The Last Continent

The Last Continent is the 22nd of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels.  There are currently 38 such novels, with a 39th coming this fall.  Terry Pratchett is planning to continue writing them for as long as he can, and I've heard rumors that his daughter his planning to take over after he dies.

If you've never read a Discworld novel, I highly recommend you pick one up.  They are satires set in a fantasy world.  They make fun of everything from rock and roll music to Ancient Egypt, from Christmas to Shakespeare, from affirmative action to opera.  The Last Continent is mostly a satire of Australia (which takes the form of the last continent: XXXX, pronounced EcksEcksEcksEcks), but it also pokes fun at the creation aspect of being a god and the absurdity of rain (water's heavier than air; how does it get up in the sky?).  It even explains how the platypus happened.

This is the sixth book in the Rincewind arc, and the Rincewind books tend to be my least favorite.  This is purely a personal preference; some people think they're the best.  For me it's more about the material the Rincewind books tend to cover (stereotypical depictions of other cultures) than the characters.  I simply gravitate more to the topics satirized by Death and the Witches.  In any case, the Rincewind books are still a lot of fun and well worth reading

Rincewind is a coward.  All he really wants is peace and quite, a nice cottage somewhere, and no one to bother him.  The best time of his life was the handful of months he spent as the Librarian's assistant at the university.  Unfortunately, adventure always seems to find him and he spends most of his time running away.  His philosophy is summed up pretty well in a conversation with a trickster god called Scrappy:
"Haven't you noticed that by running away you end up in more trouble?"
"Yes, but you see, you can run away from that, too," said Rincewind. "That's the beauty of the system.  Dead is only for once, but running away is forever"
"Ah, but it is said that a coward dies a thousand deaths, while a hero dies only one."
"Yes, but it's the important one."
 This book has a plot - Rincewind has to bring the rain to XXXX - but that's not really the point.  The characters are wonderful and hilarious.  Terry Pratchett has a way with words that alternately makes me laugh out loud, chuckle quietly, and think about things with a fresh perspective.

There are brief bouts of philosophical insight:
People's whole lives do pass in front of them before they die.  The process is called living.
There are random asides:
And he was pretty sure that there was no way you could get a cross between a human and a sheep. If there was, people would definitely have found out by now, especially in the more isolated rural districts.
And there is some wonderful foreshadowing thanks to rather unique turns of phrase.
It had been going so well. They almost seemed up to speed. This may have been what caused Ponder to act like the man who, having so far fallen a hundred feet without any harm, believes that the last few inches to the ground will be a mere formality.
The Discworld novels are well worth reading.  Terry Pratchett plays with language and ideas in a way that makes you both laugh and think.  This wasn't my favorite in the series so far, but even the worst Discworld book is better than a lot of other literature out there.

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