Second paragraph of third section:
The girl, who had been admiring her new hat in the mirror, tweaked the already low neckline of her dress for slightly more exposure, just in case the caller was male, and went and opened the door.
Gradually getting through my stack of Discworld books which I had not written up previously. I think that in fact I had not read this before – although I added it to my LibraryThing catalogue when I set it up in 2005, I also have a record that I got a second-hand copy in 2010, and it did not seem familiar to me.
There are several quite disparate elements to the story. The main narrative concerns one Jeremy Clockson (groan) who is building the perfect clock, which incidentally will bring the world to an end. There’s Susan Sto Helit trying to fix things because her grandfather cannot due to handwavium. There’s a spoof of Chinese kung-fu films with the humble sweeper in the monastery turning out to be the venerable monk with arcane talents. There’s a silly bit with the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse. The most successful bit for me was the portrayal of the Auditors of Time, grim inhuman regulators of the type that Pratchett hated, but who are undone by their interaction with humanity (and the other inhabitants of Discworld). All in all, I thought that balancing these various things sucked up some of the energy that might have otherwise gone into plot and humour. So, not my favourite Pratchett, though not awful either. You can get Thief of Time here.
Next up: The Fifth Elephant, of which I have fond memories.
The Colour of Magic | The Light Fantastic | Equal Rites | Mort | Sourcery | Wyrd Sisters | Pyramids | Guards! Guards! | Eric | Moving Pictures | Reaper Man | Witches Abroad | Small Gods | Lords and Ladies | Men at Arms | Soul Music | Interesting Times | Maskerade | Feet of Clay | Hogfather | Jingo | The Last Continent | Carpe Jugulum | The Fifth Elephant | The Truth | Thief of Time | The Last Hero | The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents | Night Watch | The Wee Free Men | Monstrous Regiment | A Hat Full of Sky | Going Postal | Thud! | Wintersmith | Making Money | Unseen Academicals | I Shall Wear Midnight | Snuff | Raising Steam | The Shepherd’s Crown