Pyramids (Discworld, #7)

Nov 23, 2012 David Sarkies rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comedy

I am really glad that I decided to reread a the Discworld novels to give them a better commentary as I have found that I have been quite enjoying them, and in many ways they have been getting better and better. However, this is the second to last one that I read (and it seems that I may have originally read them in order of publication, since the last one I read was Guards, Guards, and that is sitting next to me waiting to be reread very soon). Pratchett seems to have tried another experiment i...more I am really glad that I decided to reread a the Discworld novels to give them a better commentary as I have found that I have been quite enjoying them, and in many ways they have been getting better and better. However, this is the second to last one that I read (and it seems that I may have originally read them in order of publication, since the last one I read was Guards, Guards, and that is sitting next to me waiting to be reread very soon). Pratchett seems to have tried another experiment in this one where he has created a number of new characters and a new setting, though like the other Discworld novels, Anhk-Morpork does play a role.
In this story we travel to the kingdom of Djelibeybi (pronounced Jellybaby) which sits on the river Djel. It is very clear that this kingdom is based on Ancient Egypt, and it is nestled between the nations of Tsort and Ephebe (which is supposed to be Greece, right down to their drunken symposiums). The thing about Djelibeybi is that it is a kingdom where tradition rules, to the point that it is impossible for the king to actually break with tradition. However, the king is not actually the ruler, but rather the priests, and in particular the priest Dios.
I really don't want to give too much away but Dios is actually one of Pratchett's most memorable characters. The reason being that despite being the antagonist of the novel, he does not come across as being either bad or misguided. He simply does things the way that things have always been done. He is a man of tradition, and tradition must be followed. As mentioned, he is the actual ruler of the kingdom, though he never actually says that, simply because he is the one who advises the king, and interprets his says. In fact it is very clear that the subjects never actually listen to the king, but rather to him, so that when the king actually tries to change tradition, he will always interpret it as being with tradition ('I shall set him free,' says the king, as which Dios interprets that as being 'throw him to the crocodiles').
The problem arose when the previous king decided that he wanted his son to have a good education, and normally that would simply mean being taught by the priest, specifically Dios, however instead the king sent his son, the protagonist of the piece, to the Assassin's Guild in Ankh-Morpork. As it turns out, the Assassin's Guild actually provides probably the best well rounded education around, and the comments about the assassins are actually quite good as well. An assassin does not murder for any other reason that money, and it is not that life is cheap, on the contrary, it is actually very expensive, especially if you get an assassin to kill you.
Interesting concept though, because in reality that is true. It doesn't cost you much, in fact, it doesn't cost you anything, to be dead. You simply lie there and rot. However, to live, it costs you quite a lot of money ($35.00 AU per day, which includes rent and bills, public transport, groceries, health insurance, and a mobile phone). Moreso, it costs you an awful lot of money to actually stay alive and to keep on living. Hmm, I could actually do the sums, and work out how much it actually costs to live for one day, but I won't. Anyway, if you like maths, and like the idea of maths being turn on its head, you will like this book as well. As it turns out camels are the greatest mathematicians in the world (which I disagree with, because it actually turns out that it is cats who are the world's greatest mathematicians, I remember having a dream back in 1994, before I had read this book, where I came to the realisation, that my sister's cat, Twinkle, understood imaginary numbers and calculus, however simply have no reason to actually use it).
One of the interesting things about this book is the concept of belief, and it is something that I come across again and again in my Christian walk. Simply because you believe something does not make it true. I may believe that a plane will get me from Melbourne to Hong Kong, but no amount of belief is going to actually stop the engine from blowing up over the South China Sea. This idea is explored in this story, particularly with the idea that the kings of Djelibeybi believed that after death they would travel to the netherworld. This was a really strong belief that turned out to be wrong. Instead, they spent eternity as ghosts stuck in their pyramids.
The absurdity of belief comes to the fore when the entire kingdom collapses in on itself. Basically it has been said by the gods (namely Dios) that the late king would be buried in the greatest and biggest pyramid ever built, however pyramids have a habit of storing time, and the stored time must discharged regularly. However, this pyramid was so big that it ended up throwing everything out of whack, causing Djelibeybi to be sucked into its own dimension where all of the belief became reality. As such, the gods, who only existed in the mind of Dios, became real, to the point that the five sun gods ended up playing soccer with the sun (to produce a very amusing sporting commentary), and the gods, who had no real personality or character, simply went around destroying the kingdom because they had nothing else to do.
I guess this is one of this things that I at least got out of this book, and that is how we tend to prefer to listen to another person's interpretation of faith than actually finding out for ourself. I have even experienced it where a priest will actually twist the words of a religious book around so that it says the complete opposite. It is not so much the priests that are the problem, but rather us, who are allowing ourselves to listen to the priests and not actually think for ourselves. Granted, many priests do not allow their interpretations to be questioned, and have studied their respective texts for so long that they are experts in interpreting it in their own way. However, the bible was written in Koine Greek for a reason, and that was so that it could be read and understood by the common person, rather than having it interpreted through a preistly cache. That was why Jesus was such a revolutionary, because his teachings took the power out of the hands of the priests and gave it back to where it rightfully belonged, and that was with God. However it is a shame that we as humans always seem to allow the priests to step in between us and God, to continue to twist his words around to suit their own selfish purposes.(less)

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Apr 30, 2013 Sakura87 rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autori-inglesi, fantasy, novecento, saga-ciclo, umorismo

Proprio dopo essere riuscito a superare il terribile esame finale della Gilda degli Assassini, il giovane Teppic è costretto a rientrare in patria, il Djelibeybi, per assumere l'onore e l'onere della carica che gli spetta: è infatti l'unico figlio ed erede del faraone Teppicymon XXVII, morto suicida per un piccolo errore di calcolo e condannato a un'eternità di prigionia sotto migliaia di tonnellate di pietra - ciò che i vivi ritengono un'onorevole e maestosa sepoltura. Regnare su una civiltà ri...more Proprio dopo essere riuscito a superare il terribile esame finale della Gilda degli Assassini, il giovane Teppic è costretto a rientrare in patria, il Djelibeybi, per assumere l'onore e l'onere della carica che gli spetta: è infatti l'unico figlio ed erede del faraone Teppicymon XXVII, morto suicida per un piccolo errore di calcolo e condannato a un'eternità di prigionia sotto migliaia di tonnellate di pietra - ciò che i vivi ritengono un'onorevole e maestosa sepoltura. Regnare su una civiltà ristretta ma già antica quando nelle altre ci si puliva ancora il fondoschiena con le foglie sembrerebbe divertente, senonché il Sommo Sacerdote Dios tende a interpretare in modo un po' troppo arbitrario ogni ordine di Teppic, che si ritrova a essere un burattino dietro a una maschera d'oro.
Frattanto fervono i preparativi per la costruzione della piramide di Teppicymon, che dovrà essere la più grande e sontuosa mai costruita: l'architetto Ptaclusp e i figli Ptaclusp II-A e II-B scoprono solo troppo tardi che, se ogni piramide è un catalizzatore di energia temporale a stento controllabile, un'enorme piramide genererà un numero di nodi temporali e paradossi impossibili da gestire. E mentre Teppic, stanco di regnare, si ritroverà in fuga dal suo stesso paese insieme all'ancella Ptraci - che ha salvato dall'essere data in pasto ai sacri coccodrilli - il Mondo Disco si troverà sull'orlo della solita apocalisse allorché l'energia rilasciata dalla piramide risucchierà l'intero Djelibeybi, permetterà a tutte le sue divinità (e sono davvero molte) di manifestarsi, e riporterà alla luce l'intera dinastia di faraoni sepolti nelle loro camere mortuarie.

Maledette piramidi (titolo originale: Pyramids) è il settimo romanzo in ordine di pubblicazione della saga Mondo Disco di Terry Pratchett, e il primo a non inserirsi in alcun sottociclo. L'edizione in questione presenta un gran numero di refusi e diversi giochi di parole persi in traduzione, come può verificare chiunque consultando i sempre ottimi Annotated Pratchett Files.
Il volume è diviso in quattro parti, ed esclusa la prima - ambientata ad Ankh-Morpork - ha luogo nel Djelibeybi (si leggerebbe pressappoco Jelly Baby, una marca di caramelle gommose molto in voga in UK), l'equivalente dell'antico Egitto nel Mondo Disco. Di conseguenza, se si esclude una fugace apparizione di Morte, mancano i consueti cammei di luoghi e personaggi presenti in quasi ogni romanzo della saga. Non credo di esagerare nell'affermare che, tra quelli che ho letto finora, è il peggiore della saga del Mondo Disco. Scarseggia di motti di spirito, manca di un tema netto (la critica al sistema di sepoltura egiziano è decisamente labile come pretesto), i personaggi sono piuttosto inconsistenti, e sebbene - diversamente dai primi romanzi del ciclo - presenti una trama che non si perde in ramificazioni secondarie manca di proseguire certi spunti interessanti che offre: uno su tutti, il conseguimento del protagonista della qualifica di Assassino, che ricopre la prima parte del romanzo ma che non rivestirà grande importanza per il proseguimento della storia.
Maledette piramidi è insomma un crogiuolo di opportunità sprecate. Fortunatamente Pratchett ha dimostrato prima e dopo questo romanzo di saper fare molto di meglio.
Due stelle e mezzo.

Recensione pubblicata anche su http://www.lastambergadeilettori.com/...(less)

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Oct 13, 2008 Jonathan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi-and-fantasy, humor

Philosophically, this is the richest Discworld novel so far. (I'm reading them in order of publication.) It mounts a delightful critique of tradition and religion. It's not just another tiresome empiricist refutation-by-lack-of-imagination, or even another tiresome denunciation of priestcraft -- although it contains elements of both. It's actually an idealist critique, in the end. Here's a scene from pp. 202-3:

Belief is a force. It's a weak force, by comparison with gravity; when it comes to mov...more

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Sep 19, 2007 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, fantasy

The only good thing about commercial air travel is that it provides ample opportunity to read. And if anything can make a delayed flight tolerable, it's Pratchett in fine form.

This is top-shelf Discworld. I don't know how I managed not to ever have read this particular one before. If Small Gods is my favorite Discworld volume, this one's certainly in the top five. It's got plenty of witty asides and groaner puns, but being an early book in the series, spares the reader the tedium of the usual An...more

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Dec 01, 2012 Laurie rated it 4 of 5 stars

In ‘Pyramids’, master storyteller and satirist takes on the funeral industry, philosophy, and more. Teppic, heir to the throne of Djelibeybi (which bears more than a passing resemblance to ancient Egypt), has just passed his final exam to become a member of the assassin’s guild in Ankh-Morpork when his father dies in a bit of madness. He returns home to take on his responsibility, for which he is totally unprepared. Even though he is king and considered a god, he finds he has no say in anything...more

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Nov 16, 2012 Tz rated it 5 of 5 stars

I started reading the Discworld novels in a pretty random order, but going into Pyramids had a very good grasp upon the world of Anhk-Morpork and many of the characters within (especially the guards). As cliche as this is, I struggled to put the book down. It was brilliant and funny, somehow subtle and blatant at the same time. It is one of Pratchett's best works in my opinion. It pokes fun at ancient cultures and beliefs, from the Hebrews to Greeks and beyond. Pratchett even explains how the to...more

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Sep 20, 2012 Huw Evans rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comfort-reads, fantasy, humour

This is a re-read of a much loved and, to my mind, underrated Discworld novel. It may start in Ankh-Morpork when Pteppic learns to be an assassin but it is focussed in the kingdom he inherits on the death of his father. Here, under the care of Dios the High Priest, nothing has changed for thousands of years. Gone are dangerous modern ideas, such as plumbing, mattresses and mirrors. All the dead kings are buried in pyramids of increasing splendour because that is the way that is has always been d...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Eustacia Tan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned

So this month, the book I'm reading for this challenge is one that I found at BookOff. I have a feeling it's a satirical take on Ancient Egypt, but who cares? It's a fun read!

This book is one of those "stand-alone" Discworld books. The Assassin's Guild does appear, but most of the Ankh Morpork characters don't. Instead, it stars Teppic, a (new) member of the Assassin's Guild, unexpectedly called back to become the Pharoh of the desert Kingdom Djelibeybi. Basically, he has to struggle with a High...more So this month, the book I'm reading for this challenge is one that I found at BookOff. I have a feeling it's a satirical take on Ancient Egypt, but who cares? It's a fun read!

This book is one of those "stand-alone" Discworld books. The Assassin's Guild does appear, but most of the Ankh Morpork characters don't. Instead, it stars Teppic, a (new) member of the Assassin's Guild, unexpectedly called back to become the Pharoh of the desert Kingdom Djelibeybi. Basically, he has to struggle with a High Priest telling him what to do, while unsuspectingly making a big mess of his father's pyramid.

In Pyramids, the starring character is clearly Teppic. And maybe his father, the Late King (I find the Late King the most entertaining fellow in the book). To me, the book is about tradition versus mordenity, and so, doesn't actually have a villain. But I guess Dios, the ancient High Priest, comes as close to a villain as possible, with him forever telling Teppic what to do. Apart from the three characters mentioned above, there's also Ptracie, the "headstrong handmaiden", although she spends most of the book being so straightforwards as to appear inept.

Apart from the whole tradition/modernity thing, the book also takes a look at Royalty. I mean, there's no Royalty in Ankh-Morpork (The Patrician is a tryant, not a royal after all), so this book explored how people viewed royalty and the extremes that it can go to (such as cutting of the hand that touched a royal). That accounts for a lot of the humour in the book, because Teppic has been away for so long that he's out of touch with how the people of Djelibeybi feel.

For example:

"The king ambled toward him in a nonchalant way designed to make the master builder feel he was among friends. Oh no, Ptaclusp though, he's going to Remember my Name.
...
Why couldn't kings order people around like the old days? You knew where you were then, they didn't go around being charming and treating you as some sort of equal, as if you could make the sun rise too."
The amazing thing about this book is that at the end, there's a section that introduces Discworld, with the customary humour in the books themselves. Because I brought this along with me to a Kendo taikai (competition), I got to introduce Rena to the book. And yes, she laughed a lot. In fact, I think that there may be one more fan to the Discworld series.

Now, does anyone know where to find a copy of Jingo? That's the book that Rena (and I) want to read the most.

First posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile (less)

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Jun 11, 2012 Leah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, comic

Enjoyable both for the insight into the Assassin's Guild that the logical-sequence reader has not yet come across, and for the honest and interesting discussion of religion that it encourages. As well as, obviously, for its comic genius and for Pratchett's glorious fun-loving writing.

I didn't enjoy this as much as the last one I read, Wyrd Sisters, but I think that's just because I was more interested in the themes he chose to tackle in that one than in this. Only slightly less, mind you. I also...more Enjoyable both for the insight into the Assassin's Guild that the logical-sequence reader has not yet come across, and for the honest and interesting discussion of religion that it encourages. As well as, obviously, for its comic genius and for Pratchett's glorious fun-loving writing.

I didn't enjoy this as much as the last one I read, Wyrd Sisters, but I think that's just because I was more interested in the themes he chose to tackle in that one than in this. Only slightly less, mind you. I also liked the Wyrd Sisters more than Teppic and Ptraci, neither of whom were quite as well developed, in my opinion. However, the deft and gleeful handling of the hefty and difficult subject of religion, as always, shows Pratchett to be the master that we all know he is, summing up centuries of internal and external conflict in a few paragraphs, before getting down to a good solid (but pleasant) mockery of them.

Pratchett's comic timing is always spot-on and his pacing is fantastic, so that at times you forget you're reading and are completely dissolved into the story - the denouemont here, with the volatile pyramids and the literal race against time, was so well written that you could almost hear the dramatic movie music leading up to that peak. It was exciting. I remember reading the interview with Neil Gaiman at the end of Good Omens, in which he said that Pratchett was one of the very few people he'd ever met who enjoyed the act of writing, the sitting down and writing of a book, and this always comes to mind when I'm reading a new Discworld. It's blatantly obvious that he was having the time of his life writing this book.

One of the best parts of this one was the greatest mathematician in the world, the humble camel You Bastard and all his other mathematical camel friends with similar names that you can imagine being shouted by irate camel-owners. His descriptions are always so surprisingly accurate that they catch you off guard, unused as most of us are to authors using language in new ways or creating new turns of phrase - the way a camel appears to look at a person with his nostrils was one of my favourites this time round.

So, to sum up: religion -- mockery; camels -- secret geniuses; pyramids -- mysterious; Discworld -- more depth; humour -- genuine.(less)

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Apr 23, 2012 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've been slowly working my way through Terry Pratchett's Discworld series over the past five years or so, but just in the background of my other reading, just whenever I happen to find one I haven't read before; I don't go out of my way to find them - not until I get my reading list under control a little more. It looks like my library system finally switched some copies around, because my local branch finally has different ones in for the first time in ages.

Pyramids was a delightful read. It...more

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Mar 27, 2012 Donovan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comedy, fantasy

Terry Pratchett does for fantasy what Douglas Adams did for science fiction...pure comedic genius.
Pyramids is just one story that features in the Discworld series. If you don't know what the Discworld is, then you must lead a poor shallow inconsolable life and no amount of funny witty puns collected in to an adventure filled story is going to make your day: or will it?
This was the second discworld story I read and it only cemented what I thought was great about Pratchett's writing. Which is to s...more Terry Pratchett does for fantasy what Douglas Adams did for science fiction...pure comedic genius.
Pyramids is just one story that features in the Discworld series. If you don't know what the Discworld is, then you must lead a poor shallow inconsolable life and no amount of funny witty puns collected in to an adventure filled story is going to make your day: or will it?
This was the second discworld story I read and it only cemented what I thought was great about Pratchett's writing. Which is to say colourful, flamboyant, easy to read and will leave you in small fits of belly shacking chuckles (if not all out laughter).
If you want a fun read or a great bed time story for the little ones, then I thoroughly recommend this.

This would have to be one of my fav's in the series. The philosophy is very rich and goes beyond the normal efforts Pratchett makes throughout the series.

Plot ***Spoilers***
The main character of Pyramids is Teppic, prince of the tiny kingdom of Djelibeybi. Djelibeybi is the Discworld counterpart to Ancient Egypt.

Young Teppic has been in training at the Assassins Guild in Ankh-Morpork for several years. The day after passing his final exam he somehow senses that his father has died and that he must return home. Being the first Djelibeybian king raised outside the kingdom leads to some interesting problems, based on the fact that Dios, the high priest, is a stickler for tradition, and does not, in fact, allow the pharaohs to rule the country.

After numerous adventures and misunderstandings, Teppic is forced to escape from the palace, along with a handmaiden named Ptraci. Meanwhile, the massive pyramid being built for Teppic's father warps space-time so much that it "rotates" Djelebeybi out of alignment with the space/time of the rest of the disc by 90 degrees. Teppic and Ptraci travel to Ephebe to consult with the philosophers there as to how to get back inside the Kingdom. Meanwhile, pandemonium takes hold in Djelibeybi, as the kingdom's multifarious gods descend upon the populace, and all of Djelibeybi's dead rulers come back to life.

Eventually, Teppic re-enters the Kingdom and attempts to destroy the Great Pyramid, with the help of all of his newly resurrected ancestors. They are confronted by Dios, who, it turns out, is as old as the kingdom itself, and has advised every pharaoh in the history of the Kingdom. Dios hates change and thinks Djelibeybi should stay the same. Teppic succeeds in destroying the Pyramid, returning Djelibeybi to the real world and sending Dios back through time (where he meets the original founder of the Kingdom, thereby re-starting the cycle). Teppic then abdicates, allowing Ptraci (who turns out to be his half-sister) to rule. Ptraci immediately institutes much-needed changes.(less)

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Mar 09, 2012 Jay Stevens rated it 4 of 5 stars

Entertaining, as always. An interesting take on cultures mirroring Classical Greece and Egypt, with all sorts of history gags such as Greece and what is assumed to be Persia going to war with each side building an army of wooden horses and hiding troops inside of them, each hoping that the enemy will take them into one of their cities while simultaneously talking about how they aren't going to be dumb enough to fall for it.
The take on the different Egyptian gods is also a more subtle joke that r...more

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Nov 17, 2011 Христо Блажев rated it 5 of 5 stars

Боговете се вплътняват в “Пирамиди” на Пратчет. Кофти за вярващите…
http://www.knigolandia.info/2011/07/b...

Пирамиди, фараони… Я не се отвличайте към древнопреходни чалги! Това е поредният Пратчет в Книголандия, но един много, много различен вид. “Пирамиди” определено не е от типичните му книги, най-малкото защото действието се развива съвсем малко в зловонния Анхк-Морпорк и много повече в едно малко фараонство, възправило се между две могъщи империи, които си го кътат като буферна зона. Фараонст...more

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Sep 16, 2011 John Kirk rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I first read this at school: I borrowed it from the library just before the summer holiday, and read it three times before I returned it. Later on I bought my own copy, and I think it's one of the best Discworld novels, although I've now read it so many times that I don't get as much enjoyment out of it as I used to. Mind you, it took me 12 years to understand a physics reference that had gone over my head before ("the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram"), so I can sometimes get new stuff out of a fami...more

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Jul 13, 2011 Sukayna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just finished re-reading this one, and wanted to say how wonderful it is! It's mind bendingly quantum, has fabulous parallels with the roundworld, puns galore (Djelibeybi? Ptraci?) and the greatest mathematician on the Disc: You Bastard.
The characters are beautifully drawn, and Pratchett's humanism is once again apparent. There are no really evil characters, just misguided ones, and in portraying these characters he highlights universal human failings and encourages introspection and understand...more

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Jan 19, 2011 Hank Quense rated it 4 of 5 stars

This Pratchett novel is different from most of his Discworld books. Except for the first few chapters, most of it takes place outside Ankh-Morkpork. In the opening, the main character, Teppic, is studying in the Assassins Guild. To survive in the Guild long enough to make it to graduate day is to qualify for the graduation test. To graduate the candidate must survive the test which lasts all night long on the streets of the city.
Alas, soon after graduating, Teppic is told his father had died and...more

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Jul 18, 2010 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. An old favorite that comforted me in my newly Ming-less existence.

Teppic is the crown prince of a tiny-but-functional Kingdom that might be a wee bit preoccupied with death. His mum was a foreigner and extracted a promise that he could go to school elsewhere, before she got eaten by crocodiles. No one seems to question that education elsewhere means the assassin’s guild. So off he goes at 12 to learn the stealthy art of killing, seemingly without much thought about whether these are useful skil...more

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May 30, 2010 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: recentlyread

Well, maybe a four--but fresh from listening to a Pratchett fantasy/satire it's easy to be a bit hyperenthused; and the excellent reading/performance of Nigel Planer adds a great deal. But don't take my word for it....

Ever wonder what the hell the ancient Egyptians were thinking? What was with all those pyramids and mummies? And that crazy picture-writing? Wrap dead royals up in bandages, after removing all their innards and pumping them full of embalming fluid, then entomb them to "live" foreve...more

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Mar 12, 2010 Jorge rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Absurdo, divertido, simple e inteligente. Las novelas de Pratchet nunca dejan de sorprender por el nivel de estupidez de sus personajes (equiparable a la estupidez humana) y el inagotable arsenal de descripciones originales y absurdas.

Como en la mayor parte de las novelas de Mundodisco, en verdad da lo mismo cuál es la historia principal (que además es muy simple). Lo que entretiene es todo lo que pasa alrededor: los personajes, las situaciones, los diálogos y, especialmente en este libro, una b...more

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Feb 05, 2013 Ben rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Contains Spoilers
A Pharoah to Remember.
With a plot as somewhat shambolic as the mummies who don't make an appearance until Book 3, Pratchett's 7th Discworld novel takes us away from the comfort and familiarity of Ankh-Morpork, and thrusts us into a world where men walk with Gods, and Pyramids are built because Pyramids have always been built. The plot is simple enough, and at times engaging, but it lacks a pace which is evident in many of his other Discworld works.

I did enjoy the description of...more

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Feb 15, 2011 Sally rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobooks

For me, this was not the easiest to follow of the Discworld books I have read, and it was probably because of the dimensions of time and space that were a little hard to grasp through verbal descriptions. However, I was surprised at how the opening experiences of Teppic in the Assassins' school, which seemed to be abandoned for a whole new story line, were tied in later in the story to show the point and usefulness of the assassin's training in areas that did not at all involve killing people.

Th...more

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Oct 21, 2012 Carol rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: humour

Though not my favourite Pratchett novel, this one's funny and imaginative. I liked the opening assasin sequence, and the spatial/time experimentation. Also funny was "You bastard," camel and mathematician (can't think of any other writer who could have created this character). I agree that this is an exploration of religion, but my gut feeling was that Pratchett was having a lot of fun being almost over-the-top imaginative. Oh, for an imagination like his!

Pyramids doesn't hold together as well...more

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Jan 22, 2012 Torie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I might have enjoyed this more if I hadn't been reading these books in order. It's so derivative of the other early Pratchett books, especially Mort and Wyrd Sisters. Minor spoilers: (view spoiler)...more

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Dec 26, 2008 Jamie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Terry Pratchett's Pyramids is part of this Diskworld series, which means that pretty much by definition it's an amusing parody of the fantasy genre. But this one differs from the other Diskworld books I've read in a couple of ways. First, from what I can tell it's essentially a stand-alone tale, featuring a cast of characters who never make any repeat appearances later in the series. And second, it seems to mark the point in the books where Pratchett starts to step away from simple parody of fan...more Terry Pratchett's Pyramids is part of this Diskworld series, which means that pretty much by definition it's an amusing parody of the fantasy genre. But this one differs from the other Diskworld books I've read in a couple of ways. First, from what I can tell it's essentially a stand-alone tale, featuring a cast of characters who never make any repeat appearances later in the series. And second, it seems to mark the point in the books where Pratchett starts to step away from simple parody of fantasy tropes and move into more social satire in general. For sure, we've seen social satire before, practically from the beginning. Equal Rites tackled gender inequality head-on, for example, but Pyramids seems to be the first book that handles multiple threads of social satire at once and make them the entire point of the exercise.

The book tells the story of Teppic (or "Pteppic," if you prefer), the heir to an river kingdom based on ancient Egypt. Teppic is sent to the city of Ank-Morpork to be trained as a professional assassin, more out of just something to do and to get him out of the palace than anything. When Teppic's father the god-king dies, the son returns home to take over the kingdom, which is just as well since in the course of his final exam he decides that assassination doesn't square quite right with his moral fiber. Unfortunately spending his formative years in the big city has given Teppic some ideas for social progress (such as plumbing or mattresses) that clash wildly with the attitudes of his tradition-bound subjects. Furthermore, the river kingdom's ancient High Priest, Dios, does everything to block the new king's flights of fancy since he is a stickler for tradition himself and thinks that actually ruling is quite beneath any king's dignity. And also, there is an enormous pryamid that, through its pyramid-edness, ends up warping reality to a truly uncomfortable degree.

Even though Pyramids is a stand-alone book, it's probably one of the more enjoyable ones I've read --perhaps because it's a one-off that Pratchett can wind up as he sees fit. The theme of tradition versus progress and blind dogma versus actually thinking things through are ones that the author has a lot of fun with, noting through one of his characters that "Mere animals couldn't possibly manage to act like this. You need to be a human being to be really stupid."

In fact, Pyramids is one of the more quotable Diskworld books that I've read, and Pratchett's wit and ability to turn a phrase are fully on display once again. I particularly like his knack for amusing similes, like this one:

All a camel has got is a pair of industrial-strength lungs and a voice like a herd of donkeys being chainsawed.

Or this one:

I knew the two of you would get along like a house on fire. Screams, flames, people running for safety...

And, of course, there's self-depracating lines like this one, which lie sprinkled throughout every one of his works:

There was not a lot that could be done to make Morpork a worse place. A direct hit by a meteorite, for example, would count as gentrification.

So, big thumbs up from me. I enjoyed this one a lot, and if you want a good sample of the taste of the whole Diskworld series you could do a lot worse than Pyramids.(less)

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Jan 13, 2013 Nathan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: author-male, books-i-own, high-fantasy, humor, rated-4-star, read-2013

Part 7 of The Complete Discworld Reread

When looking down the list of ‘Discworld’ books I was going to be rereading ‘Pyramids’ stuck out as one I couldn’t remember anything about. Therefore, my impeccable logic told me, it must be one of the more forgettable books. I have now finished this little book, and I realize that it wasn’t forgettable, I just never read it. And that is a real shame, because it is a very fine offering.

Most the book takes place in Djelibeybi, a land obviously based on ancie...more Part 7 of The Complete Discworld Reread

When looking down the list of ‘Discworld’ books I was going to be rereading ‘Pyramids’ stuck out as one I couldn’t remember anything about. Therefore, my impeccable logic told me, it must be one of the more forgettable books. I have now finished this little book, and I realize that it wasn’t forgettable, I just never read it. And that is a real shame, because it is a very fine offering.

Most the book takes place in Djelibeybi, a land obviously based on ancient Egypt. Tradition is King here, even more King than the actual king. The priests help the king through his daily rituals, so he can focus on the important things like making the sun rise. Our protagonist Teppic, getting an education in Ankh-Morpork, is called back home to rule the kingdom when his father dies. I a power struggle with the high priest Dios, he finds himself upping the ante by promising to build the largest pyramid yet to entomb his father. Back at the kingdom his now educated mind is in a constant battle with the tradition that Dios keeps the kingdom following, while complications with the pyramid’s construction soon bring every problem to a head.

In many ways this book is a precursor to ‘Small Gods.’ It deals with many of the same themes, specifically the nature of belief, ritual, and tradition (and tortoises). Unlike that later book, ‘Pyramids’ lacks the single minded focus, also branching out into philosophy and timeless feuds. Djelibeybi finds itself in a bubble where everything they whole heartedly believed in comes to life (including a lot of immortal kings who found themselves trapped in large pyramids) and realize life was easier when they just believed in gods, but didn’t have to see them in person.

A lot of highlights make this book a very strong outing. Dios is less a villain than a victim of his circumstance, and is one of the best characters. His job is to keep tradition, how can he be blamed for doing what he needs to do? The conclusion to his story is one of Pratchett’s best, and nothing could be more appropriate for the high priest. Teppic’s travels take him to a very Greek like land where he meets philosophers, always entertaining. Their employment of a ‘listener’ is especially smart, as they sure are not listening to each other, so someone should be. Another highlight is from two lands who know they must go to war, because of tradition of course. But it has been so long since the last fight neither is quite sure what to do. Lines of Trojan horses should make anyone laugh. I was also a big fan mathematician camels.

The only real issue with the book was the beginning. Teppic spends a lot of time at the assassin’s school for training, which is fine, but I felt too much time was spent on what ultimately had little to do with the story. Love interest Ptraci also fell flat for me in the beginning, though her story grew a lot more interesting in the final stages of the book.

So much of this book reminded me of ‘Small Gods’ I had a hard time not constantly comparing the two when reading. On this basis ‘Pryamids’ was not as focused, had some unnecessary plot lines, and lacked the polish. But taken on its own, it was still a very enjoyable offering.

4 stars
(less)

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Feb 12, 2013 Wiebke (1book1review) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another great book about the discworld. This can be read as a total stand alone, as the characters don't appear again.
The story is set in a desert kingdom that is basically broke because it buries their kings in pyramids, which turns out not to be such a good idea for many more reasons. But you better read the book to learn about the pyramids.
The story follows Pteppic or Teppic, the son of the king of the Old Kingdom. Since the country doesn't have any money the king sends him to Ankh-Morpork to...more

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May 05, 2013 La Stamberga dei Lettori rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sakura87

Proprio dopo essere riuscito a superare il terribile esame finale della Gilda degli Assassini, il giovane Teppic è costretto a rientrare in patria, il Djelibeybi, per assumere l'onore e l'onere della carica che gli spetta: è infatti l'unico figlio ed erede del faraone Teppicymon XXVII, morto suicida per un piccolo errore di calcolo e condannato a un'eternità di prigionia sotto migliaia di tonnellate di pietra - ciò che i vivi ritengono un'onorevole e maestosa sepoltura. Regnare su una civiltà ri...more

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Oct 20, 2009 Wesley Z. rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is my kind of book. If was fun, adventurous, exciting, and just great fantasy. Terry Pratchett is a great author. I'm glad that my English teacher suggested that I should read books that I haven't read before. Terry Pratchett's books, for example.
In the Discworld series, Teppic, who was at the time, training to be an assassin. At the start of the book, Teppic is taking a test to see if he really is a proper assassin, if he can kill quickly and discreetly. The instructor of the test is non...more This is my kind of book. If was fun, adventurous, exciting, and just great fantasy. Terry Pratchett is a great author. I'm glad that my English teacher suggested that I should read books that I haven't read before. Terry Pratchett's books, for example.
In the Discworld series, Teppic, who was at the time, training to be an assassin. At the start of the book, Teppic is taking a test to see if he really is a proper assassin, if he can kill quickly and discreetly. The instructor of the test is none other than one of his own teachers. He is told what to do and the instructor disappears, the hunt is on. As every assassin knows, don't walk on the ground, be quiet, and never take the stairs, Teppic decides to take to the rooftops. After a little bit of searching and avoiding traps, he reaches his destination. Now all he has to do is shoot the instructor and pass the test. He knows that he can't kill without some kind of emotion, so he aims the crossbow at a nail in the floor, a little to the right of the target, and shoots. The arrow hits the nail and bounces off, it then hits the wall and again bounces off, after the wall it lands point down into a bed. Somehow the instructor gets up, writes a couple things down, tares the paper off, leaves it on the ground, and leaves. Teppic waited a little bit before he went down to pick his test results up. He passed. When he gets back to the Guild of Assassins, his friend Chidder is there. They go out to celebrate his success and get drunk. Instead of taking the short way home, they take a circuitous route. They pass over a bridge to empty their stomachs, Teppic realizes that they are being followed. Even though most people in Ankh-Morpork know to leave any assassins alone. There are some places in town that think if you kill an assassin, you will be rewarded greatly. Which is what the five stalkers had on their mind. Somehow the three of them get away, something to do with a seagull and the fact that Teppic is the son of a God. Teppic passes out and gets taken to a doctor (don't know what they were called back then), whos says that he was dead. He was breathing, his heart rate was off the charts, and he suddenly sat up. The doctor was still convinced that he was dead. Teppic said that his Dad was dead and he needed to get home. Where ever he walked something grew.
(less)

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May 06, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: british-books-challenge

It is a terrible thing, having your believes destroyed by truth. Sometimes, it is even more terrible to see that you were right.

Pyramids, first published 1989, follows young Teppic, only son of king (Pharaoh) Teppicymon XXVII. He has decided to get his education outside of the small desert kingdom Djelibeybi, so he travels all the way to Ankh-Morpork to join the Assassins Guild. The book starts with his final examination, telling his story in flashbacks as he succeeds.
Shortly afterwards his fath...more

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Feb 28, 2011 Gavin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

The problem I'm having re-reading Pterry's early stuff is how he tends to revisit the same themes and character-types later, and do them orders of magnitude better.

I admit I have a soft spot for Pyramids -even though it's clearly proto-Small Gods- largely because the establishing sequence (Pteppic's introduction during his Assassin's exam) is absolutely inspired writing. It's punchy, funny and ferociously lean, and it contains all the wit and wisdom to be expected from Pratchett at his best. Fro...more

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Pyramids (Discworld #7)

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