Snuff
by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, 2011)
audiobook read by Jon Culshaw (Penguin Audio, 2023)
Surely the least funny Discworld novel, though in the best possible way. Pratchett’s humour is rooted in humanity, and thus flown at a respectful half-mast throughout what proves a chastening examination (by the incomparable Sam Vimes) of murderous privilege and unthinking prejudice.
Thud!
by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, 2005)
audiobook read by Stephen Briggs (Isis, 2005)
Loses some edge upon re-reading, and a little too serious-minded to be top-shelf Pratchett, but nevertheless a cutting examination of religion and prejudice, shrouded in pseudo-mystery. Sam Vimes is good value (as always), as is Stephen Briggs (especially narrating Where’s My Cow?).
The Fifth Elephant
by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, 1999); audiobook read by Stephen Briggs (Isis, 2000)
A relatively dour instalment that, uncharacteristically, loses a little upon re-reading. As per many City Watch stories, much rests upon Vimes’s world view (good) and a slow-burning mystery (muddled). The grating Fred Colon subplot serves only to highlight the paucity of humour.
Jingo
by Terry Pratchett (Victor Gollancz, 1997); audiobook read by Nigel Planer (Isis, 2000)
Plotwise, Jingo ties itself in knots and threads. The humour is less overt than elsewhere in the Discworld canon, but there remains a droll, page-turning appeal in Pratchett’s railing against—with every weapon at his disposal, primarily Sam Vimes—humanity’s absurd jingoism.
Night Watch
by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, 2002); audiobook read by Stephen Briggs (Isis, 2002)
Night Watch is one of Pratchett’s least funny Discworld novels, in the best possible way. The gallows humour remains but the story — a poignant time travel paradox that sees Sam Vimes mentor his younger self through a bloody revolution — is more focussed.