Commander Sam Vimes is getting really sick of hearing about Koom Valley- an ancient battle between dwarves and trolls. Every year around the anniversary of Koom Valley, everyone gets riled up- something the fellow that runs the city's police department doesn't like.
This year, however, it's a little crazier than usual when a dwarf leader gets murdered...and a troll club is left b y the body. The dwarves aren't being all too helpful, and seem to be going a little berserk in the process. A "community leader" troll says no troll did the job. And in other news, Vimes has had to hire a vampire into the Watch, whch he isn't thrilled with, but Sergeant Angua (a werewolf) is even less thrilled...and quite irritated.
And then there's the troll king, Mr. Shine, who's quite fond of games and fosters a group of trolls and dwarves who play a game called Thud!, re-creating Koom Valley...and the way to get good at the game is to learn how to play both sides. (I quite liked this.) And there's also a painting done of Koom Valley by a crazy man named Methodia Rascal, who thought he was a chicken...
Okay, if you don't read Discworld books, this might sound a bit odd. But it's a really good book. I think the Watch books are the best Discworld books, and this one doesn't disappoint a bit. It's got jokes, it's got touching moments, it's got snark, and it's even got some interesting things to think about.
Four stars from me.
We got a copy of "Where's my Cow?" and read it to our daughter over and over (and over and over and over... ) Good fun.
Posted by: Helena | August 07, 2006 at 02:37 PM