The Fifth
Elephant
by Terry Pratchett
A book review by Mark L. Olson
HarperCollins, 2000, 321 pp, $24.00
Uberwald was recently added to the Discworld scene in Carpe Jugulum, where Uberwaldian vampires try to take over Lancre. Uberwald is a large country which seems to be reminiscent of German myth -- it's a country with no central authority, inhabited by vampires, werewolves and dwarfs -- and people, of course.
Politics in Uberwald are complicated. Besides the basic three-sided (people don't count) structure, the dwarfs are split and a young werewolf is trying to build up his own organization.
In Ankh-Morpork, Sam Vimes and the Watch are dealing with the mysterious theft of a replica of the Scone of Stone, an especially durable piece of dwarf bread upon which a new King of the Dwarfs sits to complete his investiture. Then the Patrician decides to send Vimes to Uberwald as Ankh-Morpork's representative to the crowning of the next Dwarf king.
As you'd expect, the missing Scone of Stone plays a role as do Capt. Carrot (the 6' adopted dwarf) and his girlfriend Cpl. Angua, a werewolf.
As always, it's a good story, well told and with some moral depth to it, also. (I continued to be amazed at how Pratchett has taken a cute idea and spun it out into a 20+ book series which just keeps getting better.)
See also my other Pratchett reviews: The Truth, Terry Pratchett: Guilty of Literature, Carpe Jugulum, The Science of Discworld, The Fifth Elephant, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, The Last Hero, Jingo, Night Watch, The Wee Free Men
NESFA homepage | Review Index | More Reviews by Mark L. Olson