Rating: 
Summary: The best of the series to date.
Review: To say that this is the story of Imp the Bard, Death's granddaughter, and rock music is an understatement worthy only of Terry Pratchett's footnotes. Soul Music tells of how Death retires (like Sinatra, one of his many retirements in the Discworld series) and his granddaughter takes up the scythe. Imp the Bard, meanwhile, refuses to die (and the new Death refuses to kill him) due to the nefarious influences of the new music he has invented, Music With Rocks In. Pratchett uses the now familiar "flat earth" conceit of the Discworld to satirize all elements of music, from our obsession with Buddy Holly, to the very British in-joke of Cliff. The best of the series to date
Rating: 
Summary: Another Discworld Classic
Review: I didn't enjoy this novel as much as I did Pratchett's Mort, but I still spent most of the book giggling to myself. More than some of his other novels, Pratchett worked in real-world tie-ins. Many of them are in pun form, some of them are just allusion, but I plan to read this several more times to see if I can find more. I recommend this book to anyone already familiar with Pratchett or anyone who enjoys Piers Anthony's punniness.
Rating:
Summary: Too Old For Rock and Roll? Too Young To Die?
Review: The answers to those questions and more may be found in Terry Pratchett's hilariously funny and thoughtful Soul Music.
Soul Music consists of two parallel plot lines which, because this is Discworld and not the earth, converge as they reach the story's horizons. First we meet Imp y Celyn, soon to be known to the world as Bud of the Holly or Buddy, as he travels the long and winding road from his home of Llamedos to Ankh-Morpork. Back hone, Imp's music always made his people smile and he knew if he had a chance he could make some people dance and maybe they'd be happy for a while. Unable to raise enough cash to join the musicians' guild, Buddy, after picking up a very odd guitar at a strange music store joins up with Glod the dwarf and Lias the troll and form a musical group. In short order the group has a gig at the Mended Drum.
In the meantime, DEATH is in the midst of his nineteenth nervous breakdown. As DEATH walks through his land of broken dreams, he seems unconcerned about what becomes of those who should now be departed. There will be disastrous consequences for the universe (see Reaper Man) if DEATH does not perform his obligations. The Death of Rats and his raven translator Quoth go desperately seeking Susan, DEATH's granddaughter. She is persuaded by Death of Rats to fill in until DEATH can be found and persuaded to return to work. Susan soon finds herself atop DEATH's horse Binky. She's eight miles high and when she touches down in Ankh-Morpork she enters the Mended Drum to meet her first assignment - - - Buddy. And then all heck breaks loose.
Buddy starts to play the guitar just like he's ringing a bell and the world seems to stop. It may be that only the good, like Buddy, die young but in this instance Susan says something DEATH would never say: "it isn't fair". Though no fault of her own, Buddy does not go up to that spirit in the sky, Buddy and his music live on. The obvious question becomes why is he still alive and to what purpose?
"Music with rocks in" it becomes the next big thing. Even the wizards at Unseen University fall prey to these musical magic moments, so different and so new. Cut Me Own Throat Dibbler soon makes an appearance and rapidly transforms himself from purveyor of sausages to greedy rapacious rock and roll impresario. Soon, every kid in Ankh-Morpork wants to be a music with rocks in star. They get electric guitars but don't learn how to play. They think with their hair swung right and their pants too tight it will be all right. Little do they know that in the crafty hands of CMOT Dibbler even musicians with talent will soon be in dire straights.
Meanwhile, Susan, Death of Rats and even Albert, DEATH's loyal man Friday, search Discworld for DEATH. DEATH has been seen sitting on the dock of the river in Ankh-Morpork, drinking whiskey and rye with the good ole boys at the Mended Drum, and standing guard at midnight at an oasis manned by the Klatchian Foreign Legion. His internal dialogue is priceless, funny, and thoughtful.
Events proceed rapidly as Dibbler prepares the band for a huge free concert in Ankh-Morpork. This will be Discworld's Woodstock. Will Susan's sense of justice prevail? Will Buddy survive even though the sands in his hour glass are long gone? Will the Librarian get money for nothing and his chimps for free? Will the wizards ride though mansions of glory in suicide machines? The answers to these questions aren't blowing in the wind but they are in the book.
As far as Terry Pratchett's Discworld books are concerned, Soul Music is near the top of the charts . . . with a bullet.
Elvish has left the building.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Discworld greats
Review: This is the sixteenth book in Terry Pratchett's series on the Discworld - a flat world, supported on the backs of four massive elephants riding on the back of a planet-sized turtle. Anything hilarious can happen here, and eventually does.
In this book, Death (capital "D", he's the man, or rather the anthropomorphic personification) disappears, and his granddaughter (that's another story) is forced to pick up the family business. But, there's something very strange going on here. A young man who was supposed to die has been strangely saved by music, and the music now owns him. It has all happened before, somewhere else, but now it has come to the Discworld - sex and drugs and Music With Rocks In!
This is one of Terry Pratchett's masterpieces, and that is really saying something. I like all of the Discworld books, but several are special, like this one. This is a great book, laugh-out-loud funny with lots of great references to rock music and movies. Beyond that, though, the story is very entertaining, and will keep you sitting up at night turning pages (like it did to me).
This is one of the Discworld greats, a book that I highly recommend to all fans of great fantasy literature!
Rating: 
Summary: Actually 3.5 stars
Review:
More of the same... Pratchett's Discworld series is sumptuous. My earlier comparisons (in my reviews of Mort and The Truth) with P.G. Wodehouse's fictional world seem pretty apt. Both Pratchett's and Wodehouse's worlds are utterly pleasurable places to immerse oneself in. Both are dreamlike fantasies which nevertheless maintain strong connections with the so-called `real' world. Both are peopled with a wide variety of grotesques/caricatures/stereotypes which are, somehow, utterly compelling and utterly believable. Both weave fantastically complicated plots and sub-plots and employ many of the devices of farce and sitcom. I think Pratchett's world, characters, themes, philosophies etc are much more varied in scope - Discworld is, after all, an actual, literal world as opposed to Wodehouse's much more limited, self-enclosed, metaphoric world of the English upper classes/landed gentry etc. Pratchett wins, hands down, for the sheer breadth and depth of his imagination. But I think Wodehouse is far superior in his use of the English language and his works have a far higher laugh rate than Pratchett's. Typically with Wodehouse, I'm archly amused several times per paragraph, doubled up with laughter several times per chapter and swooning at the sheer brilliance of the writing and story several times per book. With Pratchett, most of my response is arch amusement and I'm only doubled up with laughter a handful of times per book (so far) and rarely swooning at the sheer brilliance of the writing or story. This sounds like I'm really laying into Pratchett. I'm not. I think it is well worth any reader's while to spend significant chunks of their life ploughing through the Pratchett oeuvre. Just make sure you allocate enough time to simultaneously consume plenty of Wodehouse too! Anyhow, back to Soul Music. Highlights include... the highly sympathetic characters of Susan Death, Buddy, Cliff, Glod, the Librarian... a plethora of groan-inducing puns... fantastic pastiches of the music industry... the loving evocation of the unique magic of rock music... and the fact that I wished the story were twice as long (yet again, Pratchett's ending is poignant, hopeful, just plain good!) I had more fun with this Discworld novel than the others I've read so far (Mort, The Truth) and I was quite moved by it. It had less flab than The Truth and was more meaty than Mort. (Though, curiously, Death himself was a bit washed up - difficult third album syndrome, no doubt!) So, tentatively, I'd say it's my fave so far... but that statement is subject to change... Feet of Clay next...
Rating:
Summary: hilarity ensues!
Review: Soul Music is another chapter in Pratchett's Discworld series. In this particular novel, Death has taken another hiatus to try and "find himself" (or maybe to just forget himself). So, the job of the grim reaper is bestowed upon his adopted granddaughter, Susan. At the same time, Imp The Bard has just bought an enchanted guitar in a music shop. Little does he know that the guitar holds a powerful secret that could mean the end of the universe. When Susan and Imp cross paths, it seams that both of their worlds are thrown into chaos. It's up to Susan to figure out the secret behind the enchanted guitar before a catastrophe occurs that even Death himself couldn't fix.
Once again, Pratchett proves he's a genius at writing satire. Each book he releases seems to be better than the one before. Soul Music is no exception. Along with a plethora of new characters, the usual suspects are still there. Including the inept wizards of Unseen University who add even more hilarity to this extremely funny story. The only problem with any of Pratchett's Discworld books is that you have to read them in some kind of order to remotely understand what is really going on. This is difficult due to the fact that there are now over 40 books in the series and Pratchet doesn't write them in any useful order (or so it seems). However, you can find some good reading "guides" on the internet from time to time to help you in your journey through the Discworld. Believe me, it's worth the effort.
Rating:
Summary: Another Discworld Classic
Review: I didn't enjoy this novel as much as I did Pratchett's Mort, but I still spent most of the book giggling to myself. More than some of his other novels, Pratchett worked in real-world tie-ins. Many of them are in pun form, some of them are just allusion, but I plan to read this several more times to see if I can find more. I recommend this book to anyone already familiar with Pratchett or anyone who enjoys Piers Anthony's punniness.
Rating:
Summary: A Horseman perplexed
Review: Who but Terry Pratchett could seek sympathy for the feelings of the Death of the Discworld? And obtain it? Once again, Pratchett offers readers a rich banquet of deep philosophic questions served with his saucy wit. As usual the repast may be taken lightly, skimming off the quirky characters - the Raven takes the top marks in this book - or the horrid puns emanating from the music [Welsh for Buddy Holly??!! arghh!]. Otherwise, the gourmet PTerry fan may relish fully the issues surrounding life. And death. Pratchett, as always, may be read at many levels. Any Discworld book may be read repeatedly, and this one is no exception. Death is unique among the Four Horsemen - he's the only one that's inevitable. As an Anthropomorphic Personification, Death is something other than simply a blind force. Small feelings burrow through his consciousness. Without a human frame of reference, he cannot comprehend them fully. He is, however, aware that things aren't quite right. He therefore goes off to determine what is wrong. His departure leaves a void demanding filling. His replacement is the daughter of his foundling and his apprentice - Susan Sto Helit. With Susan, Pratchett turns away from Death to examine Life. In this instance, Life shows how powerful it can be, even self generating. Life, the universe itself, may be the result of a musical note. Never mind the Big Bang, how about the Big Bong? Life, through Music, shows its universality through Music With Rocks In. Rock music can be performed by everyone. Talent, discipline, training all may be ignored. Music With Rocks In is little more than the fullest expression of human feeling. Even Susan, much detached from her surroundings, is caught up in its force. In Susan, Pratchett demonstrates the power of his characterisation. She is Death's granddaughter, carrying his "genes" providing inexplicable powers. She can speak with THE VOICE, become invisible, ride Binky. She's human, with a strong sense of justice, vexed by the loss of good people and the survival of bad ones. She wants Death to be "fair", but He can only be what he is - inevitable. Pratchett, of course, must somehow reconcile these views, which he does with his usual panache. Through it all, the Music strives for survival. Pratchett feels that's important because it means survival for us all. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
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