The Last Continent

The Last Continent is one of my least favorite Discworld books. It's surpassed only by Eric, and it should come as no surprise that they're both Rincewind books.

Rincewind is a frustratingly stagnant character. He does his level best to avoid everything interesting that happens to him. It's a sentiment I can identify with. Given my druthers I'd rather be sitting in a library with a never-ending supply of potatoes, too. But it's not terribly interesting to read about, and it get more and more frustrating with each additional installment in his series.

It doesn't help that the Rincewind books largely function as a way to make fun of other cultures. This one centering on Australia. The plot threads never quite come together. Rather, Rincewind runs away from various terrifying creatures, drinks a lot of beer, and can't make heads or tails of the locals. The other wizards wreak havoc wherever they go. And everyone insists that Rincewind has to save the world. Which he ultimately does more or less by accident, and only because an insistent god basically drags him to his destiny kicking and screaming.

On the plus side, there are no more Rincewind books. I almost skipped this one on this read-through, and I definitely will on future reads of the series.

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