Hello, it's Reviewsday Tuesday and it's time for Discworld Discourses.
Today I am reviewing The Truth which is the 25th book in the Discworld series
By Terry Pratchett, first published in 2000.
Tn this book we follow William de Worde who founds the Discworld's first newspaper in Ankh-Morpork
After he comes across a group of dwarfs with a printing press.
Meanwhile, a conspiracy is brewing to depose Lord Vetinari, the Patrician.
This book is an important one to me because this is the book
That all those years ago, when I first read it, got me into the Discworld series.
It wasn't the first Discworld book that I read
But it's the one that kept me reading the series after a few false starts.
Because of that, I think it's a good jumping on point for new readers
Because obviously it was for me.
It feels fresher than many of the recent Discworld books
That have had more baggage, if you like, due to being part of a larger series within the Discworld.
Having said this I did find many things in The Truth
More enjoyable this time round due to having read all of the previous Discworld books.
It's so much fun to see Ankh-Morpork, and the City Watch specifically, through the eyes of an outsider.
I loved seeing how William saw Sam Vimes.
It was so interesting because so much of the time when we are with Sam Vimes
We are seeing things through his perspective.
I really liked the switch-up.
And a lot of the politics and the tensions between the different races had more weight
Because I had more knowledge of Ankh-Morpork.
There are some great new characters in this book and I'm going to list some of them.
I enjoy William de Worde as a character.
He gets a lot of development over the course of the book
And it's interesting to see how the way he lives
And the way he treats people has been affected by his past.
Saccharisa is also a fun character although we don't get to see as much of here.
Otto, the vampire photographer, often stole the show for me.
You know, the photographer who sometimes turns to dust when he uses flash.
Such a fantastic character and I would just love to learn more about him.
And similarly with Goodmountain and the dwarves.
It felt like we had just barely scratched the surface of their characters and their story.
And I loved Goodmountain's friendship with William.
The villains, Mr Pin and Mr Tulip, although often quite sterotypical,
Are so interesting and intimidating, and often pretty scary.
As is very common in the Discworld series,
The truth is full of satire and parody and wit
Which shines a light on our world through their fantasy one.
Through the newspapers and the sort of stories that sell newspapers.
Through what people are willing to believe.
Politics is very much at the fore again in this book, and racism,
And people railing against change and anything that's different and new.
There's a lot to unpack in this book and it's still definitely topical now.
The Truth is a really well-written and plotted book.
The story does rely a bit on coincidence
But I didn't find that too distracting and it didn't really decrease my enjoyment at all.
And to me it's one of the Discworld books that is laugh-out-loud funny.
I enjoyed reading it so much.
It didn't have quite as big of an impact on me in this reread.
I feel like The Truth, of all of the books in the Discworld series,
Is the one where it would be impossible to recreate that first experience of reading it.
But it's still one of my favourites and I will give The Truth 4.5 out of 5.
And I would really love to know what you think about The Truth if you have read it.
If you liked The Truth, what should you read next?
If you are already invested in the Discworld series and you have read many, if not all, of the previous books,
Then I would suggest Thief of Time which is the next in the series.
But it's on the side of complicated so if The Truth is your first Discworld book or one of your first Discworld books
I would in that situation definitely recommend Going Postal.
It has a similar vibe to The Truth
And it was also the one that I next read after The Truth.
I read The Truth, Going Postal, Making Money,
And then I was in the Discworld for the long haul.
If you didn't get on so well with The Truth
Then I would maybe recommend going to Lancre and spending some time with the witches.
If you want to go early on in the series then I would recommend The Wyrd Sisters,
But if you want to go later on then maybe The Wee Free Men might be a good place to look.
Some facts about The Truth.
This book is one of the few standalone Discworld books,
The last being Small Gods which was about 12 books ago.
The next one is The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
Which is the first children's Discworld book.
The Watergate Scandal is referenced in several different ways in The Truth.
Including through Pin and Tulip entering Ankh-Morpork through the Water Gate.
Gaspode's alias is Deep Bone and he meets William at a multi-storey stable block.
There is the Committee to Un-Elect the Patrician,
And also a Disorganiser being used to record conversations.
As you would expect, there are many pop-culture references in The Truth.
There are many references to Pulp Fiction, it is quite heavily referenced in this book.
And also to e-commerce, Rocky, and Monty Python, among other things.
Gunilla Goodmountain's name is a reference to Johann Gutenberg,
Who invented movable type and printed the Gutenberg bibles.
And many of the dwarfs are named for typefaces.
For instance, Caslon, Boddony, and Gowdie.
I may be mispronouncing all of these things, I've only ever seen them written before.
That is it for today. My next Discworld Discourses will be of Thief of Time
And that will be on 4th February.
The full list of Discworld books and when I'm planning on reviewing them will be linked in the description below.
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Or some more Discworld Discourses then you can do so below me here.
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I hope you have a fantastic day and I will see you soon!