characters that Pratchett fans already know and love- the Watch, the wizards, Foul Ole Ron and Gaspode the Wonder Dog amongst others. Our hero, however, is a newcomer to the pages of the Discworld. William de Worde is a man with a vision (and a shed full of dwarfs) and he's determined to stick to his ideals- even when a cunning political plot to overthrow the Patrician threatens to overturn and trample him along with them. Filled with merciless parody and wicked satire, Pratchett's work is both a cleverly constructed social commentary on the follies of our time and a rollicking good read. "The Truth" features not only the characteristic Pratchett humour but a tightly woven plot. These two elements combined raise this novel to among the best Discworld adventures so far.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth is... well, on my bookshelf, actually
Review: The best Discworld book so far? Controversial, but I think so. A Guard book, but not truely so; a Gods book, but not really that either; but entirely the best way to take a series into its twenty-fifth episode and still keep it fresh. How long can he keep going? Here's to 'forever'.
Rating:
Summary: Another winner from the Pratchett Files
Review: I had considered making this review simply be the sentence: "This book was written by Terry Pratchett." After all, there are only three possiblities: a) you like his writing; b) you don't care for it; c) you've never heard of him. If you like his writing, buy this book. If you don't care for his writing, this review is hardly going to change your mind. If you've never heard of him, then start with The Colour of Magic, run through the whole of the Discworld Series, and come back here when you've caught up. Fair warning: there are over 20 books in the series, and Pratchett is showing no signs of letting up. I suppose the best way to start off is to compare this book with the others he's written. Is it better? Worse? The same? Well, it's got a bunch of familiar characters in, including Vimes and the Patricitian. Even C.M.O.T. Dibbler makes a cameo. About the best comparison I can make, though, is that the footnotes are getting fewer and farther-between. I'd rather see more, since it means more jokes, obviously. But beyond that, there are the old, familiar plot points that Pratchett handles so well. Here it revolves around the invention (or re-invention, apparently) of the moveable-type printing press, and an alleged attempt by Vetinari to kill someone and make off with a fortune. The ideas it explores are interesting: what is the journalist's role in discovering the truth? How are law enforcement authorities hindered or helped by this? How much of what the journalist learns can be safely disseminated to the general public? Ultimately: where is the line drawn between the truth and what the public needs to know? It's a difficult undertaking, but Pratchett does a great job pulling it all together. He adds in his his usual roller-coaster ploting, giving the reader just enough information to keep going, but not enough to get all the answers in one go. Atypically however, as the story reaches its climax, we're pulled in multiple directions, cheering on everyone (except for the obvious 'bad guy') all at once. Pratchett pokes fun at established conventions with his usual aplomb. He hits all the right notes here, and the book is enjoyable throughout. Bravo.
Rating:
Summary: THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YE FRET!
Review: This is one of my favourite Discworld books. We get cameos, nasty digs at the tabloids and some great new characters. William and his idealistic quest for the truth is instantly likable, as is Otto. In fact, Otto, the "vampire with a suicidal fascination for flash photography", is now one of my fave Discworld characters; up their with Death, the Luggage, Nobby Nobbs and Nanny Ogg. However, the US cover is frankly piss compared to the UK one.
Rating: 
Summary: The Truth is what you want it to be
Review: There's no denying it, Terry Pratchett is one of the most outstanding authors of our time, combining sly and witty humour with sharp moralism. The Truth, personally speaking, is not as good as some of his other works, but it more than makes up for it with its characters. Oh, it's funny, and it's still as sharp a satire as Pterry can write. The Truth is a great book on it's own, and I would highly recommend it to anyone. Expect the classic wit and good moralistic and philosophical lesson that comes from Pterry. I won't give you a synopsis, that's been done. But since The Truth is a book written in a whole series of wonderfully humourous books, comparison with his other works would surely arise. While I am a relatively new fan to the Discworld books (The Truth is the 5th Discworld book that I read), I can't help but make a small note of comparison that The Truth did not quite leave me rolling laughing on the floor as Feet of Clay did. Maybe it's because I've started to grow familiar with the quirkiness of Ankh-Morpork (tragic!), or maybe it's some other reason, but The Truth just didn't have me laughing a lot. As for it's mystery, without offering any spoilers, The Truth is no where as good as Pterry's books on The Watch, which The Truth is all too often linked to. Some events still needed a certain leap of faith to digest and lack a solid explanation. The Truth does have a very distinct and solid moral theme, posing the thought-provoking question: What is the journalistic truth? Is it what people want to hear, or what the newspapers choose to say? Is a half-truth the truth? William claims to be answerable to the truth, but what truth is that? Telling the truth, as Pterry writes, is not the same as being honest. But what The Truth does have that raises it above the rest is a cast of colourful and deep characters. Expect the same old favourites appearing - Gaspode and Foul Ole Ron, for an example - and some very interesting new characters. William de Worde may be a character you love or hate (I know I love him - anyone who can do what he did to the Patrician is one heckuva guy), but there's no doubt he's one that speaks of much depth. I won't be surprised to see that he would appear again in another book. Fans of Vetinari (I don't know how many there are, but I know I'm one) would be glad to know that in this book, the mysterious but loyal clerk Drumknott plays a bigger role than usual, and so does his adorable(?) dog Wuffles. Even mediocre characters in the book are interesting. Call it a subjective point of view, not everyone likes the characters in The Truth as I do, but hey, I know I did. And of course, as promised by Pterry, you get to see Vimes and The Watch from an outsider's point of view. That alone is a bonus in itself. All in all, The Truth is not the funniest or the cleverest Discworld book that I've read, but it has all the marks of Pterry's works - moral, plot, and humour - combined with one of the most colourful assemble of characters I have read. I will be looking forward to any future books that would include William de Worde in it. Oh, and of course, the absolutely unforgettable - Otto the teetotaling vampire with a suicidal craving for flash photography, absolutely rocks.
Rating:
Summary: The Truth Shall Make Us Fret
Review: Ankh-Morpork is one of Discworld's greatest gems. A huge city composed of everything unusual and odd. The people are a mixture of all the races and personality types that inhabit Terry Pratchett's rich fantasies. Some are almost normal, but most have quirks of the most extreme nature. Each, from the lowest talking dog to the highest flying university official has a story or two to tell. No wonder, then, that movable type was invented in Ankh-Morpork and that, shortly thereafter, the first newspaper rolled off the presses. The hero of this tale is William de Worde, errant scion of an influential family. William was already using the engraver's guild to create a small gossip letter that earned him a minimal living. A chance meeting with a flying object introduced him to Gunilla Goodmountain, the printer. In short order, overwhelmed by the lure of technology, his gossip letter has turned into a full fledged daily newspaper, 'The Ankh-Morpork Times.' William's only quibble was that The Times should always report the truth, whether it was a report of a funny looking vegetable or an interview with Lord Vetinari, the Patrician of the city. As you might imagine a compulsion to tell the truth can have a disastrous effect on one's life expectancy in a city like Ankh-Morpork, where corruption is considered a delicacy. When William discovers that Lord Vetinari's attempt to abscond with a good piece if the treasury was much, much more, serious trouble begins. He find's himself under the scrutiny of the Ankh-Morpork Watch (they may be slow, but they are very dogged) and Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip, the Ollie and Stan of the criminal world. William must also stand up to the opposition of the Engraver's Guild. Fearing that movable type will put engravers out of business, the Guild starts up its own newspaper, a fine example of the scandal sheet. Not limited to telling the truth, they quickly become serious competition. If you love quirky characters, Pratchett's your writer. And Ankh-Morpork is your town. Helping William out at the newspaper is the beautiful Sacharissa Cripslock, who started out Clean and Respectable but rapidly turns into a reporter with a flair for the business. Then we have the twelve people who live under Misbegot Bridge (in only 5 bodies) and the legendary, ever present talking dog. And don't forget the inevitable appearance of DEATH himself. But the very best character of "The Truth" is Otto Chriek the recovering vampire. Otto is a member of the Uberwald Temperance League and now never drinks human 'b-word.' He hires on to the Times as an iconographer (with a demon powered camera) and quickly proves himself indespensable. Or as indispensable as a vampire can be who keeps vaporizing himself when he takes flash pictures. As you can tell, "The Truth" is another Pratchett classic. While not quite the equal of "Thief of Time" and "Small Gods," it's still upper echelon. Pratchett manages to make fun of everything he comes upon without ever really offending, and his use of vulgarity is hardly vulgar. Sometimes I suspect that Pratchett would even be funnier if I was familiar with British slang, but I catch enough of the jokes to wince and chortle and to scare the cats. Have fun!!
Rating:
Summary: Close to the best work Pratchett has ever done
Review: What is journalism. Is it entertainment or is it non-fiction? Does a good story in a newspaper have to be true or can it just be interesting? My gosh, is this good. At the same time that this is a very funny book, there is alot of thought provoking content. I heard Pratchett read portions of this book back in March, 2000. His reading was MUCH funnier than the printed word would at first glance make you think. You keep getting abushed by unbelievably funny puns or ordinary people doing appallingly silly things that seem perfectly logical for them to do, but a hilarious in print. On the other hand, Pratchett attacks the major theme of what is the nature of journalist truth. At the same time people want to be told about women giving birth to snakes, they also want to hear what the society of budgy owners are doing. They want to hear a silly story about the elves kidnapping the poor woman's husband (the same one that abducted by demons last week), and at the same time they should know that the ruler of their city is about to get deposed by a bad set of miscrients. Pratchett makes the point that in an authoritarian society, there is nothing a newspaper can do to make people care about what their rulers are doing. Most people WANT to be entertained. It is only in a democracy that you can take an interest in the ruling classes beyond worrying about their makeup and the clothes they are wearing. The villians in this story are villainous. The heroes are heroic. The police are not fools. Yet each character gets an in depth airing. You get to the point that the villians become INTERESTING. Pratchett sends up even art snobs. Watch out for the potato story, it will leave you gasping for breath.
Rating:
Summary: What Is Truth, Asked Jesting Pratchett
Review: ...and stayed and gave several answers. Movable type comes to Ankh-Morpork, and all of the cliches and tropes of the "crusading reporter" and "cynical Administration vs. the Press" story and film play themselves out with typical confusing Discworld speed before the reader's slightly bemused and somewhat bewildered gaze. William de Worde, scapegrace younger son of a noble family, is making part of his living as a public writer-down of things for people who are a bit lacking in penmanship, but most of it comes from the fact that various nobles in various parts of the Discworld REALLY want to know what's going on in Ankh-Morpork and pay him well to write them monthly letters of such. He has already tumbled to the fact that he can get an engraver to make him a plate with all the info and spaces to fill in each client's name, thus collecting several fees for, essentially, one job. And then someone* yells "Stop the press..." That is, the cart that has Ankh-Morpork's first moveable-type printing press gets away on a hilly street on a cold ciy/foggy night. William is struck by the idea -- struck so hard that he's unconscious for some time. And soon he's involved with the dwarfs who own the press, and instead of a monthly letter to four or five clients for a large price each, he is printing a daily newsletter -- well, newsPAPER -- that sells lots of copies for a small amount. And here's where the real trouble and the questions as to Just What Is Truth begin. The wizards are afraid that moveable type, if used to print something magickal, may REMEMBER and pass some of the magick on to other things printed later. Various Prominent Citizens are rather upset by William's manner of writing things down with intent. Intent to publish, that is. The Watch are upset partly over the same things as the PromCits, and partly that the paper will stir up trouble. The Patrician is upset about ALL of those things and at the thought of how FAST things develop in the Big Wahoonie -- he drops by the offices and inquires if the offices are located over any known rifts in reality or spacetime and whether Mr. Cut Me Own Throat Dibbler has anything to do with the enterprise. Dibbler, meanwhile, always quick to move with the times (or is that "the Times"), is inventing the mendacious handbill. And the phrase "If it weren't true, they wouldn't let them print it, right?" enters the Ankh-Morpork lexicon. Add in a sub-rosa "Committee to De-Select the Patrician", using a zombie lawyer to employ a pair of out-of-town all-round Very Bad Men to carry out an obscure (though not really all THAT hard to guess) criminal venture, the Engraver's Guild's upset over the concept of moveable type and its attempts to put the paper out of business, a rival paper (the "Inquirer") that sells for less and specialises in stories of the "Woman in Lancre Gives Birth to Cobra" variety and, last but hardly least, the arrest of the Patrician for attempting to murder his own Secretary and abscond with a major part of the City Treasury, and it's "Welcome to Ankh-Morpork, We Hope You Enjoy Your Stay" for readers. This book has a fair amount of new cast, though the primary members of the Guards appear here and there, CMOT Dibbler sells sausages and has other ideas, the Patrician is more visible (and developed/developing) than he's been in a while. Gaspode the Wonder Dog becomes important when it's realised that the only witness to the Patrician's apparent attack on his Secretary is an elderly terrier, and Gaspode has attached himself to Foul Ole Ron and his friends. Fans of Granny, Nannie, Magrat and Agnes will be disappointed by a complete state of witchlessness, and the wizards from Unseen University have only what amounts to a cameo appearance**... and Death is allowed only two short but Important appearances. Here and there are to be seen bits of the inimitable Pratchettian Skewed Vision -- Commander Vimes walks into the paper's office and threatens William with his truncheon and William counter-threatens by pulling a notebook out of HIS pocket. The most vicious and irredeemable thug-for-hire in the entire world is also its greatest, most sensitive and most knowledgeable art expert. As to What Is Truth? -- if it's in the paper, it must be true. But it only has to be true 'til tomorrow... NOTES: *That "somone" would be dwarf Gunilly Goodmountain, owner of Ankh-Morpork's first moveable-type press, or perhaps Caslong or Boddony, his assistants and yes, their names ARE off type cases... **Fans of the Bursar, however, will be pleased to know that the rest of the Faculty have finally gotten his doseage of dried frog pills right; he now spends most of his days hallucinating that he is a perfectly sane man...*** ***Well, a perfectly sane man who can fly. In the average person, not so important. However, given that he's a wizard... But they've mostly convinced him not to soar above the campus walls.
Rating:
Summary: Worthy Successor To Fifth Elephant
Review: Following close on the heals of "The Fifth Elephant," Terry Pratchett has again turned in an equally outstanding performance with "The Truth." Parodying and poking fun at everything from the homeless to the patrician rich, enterprise, technology, the law and the fifth estate---the news and the olds---Pratchett is nothing if not an equal opportunity satirist. Many of the series' favorite characters---Commander Vimes and the Watch, the Patrician, Gasparode and Ole Foul Ron---are here, but center stage is occupied by the introduction of three new players to the series, William de Worde, Sacharissa and the vampire iconographer, Otto Chriek, who I hope we will see more of, especially the latter, since as archetypes they possess fecund roles for the future. Additionally, two of the most memorable scoundrels of Pratchett's many pageants arrive in the form of Mr. Tulip and Mr. Pin, with the former's unexpected and refined appreciation and criticism of art a particular delight. But in many ways, as in all of Pratchett's novels, the ultimate kudos for performances go to his rich and jaundiced cast of secondary players, from Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler to the multiple personalities of Altogether Andrews. One wonders whether Captain Carrot and Sergeant Angua will ever come out of the kennel...er, closet...and the life of every social occasion, Death, makes a rare if somewhat somber appearance. There is a serious side hidden beneath all this fun, perhaps best if humorously revealed in the fates awaiting Mr. Tulip and Mr. Pin. It is not the instrument of evil that is ultimately held most to account, but the mind that sets it in motion. This theme is echoed in William's confrontation with Lord de Worde, as well as hinted at in oblique references to the Patrician and the pontifical role played by Mr. Mackleduff around the breakfast table. Pratchett here turns a critical eye towards bigotry, as well as the temporal and largely relative nature found in the use of words and their extension as truth. However, if you chuckle it can easily be lost in the laughter. Another marvelous outing from one of literature's finest satirists. Certainly our modern day Swift or Carroll, and highly, highly recommended to any reader, regardless of their taste in the mirth.
| 
