The Last Hero - Terry Pratchett

'The Last Hero' is a picture book for adults. At first appearance it seems a bit like a book for young children since it's bigger than a normal novel, and the story is interspersed with some fabulous and inspired art. Unlike books for small children however, there's a fair amount of text, and some of the artwork consists of amazingly complex and detailed diagrams. The story is set on the Discworld. This is Terry Pratchett's imaginary world which is shaped like a disc, and travels through space on the backs of four gigantic elephants, who stand on an even more enormous turtle. It's peopled with ... more

Terry Pratchett seems to be very much a love him or hate him kind of a writer. I’m glad to say I fall firmly into the former category, and the release of a new Discworld novel is always a bit of an event. I must say, though, even I’m a bit concerned about just how many new releases there are these days – it used to be a new book in time for Christmas (very handy), and probably another one midway through the year. This year, however, we’ll just have to make do with this. The Last Hero isn’t really a ‘proper’ Discworld novel – indeed, there on the ... more

The Last Hero is billed a Discworld Fable. Dictionary definition: Discworld- a flat world supported by four giant elephants. They in a turn are perched on the back of Great A'Tuin the world turtle which swims through space. Fable- a legendary story of supernatural happenings. In order to set the scene it might be best if I introduce you to some of the characters: Cohen the Barbarian- aging hero The Silver Horde- Cohen's band of fellow hero's. When people ask are they old? People answer, no experienced! Rincewind- a failed wizard, even his hat spells it wizzard. Rincewind is one of few people ... more

PLOT = On the Discworld, which lies on the backs of four elephants carried through space on a giant space turtle called A’Tuin, there is a high mountain and on the top is Dunmanifestin, where some of the gods of the Discworld take their time to play with the lives of man, and right now they are involved in game that could affect the lives of all on the Discworld. Cohen is a legend, who remembers high adventure and when you weren’t told off for killing dragons, but he has trouble remembering where he put his teeth, ages is coming to him and his silver horde, and he’s not pleased about it. So ... more

If you’re a hardened Terry Pratchett fan, you will undoubtedly be eagerly waiting each year for the next instalment of the Discworld series. It generally arrives right before Christmas, and makes the perfect present for your Disc loving friends or family members, hey that’s my excuse. Last year came The Last Hero, and the first thing I noticed was that is was a bit on the short side. I was a little perplexed by this and I felt a little cheated out of my yearly Pratchett dose. But then again, The Last Hero is not a Discworld novel, is it: it’s a fable, or “short story ... more