The bookshelves are, thankfully, bursting with writers who can captivate through plot, dialogue, characterization, imagination, wit, hilarity and dexterity; very few, however, simultaneously succeed at all of these as well as Sir Terry Pratchett. With every work he adds to his already monstrously large canon (39 and counting!) and proves that quantity need not degrade quality and that the fantastical, while often escapist, can also be the best sort of vehicle for greater truths.
Among these great, philosophical truths: if one has the money, there is no better way to keep a happy marriage happy than separate dressing rooms and bathrooms, and it is always better to live in a place where the mice and cockroaches fight each other than to live in a place where they have decided to forget their differences and gang up on the humans.
This addition to the Discworld series explores the ever-expanding jurisdiction of Commander Samuel Vines as he heads into the countryside for a relaxing family holiday. That is, a "relaxing family holiday" as Vines understands it, complete with goblins, paddle-boat chases, the inestimable Sybil Ramkin, crossbow-wielding valets and, of course, the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. Part murder mystery, part allegory, part English comedy and all good fun, this is Pratchett at his best: funny and sad, incisive and illogical, cynical and optimistic. Whether it be for the first time or the 39th, this is a trip to the Unnamed Continent not to be missed. --Katherine Montgomery, book nerd