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Synopsis:
A mysterious stranger arrives in Ankh-Morpork with a walking chest filled with gold. Astonishingly, he survives long enough to meet Rincewind the Wizard, a situation Rincewind is not entirely happy about...
Review:
Very different to the later Discworld novels, or even the reasonably-early-but-not-quite-this-early Discworld novels. The style is much more science-fictiony, with a lot of explanatory stuff about the structure of the Disc. Also, disconcertingly enough, there are chapters. Although I'm not sure they were meant to be...
This version of Death is almost scary. He actively persues Rincewind for a time, after the wizard manages to escape him once, a situation which could never have occured with the later, more familiar Death. The Patrician is described as hideously fat, although it's possible that it's not the same one... (but they seem too similar in character for that to be really plausable)
Despite the differences, I prefer this to many of the later books. I like the way the Disc is presented as a truely alien world, rather than a slightly funnier and more sensical version of Earth. The idea of the cycle of seasons could have made for some interesting asides in the later books, but I don't think it's mentioned again after this one, which is a shame, because they had some really nice names.
If you liked this book, read also: Strata and Dark Side of the Sun, Pratchett's early sci-fi novels. In fact, read them even if you hated this. Even if you hate Terry Pratchett. Because they're bloody good.
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