Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett

...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 ...

KarenUK 16.12.2002 · Read full review
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Review of Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett

...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. ...

B.Bligh 05.07.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett

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 ...

Shortsharpshock 30.11.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett

...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 ...

student9824 09.04.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett

...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 ...

scruffygit 12.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett

...of reading Wyrd Sisters before Carpe Jugulum. The second point is that Pratchett is a comic fantasist. This means that Carpe Jugulum is both fantastical and (unlike other authors in this genre)funny. The introduction of a modern vampire clan that has used childhood conditioning to overcome the boundaries of less up-to-date vampires is inspired. The book uses this to deal with the themes of traditional values and the pace of change. These are highly ...
...of being some of the best writing avaliable Carpe Jugulum is not the best of Pratchett. The plot is good if a little complex and the characters are well rounded, enjoying the development of several books. But overall it lacks the magic that makes Pratchett at his best unmissable. ...

Telute 18.10.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett

"Carpe Jugulum" is one of the most amusing and creative of novels to be written by Mr Pratchett. Literally straight to the throat, it is all about a family of "modern" vampires who want to take over the kingdom of Lancre governed by King Verence and his queen Magrat. What these vampires did not count on was Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Agnes. However hard the vampires try to take over, the witches are there to confound them. These "modern" ...

penguin_too 18.07.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett

since starting to read pratchett novels I have always wanted to see the vampires fighting. At last in this novel you can. The story follows the witches going into battle with the vampires, but not directly. more of a psycological battle. The king invites vampires into the town, and Granny wetherwax gets worried. She has known this would happen, so when Granny dissapears and leaves nanny and Agnes to fend for themselves the plot thickens. Pratchett ...

demongit 02.02.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett

I keep expecting Terry Practchett to start falling off - for the quality and humour in his work to diminish as he runs out of ideas or the jokes begin to run thin. But that is far from the case in this quite stupendous effort from last year. This is probably one of his best works to date, but maybe I'm biased because I ahve a soft spot for the witches. As ever characterisation is superb, but what is notable here is a depth to the storyline and scenarios ...

merlina 14.08.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett

Amazing! I have read all of Terry Pratchett's books as they have come out and I have to say that this was a refreshing (if not unwarranted) change from the Ankh Morpork storylines. Agnes was wonderful as a young women torn with frustation and angst at herself and the hilarious Perditta as her alter ego determined to drag Agnes kicking and screaming into herself. I would recommend this book to anyone who relishes smirking on buses as they read it! ...

mazzelsha 04.12.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett

We are all comfortable with the idea of vampires are we not? We know if they come knocking on our window one stormy night all we need to do is find the nearest couple of long thin objects and make a makeshift cross to ward the demon of the night away. Sounds simple, but what if this no longer works, nor Holy Water, nor Garlic or the ever faithful rays of sunlight conveniently streaming through the holes in our mother's tattered curtains. In these ...
...take the quiet kingdom of Lancre, with it's resident Witches who are not too keen on above mentioned Vampires. What if the King of Lancre decided to shake the dimplomatic hand of one of it's neighbours and INVITE the Vampires to a royal get together. Would the Witches be happy ? Terry tells this tale with his usual hilarious style of writing. He brings the characters to life or is that death in the case of the Vampires? We meet many new characters ...

CBB1975 14.07.2001 · Read full review
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Review of Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett

The King of Lancre is having a party for the naming of his new child, and he's invited everyone. No one told him that inviting a vampire into your kingdom gives them power over everyone. It's a good thing Lancre is crawling with witches. There are several combinations of three as Magrat is now a mother and Nanny is acting decidedly more crone-ish. Granny heads for the hills, but then returns to confront some very modern-thinking vampires. How do ...

JeffSumm 10.09.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett

...usual easy style which makes Carpe Jugulum accessible to all readers both young and old, although some of the jokes may be lost on younger readers. However, as with all Discworld novels, although it is not necessary to have read the previous 22(!) novels in the series, it is always recommended to gain a fuller understanding of what has gone before and appreciate the foibles of the various returning characters. I cannot recommend this book highly ...

wampyrii 15.09.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Carpe Jugulum - Terry Pratchett