Synopses & Reviews
Something new has come up between the Discworld's ancient rival cites of Ankh-Morpork and Al-Khali.
Literally
It's up island, rising out of Discworld's sea, uninhabited and claimed by both cities.
Under International Law this situation clearly falls under the ancient doctrine of Acquiris Quodcumque Rapis ("You Get What You Grab"). And everyone wants to grab. Besides, the Al-Khalians may have invented algebra, astronomy and alcohol, but hey don't have a word for lawyer, and how can you talk to people like that?
Since there's no basis for negotiation, it's down to the long-suffering Commander Vimes of the City Watch to deal with a crime as awful that there's no law against it.
It's called war.
Ankh-Morpork has been at peace for a century, and so has Al-Khali. But now there are people on both sides who think it's time to give was a chance, and will happily help it on its way with a few murders...
Modern war needs modern weapons. Unfortunately, Ankh-Morpork got rich making and selling them to Al-Khali. But it's just possible that salvation lies in the hands of the great inventive genius Leonard of Quirm, whose sketchbooks are filled with devices for killing people, flying through the air, and weighing cheese.
Maybe it's in his boat tat travels under water--Leonard calls it a "Going Under-The-Water-Safely Device", or "metal sinking fish thing" for short. (Just because he's an inventor doesn't mean he's good at naming stuff.) But this is carrying something else--a device that so powerful that it can finish any war.
But don't be alarmed. It's fantasy. It all happens on Discworld, where greed and ignorance influence human behavior, politicians pursue was for selfish ends, and perfectly ordinary people occasionally act like raving idiots.
A world, in short, totally unlike our own.
Synopsis
Welcome to Discworld, where the Only Things More bizarre than a very flat planet zipping through space on the backs of four elephants poised atop an enormous turtle are the people that call it home.
Lo and behold: a new island has surfaced in the waters smack between the lands of Ankh-Morpork and Al-Khali. But rather than share this place equally, greedy individuals on both sides hatch a scheme to force the two countries into war -- a particularly nasty situation that hasn't occurred in these parts in more than a century. Now all that stands between an all-out confrontation is Captain Vimes and his gallant troop of City Guards, who must traverse the ocean straight into conflicts with marauding hordes, and, worst of all, bureaucratic blockheads.
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Synopsis
"Pratchett's writing is a constant delight. No one mixes the fantastical and the mundane to better comic effect or offers sharper insights into the absurdities of human endeavor." -- Daily Mail
The twenty-first novel in the Discworld series from New York Times bestselling author Terry Pratchett
It isn't much of an island that rises up one moonless night from the depths of the Circle Sea--just a few square miles of silt and some old ruins. Unfortunately, the historically disputed lump of land called Leshp is once again floating directly between Ankh-Morpork and the city of Al-Khali on the coast of Klatch--which is spark enough to ignite that glorious international pastime called "war." Pressed into patriotic service, Commander Sam Vimes thinks he should be leading his loyal watchmen, female watchdwarf, and lady werewolf into battle against local malefactors rather than against uncomfortably well-armed strangers in the Klatchian desert. But war is, after all, simply the greatest of all crimes--and it's Sir Samuel's sworn duty to seek out criminal masterminds wherever they may be hiding...and lock them away before they can do any real damage. Even the ones on his own side.
About the Author
Sir Terry Pratchett's many honors include the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, a Printz Honor, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Britain's Carnegie Medal, the American Library Association's Margaret A. Edwards Award for lasting contribution to young adult literature, and the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award. His books have sold more than 75 million copies worldwide. Knighted for his "services to literature," Sir Terry lives in England with his wife and many cats.