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Carpe Jugulum is one of several Pratchetts featuring the Witches, but apparently his first to star vampires – and what a great bunch they are! This book grabbed me by my throat, grinned a toothful grin and bit into my neck in a way, which made it hard to shake off. Soon I was swept ... Read review
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juggernaut procession onwards. Pratchett is an author who inspires such devotions that his fans will fall on the novel with cries of joy. Non-fans, perhaps, wil...
mountain kingdom of Lancre for a simple little religious ceremony. Now he's caught up in a war between vampires and witches and he's not sure there is a right side. Ther...
a simple ceremony. Now he's caught up in a war between vampires and witches. There's Young Agnes who is really in two minds about everything - Magrat who is tryin...
juggernaut procession onwards. Pratchett is an author who inspires such devotions that his fans will fall on the novel with cries of joy. Non-fans, perhaps, will...
juggernaut procession onwards. Pratchett is an author who inspires such devotions that his fans will fall on the novel with cries of joy. Non-fans, perhaps, will...
juggernaut procession onwards. Pratchett is an author who inspires such devotions that his fans will fall on the novel with cries of joy. Non-fans, perhaps, will want to know what all the fuss is about; and that's something difficult to put into a few words. The best thing to do for those completely new to Pratchett is to sample him for themselves, and this novel is as good a place to start as any. But fans have a more precise question. They know that Discworld novels come in one of two varieties: the quite good, and the brilliant. So, for instance, whereHogfatherandMaskeradewere quite good,Feet of ClayandJingowere brilliant. While true fans wouldn't want to do without the former, they absolutely live for the latter. And withCarpe JugulumPratchett has hit jackpot again. This novel is one of the brilliant ones.The plot is a version of an earlier Discworld novel, Lords and Ladies, with the predatory elves of that novel being replaced here by suave and deadly vampires, and the tiny kingdom of Lancre being defended by its witches. But plot is the least of Pratchett's appeal, and Carpe Jugulum is loaded with marvellous characters (not least the witches themselves, about whom we learn a deal more here), comic touches and scenes of genius, and even some of the renowned down-to-earth Pratchett wisdom (here about the inner ethical conflicts we all face, and the wrongness of treating people as things). Pratchett's vampires are elegant Bela Lugosi types, and they come up against an unlikely but engaging alliance of witches, blue-skinned pixies like Rob Roy Smurfs, a doubting priest with a boil on his face and a magical house-sized Phoenix in a seamless, completely absorbing and feel-good-about-the-universe mixture. Highly recommended. --Adam Roberts
juggernaut procession onwards. Pratchett is an author who inspires such devotions that his fans will fall on the novel with cries of joy. Non-fans, perhaps, will want to know what all the fuss is about; and that's something difficult to put into a few words. The best thing to do for those completely new to Pratchett is to sample him for themselves, and this novel is as good a place to start as any. But fans have a more precise question. They know that Discworld novels come in one of two varieties: the quite good, and the brilliant. So, for instance, whereHogfatherandMaskeradewere quite good,Feet of ClayandJingowere brilliant. While true fans wouldn't want to do without the former, they absolutely live for the latter. And withCarpe JugulumPratchett has hit jackpot again. This novel is one of the brilliant ones.The plot is a version of an earlier Discworld novel, Lords and Ladies, with the predatory elves of that novel being replaced here by suave and deadly vampires, and the tiny kingdom of Lancre being defended by its witches. But plot is the least of Pratchett's appeal, and Carpe Jugulum is loaded with marvellous characters (not least the witches themselves, about whom we learn a deal more here), comic touches and scenes of genius, and even some of the renowned down-to-earth Pratchett wisdom (here about the inner ethical conflicts we all face, and the wrongness of treating people as things). Pratchett's vampires are elegant Bela Lugosi types, and they come up against an unlikely but engaging alliance of witches, blue-skinned pixies like Rob Roy Smurfs, a doubting priest with a boil on his face and a magical house-sized Phoenix in a seamless, completely absorbing and feel-good-about-the-universe mixture. Highly recommended. --Adam Roberts
Advantages: Great characters, excellent plot, hard to put down... Disadvantages: None...
...of the Witches. Carpe Jugulum is one of several Pratchetts featuring the Witches, but apparently his first to star vampires – and what a great bunch they are! This book grabbed me by my throat, grinned a toothful grin and bit into my neck in a way, which made it hard to shake off. Soon I was swept away back into the Discworld, to Lancre and an occasional day trip to Uberwald. This is one of the best stories I have read by Pratchett. He is always ... ...beautifully drawn, but sometimes the story itself can take a backseat or just become rather too confusing. This time, the story is the star and you can easily get into it and find yourself reading on, into the early hours before you can find a safe place to leave it.
The basic premise for the plot is that King Verence and Queen Magrat are holding a big naming ceremony for their baby daughter. Amongst the invited guests are a strange family with ...
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Advantages: Pratchett’s usual blend of easy going humour; an interesting satirical take on Vampires which is not executed in an obvious way. Disadvantages: a minor plot strand which seems to go nowhere; the front cover makes one of the witches look like Tom Baker.
...his books simply to increase page count (even the Mac Feegles are not of poor enough quality to count as evidence of that).
Carpe Jugulum, therefore, is yet another novel from Pratchett whose humour level is quite considerable. Effortless, but not lightweight, this is most certainly worth the effort. ...
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Advantages: Great interplay between characters, sense of humour throughout. Disadvantages: Prior knowledge of "The Witches" to fully appreciate this outing.
Vampyres have invaded Lancre. Well I say invaded, more like invited to the naming ceremony of the King's daughter. This makes it difficult to ask them to leave. It is made all the more improbable when it is discovered they are keen to make Lancre their new home and there seems to be little anyone can do about it, especially when the Discworld's most powerful Witch goes to ground. But who is this figure striding righteously across the valley? It's ... ...What can he, Agnes Nitt, a Witch who is in two minds over everything and Nanny Ogg, the oldest swinger in town do to fight these modern Vampyres who are so keen on a trendy, new spelling?
"Carpe Jugulum" is Terry Pratchett's twenty-second Discworld novel. For those who remain Discworld Virgins, the Discworld is a fantasyland created by Pratchett in which Witches and Vampires exist and almost anything is a probability. This World is massively different ...
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Advantages: Funny and not just another version of Dracular. Disadvantages: Some of the character's don't speak English and don't have subtitles.
...of reading.
About Carpe Jugulum
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The main characters in this book are witches and vampires, and a power struggle ensues between them. The witches (from previous Discworld novels) are fighting the vampires because they want to turn the humans in their home town (including them) into ‘cattle’ to satisfy their blood-lust. The vampires are very clever and have attempted to speed up the process of evolution and make themselves ... ...they be clever enough to defeat the witches, with their new ally Mightily Oats, a priest who gets off on a wrong foot with the witches due to his religions past teachings? The tension and excitement is kept up well during this book and I found it very hard to put down towards the end. This is because the plot is not sacrificed in the name of humour, a consistent trait with Pratchett. Before I begin to sound like I work in Pratchett’s marketing ...
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Advantages: deeper than most pratchett books and slightly darker than is normal for a pratchett romp Disadvantages: Darker theme may give wee ones nightmares...
...none). I can understand the Carpe (diem)part, but Jugulum? It turns out to mean something like “seize the throat” (that's Nanny Ogg's translation, not mine), which could be quite a hint towards the topic of this book, namely Vampires. And now that I've mentioned Nanny Ogg, most of you will have guessed that the main characters are the witches of Lancre (first appearing in “Wyrd Sisters”). Not my favourite Discworld characters, but then again all ... ...Assassins guilt. There's a new kind of king in Lancre, who's decided he wants to make friends of all his neighbours, and there for invites them to Lancre for the naming of his daughter. The Vampires of Uberwald are trying to be modern and are doing their best to move into the Century of the Fruitbat (before it's over), but they still need an invitation before they can enter other people's homes or countries. Now combine these two facts and you have ...
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