Pyramids: A Novel of Discworld

Pyramids is entertaining reading, has a substantial plot and enough of the wellknown surprise effects in language and thought. Compared to other disc world novels, it seems more like a consistant novel, more action, but less Pratchett- typical humor (still enough to laugh out aloud)

I saw the weird title "Pyramids (Discworld Novels (Audio)) [UNABRIDGED] [AUDIOBOOK] [ABRIDGED] [AUDIOBOOK] (Audio Cassette)" and had to find out whether it was abridged or not. I should have suspected from the low price: it's abridged. Only 2 tapes. I haven't listened to them yet, but it's Terry Pratchett! How bad could it be even shortened? I'm downgrading it a star for the misleading advertising, though.

I thoroughly enjoyed his assured narration and dialogue for the first half of the book – lovely wit underpinning everything, charming characters (despite the context), clever interplay with people talking at cross purposes. Here’s an example from a beautifully handled scene where our pampered heir is starting at his new (assassin school):
‘Boy’
Teppec looked up. There was a senior assassin standing beside him…The man was pleasant enough. You could imagine him making sausages.
‘Are you talking to me?’ he said.
‘You will stand up when you address a master,’ said the rosy face.
‘I will?’ Teppic was fascinated. He wondered how this could be achieved. Discipline had not hitherto been a major feature in his life….
‘I will sir,’ said the teacher. He consulted the list in his hand.
‘What is your name, boy?’ he continued.
‘Prince Pteppic of the Old Kingdom, the Kingdom of the Sun,’ said Teppic easily. ‘I appreciate you are ignorant of the etiquette, but you should not call me sir, and you should touch the ground with your forehead when you address me.’
‘Pateppic, is it?’ said the master.
‘No. Pteppic.’
‘Ah, Teppic,’ said the master….He then turned away and homed in on another cowering pupil.
‘He’s not such a bad sort,’ said a voice behind Teppic. ‘Anyway, all the stuff’s in the library. I’ll show you if you like. I’m Chidder.’
Teppic turned. He was being addressed by a boy of about his own age and height…The youth was holding out a hand. Teppic gave it a polite glance.
‘Yes?’ he said.
‘What’s your name, kiddo?’
Teppic drew himself up. He was getting fed up with this treatment. ‘Kiddo? I’ll have you know the blood of Pharaohs runs in my veins!’
The other boy looked at him unabashed, with his head on one side and a faint smile on his face.
‘Would you like it to stay there?’ he said.

I mean, this is fantastic stuff, and utterly worthy of the Wodehouse tradition. So many deft touches – like the casual racism of getting the name wrong, the delicious irony of, “I will?’, and bringing it home with that delightfully understated threat. Also the likeability of the characters, who realistically fit far more in a country house than among murderers in the cruel city – but realism is happily abandoned.

I felt, however, that the book lost its way when the plot, instead of being a vaguely ridiculous and largely ignored framework to paint such agreeable scenes, begins to start driving things. Previously we’d had a tacit agreement with the author that it was absurd, but more and more he seems to want us to take it – of all words – seriously. The action becomes much less engaging when it isn’t important to character and just an occasion intermission between (lovely) dialogue and rumination. And it just gets insulting when we’re supposed to be driven by suspense in a novel where rules of physics are constantly and casually broken.

Seventh in the Discworld fantasy series in which Pratchett pokes fun at whatever he can imagine. The focus in Pyramids is on the rigid adherence to religious worship and custom. Especially when one has forgotten why one follows it. If you want to make sense of the chronology of the whole series or the various subseries, there is a chronological listing of the Discworld books on my website.

In 1989, Pyramids won the British Science Fiction Association Award for Novel. It's original title was The Book of Going Forth.

My Take
This was my least favorite so far of Pratchett's Discworld. Oh, it's funny enough as it pokes fun at that attitude of "me granfa did it and his granfa before him, and if it's good enough for him, it's good enough for me". Yet another old custom is that non-compulsory taking of the potion to follow the king into death. Hmmm, what a choice!?

It's an odd progression at the start, as Pratchett swings back and forth in time between Teppic's memories of childhood, his classes, back to his first day at school, and then slipping into his practical exam. Of course, Ptraci has her own schooling memories. Quite vivid ones too that she and the other handmaidens relive from the tattoos on Alonzo's body!
Writers may want to read Pratchett if only for the fabulously unique metaphors!

We get a peek in at Teppic's view of assassins' school. Oh, boy. No assassin apprentice ever takes the stairs. And it does make sense. You will LYAO when you read about the proper way to walk in Djelibeybi. "You turned your torso this way, then you turned your head this, and extended your arms at forty-five degrees…" Well, just imagine one of the pictures from a pyramid of those figures of people walking with their arms just so…

It took awhile before it was revealed (and I caught on to it) just exactly who was the "greatest mathematician in the history of Discworld". Yep, only in Discworld.

Pratchett pokes a lot of fun at business: "padding" the payroll; an ancient look-in at marketing — while all the profit is in those small things, you weren't anyone 'til you did a pyramid; palming products off; and, more.

There's all those little things Pratchett has fun with...the dolphins! Yep, I'll just betcha that's the real reason they save people, lol. Squishi chefs, Teppic channels Moses, the Tsorteans and the Ephebians go a bit nuts with that wooden horse concept, the priest commentator about the sports battle between the gods, reconsidering old clichés, used car salesmen, and, yep, more. Oh, mama! The mummies all get released from their pyramids and are not happy when they learn the truth about the after-life — those lying priests! "Show a bit of backbone. Everyone else is."

Teppicymon is an odd sort of father, and I suspect Pratchett used him as a model for the typical practice of raising up one's children among the nobility. That upbringing certainly didn't prepare Teppic for his godhood. Nor should they have sent Teppic out into the world where he learned them furrin' things about handshakes and choice. Talk about culture clash!? Maybe that is supposed to explain how Teppic spent his first twelve years at home and never picked up on that whole not-touching thing. Just as odd are Arthur's religious practices which require a goat. I get the impression, it's a nightly requirement. Talk about expensive. And messy.

Teppic's comment about "time…just piling up, like snow" was a nice bit of foreshadowing.

I sure would like to know why daddy took that leap off the palace wall. It might be that Dios! He certainly has a fit towards the end when the gods show up, and he insists "they will learn to do as they are instructed!" An attitude that makes much more sense at the end. You'll end up wanting to smack Dios up one side and down the other. I don't know why they've all let him get away with it. I mean, why bother showing up?

More religious questions crop up about daddy who is supposed to be a god, hence Teppic's curiosity about how essential his father was in making the sun come up every day. Makes you wonder why the schools don't teach logic anymore. And the truth about what a pyramid is good for comes out! It also serves to point up how much we forget over the centuries. The fear of change.

The Story
Father has sent young Teppic off to assassins' school to learn a profession and get an all-around education. Well, and the kingdom needs whatever money an assassin can earn. But his father's sudden death forces Teppic to return…and he hasn't a clue as to what a pharaoh should do.

It's tradition that wakes Teppic up to what's wrong in the kingdom — forcing the building of yet another money-sucking pyramid, mad priests, sacred crocodiles, a frustrated ghost, and marching mummies.

And to top it all off, the adolescent pharaoh discovers deceit, betrayal — not to mention a headstrong handmaiden — at the heart of his realm.

Sometimes being a god is no fun at all…

The Characters
Djelibeybi is…
…a small kingdom that has existed for over 7,000 years and serves as a buffer between two much larger countries — Tsort and Ephebe where they know about geometry.
Pteppic "Teppic" is the son and heir of King Teppicymon XXVII, who is also a god. The deceased Artela is Teppic's mother. Ptraci is Teppicymon's favorite handmaiden, his daughter, and Teppic's half-sister. Khuft was the first ruler, a fleeing thief. Grandma Pooney is Queen Far-re-ptah. King Psam-nut-kha is extremely annoyed at Koomi's "foul shades" comment. Aunt Cleph-ptha-re firmly believes in flaying people. Vyrt is the pharaoh's brother-in-law and an assassin.

The religious aspect
Dios is the high priest and First Minister. The ambitious Hoot Koomi is the high priest of Khefin. The gods include the Supreme Gods — Net, Fon, Hast, Set, Bin, Sot, Io, Dhek, and Ptooie; Nesh. Herpetine Triskeles, Sycnope, Silur the Catfish-Headed God, and Orexis-Nupt rule the dead. Hat is the Vultured-Headed God of Unexpected Guests. Nept. Vut the Dog-Headed God of the Evening. And more.

The burial aspect
Master Dil is the master embalmer. Gern is the new apprentice who's in love with Glwenda, the garlic farmer's daughter. Ptaclusp is the architect and jobbing pyramid builder to the nobility; his twin sons, Ptaclusp IIa is obsessed with accounting and saving every little bit while Ptaclusp IIb is fascinated by cosmic engineering. Good thing, since Teppic asks for such a humongous pyramid. Grinjer makes exquisite models. Rthur is a fresco painter.

There's a bit of payroll padding going on in here — on both sides.
Lady Nooni has heard fearful things about the school. Lord Fhem-ptahem. Jahmet is a servant. You Bastard is the camel Teppic and Ptraci leap aboard. Rhumusphut and Ktoffle come for a judgement about an ox.

Tsort
Xeno, he's into the destruct testing of axioms, and Ibid, a known authority on everything but geometry, decorating, and basic logic, are experimenting with arrows and tortoises. Copolymer is the greatest storyteller in history while Iesope tells fables, and Antiphon writes comic plays. Pthagonal is brilliant with geometry. Endos the Listener gets paid for listening. Heme Krona owns Camels-R-Us stables. Young Autocue is the eager volunteer.

Ankh-Morpork is…
…an oozing, aromatic sort of city, and probably the biggest on Discworld.

The Assassin's Guild of Ankh-Morpok…
… trains assassins for legitimate work and where nobody fails the test.
"No killing without payment … and always give a receipt."
Teppic's classmates include Chidder who comes from a trading family and graduates into the family business as a pirate taking feather mattresses and such; Arthur, a Strict Authorized Ormit, is the son of Johan Ludorum, one of the greatest assassins in the history of the Guild; Cheesewright; and, Snoxall. Fliemoe is a fellow student of whom to be wary.

The tough Mericet teaches Strategy and Poison Theory; Grunworth Nivor loves his food, teaches Traps and Deadfalls, and is Teppic's housemaster in Viper House; Kompt de Yoyo teaches Modern Languages and Music; Lady T'malia teaches Political Expediency — if you want to live, do NOT have dinner with her; Dr. Cruces is the head tutor; and, Mrs. Collar took care of Teppic's sex life in the sixth form.

Alfonz is part of the Unnamed's crew. DEATH makes a couple of appearances and at least one time finds him discombobulated.

The Cover and Title
Ooh, the cover is a brilliant red violet with a fleet of black pyramids floating on those violet sands. The premier pyramid is capped with a golden metal and flaring off a fat, spiky lightning bolt. The left edge is bordered in black with some sort of golden scepters(?) sprinkled down it. The author's name and title are in turquoise.

The title is the focus of the story, the Pyramids Teppic would love to get rid of.

The seventh installment of Discworld finds Terry Pratchett giving the reader a glimpse into the Kingdom of Djelibeybi and it's Assassin Guild-trained new king, Teppic. The story revolves various themes such as tradition vs. innovation, belief vs. reality, three-dimensional thinking vs. four-dimensional thinking, and what's the deal with pyramids all with a humorous twist.

The two main characters are Teppic, first a prince training to be an assassin only to become king right after finishing his Guild-training, and his father King Teppicymon XXVII, first the god-king of the Old Kingdom then a ghost watching as his body is prepared for his eternal afterlife. The two face their new situations wanting to change things only to find the Chief Priest Dios standing in the way, only for young Teppic to outdo the Priest by ordering the biggest Pyramid ever for his father to catastrophic results when he along with everyone else learns what pyramids actually do.

Besides the father and son duo who dominate the majority of the point-of-view scenes, other secondary characters have several moments to themselves including the aforementioned Dios. However only Dil the chief embalmer really stood out compared to those who technically might be more "important." Unfortunately what was suppose to be the big joke that was foreshadowed throughout the first half of the book turned out to be a dud when it turned out a camel was the greatest mathematician on the Disc.

Overall the general story arc(s) and the humorous, yet catastrophic, events are a fun read even with less than enjoyable secondary characters and the dud "big joke. Pyramids might be a "one-off" in the Discworld series, but it's a fun book.

I divide this book into three major parts. The first, where Our Narrator takes on an unusual house-sitting job, almost had me giving up and walking off. It felt like nothing built, too much seemed too obvious, a story going nowhere.

Then Olivia showed up. All of a sudden things got interesting. Characters and conflicts emerged, plot moved forward, motivations were revealed and rebutted, a Quest was defined and pursued - you know, all the things that keep you turning the pages.

In the third movement, things seemed to fall apart. I don't mean just the universe, although that was creaking and settling like a house with termites in the foundation. I mean the story. One rabbit after another seemed to leap from the hat, creating a whirl of scenes and characters (or something like characters) that very nearly derailed the story once it had built up a head of steam.

Then, in the end, the good guys win (enough), the innocents are saved. Where needed, the punishment fits the crime amusingly well.

The exciting second movement and the page-long finale made for a better-than-fair yarn. It was the nothing-happens first segment and the anything-can-happen third that put me off.

-- wiredweird

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 at all; because of the high priest, his is merely a ceremonial position. The story is no mere court intrigue, though; the Djelibeybian custom of building a bigger, more impressive pyramid for each kingly generation's resting spot creates havoc when the new pyramid proves to be so large that it creates a warp in space and time. Teppic, with the aid of a handmaid and Discworld's greatest mathematician (a camel named You Bastard) must put things to rights before Djelibeybi is destroyed by gods who have suddenly manifested on the physical realm and before war breaks out between the countries on either side of where Djelibeybi used to be.

While certainly amusing (the assassin's final exam is particularly good), this isn't one of Pratchett's stronger stories. It's disjointed and a lot of things happen that don't advance the story- the gods becoming physical and apparently witless being one of the worst. The characters aren't as vivid as in most Pratchett stories. Teppic and Ptraci are likable but not compelling. The best characters are the dead king and Dios, the power mad high priest who turns out to be motivated by good. But still, a not so great story by Terry Pratchett is better than a lot of some authors best stories, so it's certainly worth the read.

Young Prince Teppic is sent forth by his father, the ruler of the desert kingdom of Djelibeybi, who sends him to Ankh-Morpork to join the Assassin's Guild. Teppic is successful in his studies there, but, seven years later, the death of his father sees him recalled to take up the mantle of pharoah.

Unfortunately for all concerned, Teppic comes home with some strange notions about plumbing and the benefits of feather mattresses, which is not good news to the head priest, Dios, who prides himself on how things are run in the kingdom precisely as they were seven thousand years ago. New ideas are not welcome in the Old Kingdom...

Pyramids (subtitled 'The Book of Going Forth'), the seventh Discworld book, is one of several 'sleeper' hits in the series. Much more attention is lavished on the book preceding it, Wyrd Sisters, for introducing the popular characters of the Witches, whilst the succeeding volume, Guards! Guards!, gets a lot of props for introducing the City Watch and also for being one of the best books in the series. Pyramids by contrast tends to slip beneath the radar, which is a shame as it is a very good book indeed.

It's a stand-alone with not too many continuing story elements, but it works well for that. Rather than simply doing a story about someone with new, radical ideas turning up that the priesthood gets annoyed by, Pratchett throws in some excellent mickey-taking of philosophers and also some nice commentary about SF. Around the time Pyramids came out a lot of 'approachable' SF had been discarded in favour of brain-expanding stories about time travel and non-linear space or something, and Pratchett's constant use of "It's probably quantum!" to explain every single possible plot hole in the novel is a nice bit of satire.

Teppic makes for an engaging protagonist, although he's one of Pratchett's more familiar archetypes (a general do-gooder whose attempts to do good go wrong but he sorts it all out in the end). Dios is one of the series' more interesting protagonists, and the various pyramid-builders and embalmers make for an amusing secondary cast as well. On the minus side, the book's humour is a little bit too obvious in places (there's a few obvious Cleopatra jokes and the employment of mummies for comedic purposes), but there's still a few good belly-laughs in there as well. The theme of the book also seems a bit vague, except that ossification should be avoided by embracing new ideas, which is a bit of a no-brainer.

Pyramids (****) is a solid entry to the Discworld series, funny and entertaining throughout. The book is available now in the UK and USA.

Terry Pratchett's first novel, "The Carpet People", appeared in 1971. "Pyramids" is the seventh novel in his hugely popular Discworld series and was first published in 1989. It's the first - and, to date, only - book to feature Teppic, and is largely set in his home country of Djelibeybi.

As the book opens, Teppic (or Pteppic) is approaching the end of his education at Ankh-Morpork's Guild of Assassins. (The final exam, if failed, tends to be very...<ahem>...final). However, there is more to Teppic than dressing very stylishly and inhuming only for vast amounts of money. With the very recent death of his father, he has also become King Pteppicymon XXVIII of Djelibeybi. Teppic's home country is very obviously based on Egypt : it's two miles wide, one hundred and fifty miles long and runs along the river Djel. It has driven itself bankrupt, having spent seven thousand years building pyramids for its monarchs - invariably on the country's most fertile soil. Having become the first Pharoh to be educated outside Djelibeybi, Teppic finds it difficult to re-adapt to the traditions of his home country. He is technically a God and although he is officially Head of State, it's Dios - the very aged High Priest - who actually runs the country. Teppic isn't entirely impressed about this - he wants to introduce proper plumbing and pillows, for example. However, in spite of the country's debt, he does agree to building a massive pyramid for his late father. (This isn't something his late father - still pottering around as a ghost - isn't too impressed with). The final straw comes when Dios decides to feed Ptraci - the late King's favourite handmaiden - to the crocodiles. Teppic decides to become a little more politically active - and, luckily, he has a helpful education to fall back on.

Like everything else I've read by Pratchett, this is an excellent book. It's easily read, features plenty of likeable characters and there are plenty of laughs. As it's one of Pratchett's stand-alone books, it's a good starting point if you've never read any of the Discworld books before. (In a way, I find that a pity : I'd love to have known what became of Teppic and Ptraci). Definitely recommended !

Teppic is the son of King Teppicymon XXVII, the pharaoh of the ancient Klatch kingdom of Djelibeybi. Young Teppic is sent away to Ankh-Morpork to go to Assassin's School. He is called back to the kingdom immediately after graduation because of the death of his father. He must now ascend the throne, wear the ceremonial gold mask, and commission master architect Ptaclusp to build the massive mother of all pyramids for his father's earthly remains. Being the pharaoh of the dusty old tradition-steeped Kingdom of the Sun is no fun, however. Teppic misses the modern excitement, not to mention the modern plumbing, of Ankh-Morpork. When the pyramid under construction begins to generate enough energy to warp the fabric of time and space, the entire kingdom is displaced from Discworld into an alternate dimension. Teppic, accompanied by his headstrong handmaiden Ptraci and a mathematically inclined camel, is catapulted out of the kingdom. The threesome must find their way back to the kingdom to return it to its place within the dimensions of Discworld, rescuing it from beliefs turned to hellish reality.

This Discworld novel has a different feel from ones that precede it. Once Teppic leaves Ankh-Morpork, almost all traces of Discworld slip away. The reader is immersed in an amalgam of ancient Egypt and Greece, complete with mythology, high priests, deserts, hieroglyphics, and lots of pyramids and mummies. There are no wizards or witches here, and the magic is of an entirely different nature. There are almost no familiar characters, although Death does make a minor appearance. Pratchett uses this unusual setting to explore ideas about religious beliefs and traditions, and the nature of time, space, and reality. This is some pretty heady stuff, but it is given the magic Pratchett touch that entertains the reader while providing a lot of serious food for thought.

Pratchett is in top form as he satirizes Greek philosophy, Zeno's paradox, quantum physics, mythology, pyramid power, and the Trojan wars. His parody of the Riddle of the Sphinx is hilarious, as is an introduction to the questionably honorable ideals of the Assassin's Guild. Although Pratchett avoids chapter breaks, at least this book is divided into four sections to provide you with a few logical stopping points. This will give you several places to catch your breath in a funny and thought-provoking story that is a royal jewel in the scepter of Discworld.

Eileen Rieback

Teppic, prince of a country that closely resembles Ancient Egypt has been sent to Ankh-Morpork to be trained as an assassin. This is a practical education for someone who will one day reign as Pharaoh in the desert kingdom of Djelibeybi.

News of the old Pharaoh's death arrives in Ankh-Morpork via magical phenomena such as vegetation sprouting wherever Teppic steps. He makes his way back to Djelibeybi, filled with new-fangled ideas on how to move his country out of the Millennium of the Pyramid and into the Century of the Fruit Bat.

But the pyramids themselves are formidable enemies to progress. They trap time. Prince Teppic's father is dead, but he is still sentient and horribly aware that he is being turned into a mummy. He has high hopes that his son will end all of this death-worshiping nonsense, but Teppic is guilt-tripped by the high priest into building his father the biggest pyramid of all.

When the young king finally realizes that the mad, old high priest is the real ruler of Djelibeybi, he dons his black assassin's outfit and sets about rescuing beautiful handmaidens, thwarting the sacred crocodiles and their priests, and confronting Djelibeybi's ancient animal-headed gods.

Not bad for a kid who started out by letting the grass grow under his feet.

"Pyramids" is not part of a Discworld miniseries, but stands alone as a satire on religion, ancestor worship, ancient Greek philosophers, mathematicians, piratical merchants (another great career opportunity for a graduate of the Assassins Guild) and anything else Pratchett felt like taking a swing at.

This is ancient Egypt and Classical Greece as seen through the eyes of a mathematical genius who happens to be a camel, a young assassin who happens to be a king, and a mummy who would rather not spend the rest of his afterlife in Discworld's biggest pyramid.

Teppic, prince of a country that closely resembles Ancient Egypt has been sent to Ankh-Morpork to be trained as an assassin. This is a practical education for someone who will one day reign as Pharaoh in the desert kingdom of Djelibeybi.

News of the old Pharaoh's death arrives in Ankh-Morpork via magical phenomena such as vegetation sprouting wherever Teppic steps. He makes his way back to Djelibeybi, filled with new-fangled ideas on how to move his country out of the Millennium of the Pyramid and into the Century of the Fruit Bat.

But the pyramids themselves are formidable enemies to progress. They trap time. Prince Teppic's father is dead, but he is still sentient and horribly aware that he is being turned into a mummy. He has high hopes that his son will end all of this death-worshiping nonsense, but Teppic is guilt-tripped by the high priest into building his father the biggest pyramid of all.

When the young king finally realizes that the mad, old high priest is the real ruler of Djelibeybi, he dons his black assassin's outfit and sets about rescuing beautiful handmaidens, thwarting the sacred crocodiles and their priests, and confronting Djelibeybi's ancient animal-headed gods.

Not bad for a kid who started out by letting the grass grow under his feet.

"Pyramids" is not part of a Discworld miniseries, but stands alone as a satire on religion, ancestor worship, ancient Greek philosophers, mathematicians, piratical merchants (another great career opportunity for a graduate of the Assassins Guild) and anything else Pratchett felt like taking a swing at.

This is ancient Egypt and Classical Greece as seen through the eyes of a mathematical genius who happens to be a camel, a young assassin who happens to be a king, and a mummy who would rather not spend the rest of his afterlife in Discworld's biggest pyramid.

Time to turn a sacred cow into hamburger--Terry Pratchett, having established wizards, witches, and cranky policemen in his famed, kooky "Discworld," turns his attention to ancient Egyptianesque surroudings, here the city of Djelibeybi (say it out loud) and its unfortunate pharaoh.
Teppic is an unusually educated young pharaoh-to-be, the crown prince of Djelibeybi ("Child of the Djel") whose father has a few seagulls in the attic, and overall is a harmless little guy. Teppic heads off to Ankh-Morpork to train to be an Assassin, but comes back home when his dad unexpectedly dies (it's unexpected because the poor guy thought he was a seagull and leaped off). Teppic is a relatively enlightening young man, who doesn't like feeding people to crocodiles, doesn't want to build a pyramid for his dad, isn't comfortable with being a living god, and doesn't relish the idea of marrying a close female relative.
Unfortunately, the high priest (who is clearly insane) is holding the reins and doesn't intend to give them up to an upstart pharaoh. Teppic isn't entirely sure what to do about Dios, but he's sure that Dios's age-old ways are not the best ways. It's the century of the fruitbat, and Djelibeybi should live it that way!
Among Dios's proclaimations is that the old pharaoh (who is hanging around with Death, and who wanted to be sent out to sea rather than sealed in a pyramid) be built a pyramid to end all pyramids. Enter some slightly deranged architects, who do their darndest to make it so. The problem is, the bigger the pyramid, the more likely it is to distort space-time � and this one proceeds to mess up the fabric of all Djelibeybi. Soon Dios is siccing the guards on Teppic and rebellious handmaiden Ptraci, the gods have come to life and refuse to behave � and over a thousand mummies are lurching out into Djelibeybi from their pyramids.
Terry Pratchett is at his best when he takes accepted history/events/fantasy and twists them into hilarity. He takes the most absurd aspects of Egyptian culture and makes them into the bizarre land of Djelibeybi. Not even the Egyptian gods are free from Pratchett's spoofery, running around creating havoc--not to mention the enormous dung beetle carrying the sun.
The teenage hero Teppic is an innocent bystander who just happens to be the sole legitimate heir of the old king, and his bewilderment at the various customs and traditions (which all date back centuries) is perfectly done. Ptraci is a typical Pratchett gal -- strong, independent, intelligent, and takes no guff from anyone, revealing handmaiden costume or none. The old king is also an enjoyable character, harmlessly nuts when he was alive, and when he died he ended up on a guided tour watching his own embalming (the poor guy has to watch his own organs being extracted, when all he wanted was to be sent out to sea), thus proving that Death is very willing to be nice. Accompanying them are Dios, the insane high priest who spends centuries controlling pharaohs, a bunch of freaked-out architects, a super-intelligent camel called "You B*******", and a lot of deceased pharaohs (whose dialogue is priceless).
This book, like many of Pratchett's, is acceptable for kids as there is minimal profanity, no sex, and not really any violence. Teens may identify with Teppic and Ptraci, but they are excellent characters to be read about for any age group.
One of Pratchett's best novels. Also recommended are "Jingo," "The Truth," and so forth...

Despite not featuring Unseen University or the witches of the Ramtop Mountains, this is my favorite Discworld book.
After hinting at it in "Wyrd Sisters," Pratchett paints an engaging portrait of life in the Ankh-Morporkk Assassin's Guild. The suave, stylish, chic and, well, murderous life as an apprentice assassin is, against all logic, made sort of appealing and cool, like an academy for future James Bonds.
Then our protagonist, Teppic, is cruelly jerked back to his reality -- he's the son of the pharoah in the Kingdom of the Sun, and his father has just died. The cosmopolitan Teppic has to face what are, to him, backwards and outdated customs the rest of the world has left behind centuries ago. He's right, of course, and the mystery as to what's really happening in his kingdom spins out at Teppic tries to adapt himself to life as pharoah, and try to drag the kingdom into modern times.
Along the way, there is the ghost of his father, who mournfully watches his own body being prepared for the afterworld, a sassy handmaiden, and a mysterious and forbidding high priest. Toss in the greatest mathematician on Discworld -- not a biped, though -- a parody of Ancient Greece, and a graduate assassin turned pirate, and you've got a rollicking cast plunging towards a very local sort of doomsday.
The ending is a touch ambiguous for my tastes -- Pratchett was trying to use a light touch and went a touch TOO light for my tastes -- but overall, this is an engaging, amusing and even somewhat thoughtful Discworld novel, and one that stands alone even better than most.
By the order of the pharoah, this is strongly recommended.

A rollicking trip through Djelibeybi (Jelly baby, a British candy, get it?), Ephebe (with it's suspicious resemblance to classical Athens), and Anhk-Morpork (which needs no tag line). We're introduced to life as a student in the Assassin's Guild, where school dinners are the most stressful event of the day but not for the bullying. We observe the true pyramid power, the ability to muck about with the flow of time, and gain insight into the lives of those who build the pyramids, those who build things to go in them, and those who go in them.

Most important, we meet Dios, the high priest of Djelibeybi. The man has LOTS of experience at managing royalty, but is overcome by Pteppic, the young price sent to Anhk-Morpork to be educated at the Assassins' Guild. (You'll appreciate how easy even your hardest final exam was.) No, Dios is not assassinated, just out-witted by the independence and cunning the boy acquired in his years in that city of cities, that festering dung heap on a warm day, Anhk-Morpork.

Ephebe, a city of philosophers in search of bath-towels plays a critical role in this story, and the value of a good listener is demonstrated, to the cent.

One of Pratchett's best. The characters are well developed. Shots are taken at New Age silliness, boarding schools, and philosophy. It ends with a twist. What else can we ask for?

This is a fairly early Terry Pratchett (number seven I believe) and demonstrate his unique ability to lampoon nearly everything at once. We find ourselves with Teppic the heir to throne of Djelibeybi, who has been sent off to Ankh-Morpark to learn a decent trade. Or rather, a lucrative indecent trade of inhumation (otherwise called assassination). Djelibeybi has been building bigger and bigger pyramids for some 7,000 years and is way behind on its payments. Somebody has to bring home a paycheck.

Teppic has mastered all the requisite skills (tucking equipment everywhere, wearing black clothes, swinging from buildings, etc) and now, in a flash of accidental good luck, he has passed his final exam. At this crucial moment, Teppic's father develops a sudden urge to fly and our young assassin must return to the world's most tradition bound kingdom (no toilets, no mattresses, and no aqueducts). Having spent years in the most corrupt city on Discworld Teppic must wear a very heavy mask, sleep on stone beds, and be a very bored god. And bankrupt the kingdom building his father's pyramid.

Pyramids are the problem. Since each one has to be bigger than the last, they have long since achieved enough mass to bend light and absorb time. This keeps their occupants alive, but the accumulation of present and future time has to be vented off nightly. The reason Teppic's country is so stodgy is that all the present and future is being shot off into space and they only have the past left to live in.

Now Teppic decides that his father's tomb will be an order of magnitude larger than its predecessors, and all quantum breaks out. Even before it is finished is becomes a major time hazard and suddenly, in one great big pffft, it folds Djellibaybi into a Hilbert space and leaves Teppic with a camel sized headache. Needless to say this irritates the heck out of Teppic's father (dead or not), all the mummified kings, and a large number of loose gods.

Pratchett uses this opportunity to mach fun of organized religion, solipsistic scientists, relativity, archaism, relatives, politics, war, and mathematicians with one or two humps and four stomachs. He spares no one, and it is great fun for the reader. His ability to pull a horrible pun out of thin air is unequalled. Pratchett's message has always been that life is too important to take seriously, By all means hunt this up, you'll be mummified laughing.

"Pyramids" is an odd entry in the Discworld franchise. It is neither a knock-you-down laugh riot, nor an existential meandering. It has great dollops of both, though, and sometimes the two sides clash confusingly in the middle. Other times, they fit together perfectly, like the large blocks that when stacked together make up a pyramid.
There are some classic Pratchett moments here. Funny stuff. Like when a doctor (medicine being a new artform on the Discworld) declares a man's temperature so hot you could fry an egg on his forehead. Then, predicting the complicated medical jargon we all know and love, he pompously declares that the man is suffering from `Pyrocerebrum ouerf culinaire'. A great and ridiculous moment. Even better is the scene near the middle of the book, where our hero, Teppic, encounters the legendary Sphinx, and ends up debunking the logic behind its famous riddle. It is a great scene, hardly integral to the plot, but wonderful to chomp on while it's playing.
As for that plot, well, Terry tries some complicated set pieces, and usually manages to pull them off with minimal explanation. He lets the reader figure out the merits of the Assassin's Guild, what it means to inhume a client, the concept of "flaring" off a pyramid, camel mathematics, and "quantum" architecture. Needless to say, none of these concepts are very useful in our world, but all make perfect sense on the Discworld.
I was somewhat disappointed that he returned to some tried and true devices. The ghost of the dead king, used so well in "Wyrd Sisters", here comes off as a tired rehash (although the king's afterlife companions turn out to be an interesting bunch). Also, the smart-mouth female sidekick has been done to death by this point. And our hero seems to be just an amalgamation of every Discworld hero so far, from Rincewind to Twoflower to Mort to Rincewind (again). Although Death returns, for a very brief but memorable appearance.
All told not the greatest entry in the series. Terry aims the bar quite high, which I commend him for, but he manages to knock it down more times than not.

Recently I became a fan of Terry Pratchett, after having read The Color of Magic. I continued to read the series in order, and I just finished reading Pyramids. Immediately I liked this book, because I found the Assassins Guild fascinating, and I thought Teppic was an interesting and cool main character.
The plot goes something like this: Teppic was born in Djelibeybi (a sort of ancient Egypt-like country) and was sent to Ankh-Morpork when he was 12 to become an assassin. Just after Teppic passes the final test, his father dies and he has to return to Djelibeybi to be king. When he arrives, he realizes a pyramid has to be built for his father, and he orders that it be the biggest pyramid in the valley, with labyrinths and statues and so forth. But the pyramid is -so- big and powerful that it somehow alters the fabric of time and space, and puts Djelibeybi into its own little dimension, separate from the outside world. It's now Teppic's job as king (and a god) to make things right, even if the High Priest likes to twist everything he says.
Thrown into the mix is the mysteriously old High Priest named Dios; the best mathemetician in the world (a camel); a handmaiden named Ptraci; the gods coming to life and freaking everyone out; and thousands of dead 'ancestors' lurching around and complaining about their pyramids. The story is humorous, as are all of Pratchett's books, and the characters are very likeable. And for those of you who like romance, there is definitely some of that (which I was glad of).
Some reviewers complain that the plot is thin and the characters are under-developed, but I must disagree. So far this is my favorite Discworld book, and I'm pretty sure it will stay that way. This is well worth buying, even if you're not a huge Discworld fan!

Pyramids represents something of a detour in Pratchett's Discworld series. The principal action takes place in the heretofore unfamiliar land of Djelibeybi, located in northern Klatch across the Circle Sea from Anhk-Morpork. This is a unique realm of the Discworld, two miles wide and 150 miles long. It is often referred to as the Old Kingdom for a very good reason-it is quite old, over 7000 years old in fact. It is a desert land whose pharaohs are obsessed with pyramid-building; besides bankrupting the country, this obsession has also had the unforeseen consequence of keeping the country firmly entrenched in the past. Pyramids, you see, slow down time, and there are so many pyramids in Djelibeybi now that new time is continually sucked in by them and released nightly in flares. In a land where the same time is reused daily, it comes as something of a surprise when the pharaoh Teppicymon XXVII decides to send his son Teppic outside of the kingdom to get his education. Just after becoming a certified, guild-approved assassin, young Teppic is called upon to return home after his father suffers the unfortunate consequences attendant upon thinking he can fly. Three months into his reign, he basically loses his kingdom-literally. The Great Pyramid being built for his father's mummy is much too big, and eventually it causes the temporal dislocation of Djelibeybi from the face of the Discworld. Accompanied by the handmaiden Ptraci, whom he rescued from certain death, and a camel whose name would be edited were I to state it here, Teppic must find a way to restore his kingdom back to its proper place and time above the ground. The ordeal is only complicated further by the fact that all of the land's dead and thousands of gods suddenly have appeared in person, acting as if they own the place.
While its unusual setting and the fact that it features characters seen here and nowhere else makes this novel seem a little different from its fellow Discworld chronicles, I must admit it is quite an enjoyable read. Pratchett ingeniously incorporates ideas and practices from ancient Egypt and ancient Greece: pyramids, mummification, Greek philosophers, the Trojan War and its Horse in particular, etc. Teppic is an enjoyable enough character, but we never seem to delve deeply enough to understand him properly. I loved the brash handmaiden Ptraci and her fearless contempt for tradition. All of the dead pharaohs are quite funny, particularly in terms of their opinions on an afterlife spent shut inside a tomb inside an escape-proof pyramid. The subplot featuring the history of warfare between two neighboring kingdoms really helps make this novel a true winner. Perhaps the most interesting thing to be found in these pages, though, is the actual identity and thought processes of Discworld's greatest mathematician. There is also much to amuse and delight fans of temporal dislocation theories-the pyramid builders make many incredible discoveries in the process of building the Great Pyramid, not the least of which is a means of utilizing the structure's innate time loop to call forth several different selves to help make sure the job is finished in the allotted time.
Even though this book is funny and satisfying enough to stand on its own, I would not start my Discworld reading with it. Aside from Teppic's time spent in Anhk-Morpork learning to be an assassin, the action takes place outside the much more familiar lands we encounter time and again in the other novels. Of course, Pratchett devotees will want to read it for the very reason that it acquaints us with a strange, otherwise unfamiliar section of the Discworld.

So my friend tells me about this author, Terry Pratchett, who in my fifth decade I have never heard of. And my friend is pushing the likes of Going Postal, Thief of Time, Guards Guards, and others of Prachett's books. One wonders if my friend knew that there was a "proper" starting place into Pratchett's Discworld. :P

I also decided to go against the, er, grain and enter Discworld not from "the beginning" (The Colour of Magic) but with Pyramids. So that my kids - avid fans of ancient egpyt (pharaohs and priests, tyrants and the titular ptopic: pyramids) - might take an interest in a writing style they've not encountered before: satire. Throw in an Assassins' Guild (NINJAS!) and I think I've, or Pratchett, has clinched the deal.

(Yes, I realize that Prachett has written two or more trilogies for "younger readers," including The Bromeliad Trilogy and The Tiffany Aching trilogy -- both of which I also bought for the kids and look forward to reading myself.)

And although several reviewers have stated that Pyramids is not the best place to start the Discworld series, I say Phtooey. The book has a cast of memorable characters, both major and minor: Teppic, Dios (the high priest), Pteppicymon XXVII, Ptraci, Chidder, even Cheeseworth, Hoot Koomi (the double faced priest) Pthagarom, Mericet (the master assassin), Endos (the attentive listener), the tyrants of Ephebe and Tsort (read: ancient Greece and Troy), DEATH HIMSELF. And, of course, the greatest mathematician in the world.

I find the book a page turner of the first Tsort. From the characterizations of Dios and Pteppicymion, the early exploits of Teppic at Assassins' School to his summons to his father's kingdom and his innocent consorting with Ptraci...

...I was surprised most of the fantasy elements of the story could better be classified as science fiction (i.e., Pyramid Power run amuck), but I also realize I wasn't reading The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic or other of the Rinceworld novels.

The satire of Pyramids is brilliant. The writing style begs to be read aloud, and I found myself doing so at great lengths even though no one was around (probably a good thing) until my throat got sore (probably a bad thing). Read aloud it becomes sort of a Monty Python in print, except you're no longer dealing with print. Additionally, the book has great "re-play value," in that it can be read more than once for amusement. I am going to have to read it a second time to pick up some of the subtleties I missed.

The plot is light but fantastic. (The underlying satire probably more enjoyable). Nevertheless the story races to the climax, where all the major players: the gods, the priests, the undead ancestors of -what - Djelibeybi ("Jelly Baby," a popular British confectionary), the King's Embalmers (one whose name is Dil, who pickles the dead kings), the Pyramids' architects (Ptaclusp and his twin sons Ptaclusp IIa and IIb), and Teppic himself collide in a rousing attempt to rouse the Kingdom of Djelibeybi from the slumber of its having fallen through a fractal in the space-time warp. Ah: pyramid power: don't ever underestimate it!

And don't underestimate Pyramids. In fact, I am loath to leave the world of Pteppicymion and Djelibeybi for the wider world of Ankh-Morpork and "Discworld proper." (I kind of rince to think about it.) Where Ive heard there are such things as dragons and wizards. I guess it's great my kids are as entranced by those topics as well, having read Tolkien. Now let's see if they can understand and enjoy Pratchett as much.

"Heavy hangs the head" goes the old saying. Teppic doesn't wear a crown, but there's plenty else. Besides all the gear he took up while training to be an Assassin in Ankh-Morpork, there's The Reaping Hook of Justice, The Sheaf of Plenty and The Three-pronged Spear of the Waters of the Earth. Oh, yes, there's also a gold mask for identity. All this has been imposed on Teppic since ascending the throne of Djelibeybi at the death of his father. Along with the paraphernalia, Teppic has also inherited a staggering, if unspecified, debt load. In Djelibeybi, each monarch is to "rest" in a pyramid, each one larger than that of his/her predecessor. With seven millennia of monarchs, the shores of the River Djel are occupied with these man-made stone mountains. And nobody can remember how long it's been since any of them was paid for.

Teppic, having breathed the foetid air of Anhk-Morpork, misses feather mattresses and plumbing. He is also suspicious of the type of "justice" prevailing in Djelibeybi. Long centuries of "tradition" have conditioned the populace to endure bizarre forms of justice. So conditioned that they will self-inflict punishment, no matter how illogical. Teppic has difficulty understanding this, but Dios, his high priest is there to counsel him on how the system works. There's also another voice, just at the level of perception, adding to Teppic's uncertainty. Urged by Dios to build the greatest pyramid ever to honour Teppic's departed father, the new king has reservations. Something is telling him it's a bad idea.

The bad idea proves worse than he can imagine. The ranks of pyramids contain the fourth dimension, Time, which can distort the other three if enough accumulates. Events transpire, not the least of which is the disappearance of Djelibeybi, river, pyramids and all. This situation allows Pratchett to make his first drastic departure from the image of "humourous fantasist" pinned on him by uncomprehending critics. He does so with gusto. Employing the assistance of the Discworld's greatest mathematician [not a dolphin!], Pratchett guides us through the world of quantum physics. Far from fantasy, this is serious science brought to life by the one writer who can accomplish it with such finesse. Who but Pratchett could utilise the metaphor of Djelibeybi stretching like "a lead ball on a rubber sheet" in such a context?

What happens when Time distorts the other dimensions? If you're outside, how do you return? If you're inside, what effect will the transformation of those dimensions mean to reality? What will be reality? Pratchett answers those questions in ways that will astound fans of fantasy and confound physics professors who seek ways of awakening their legions of drowsy students. He formulates a new reality in which those things we believe in but never see are given substance. Will we still believe in them when they confront us? How will we cope with the forces they possess? Pratchett poses these questions to prod us into considering them for ourselves. Can you accept his challenge?

Read this as a guidebook to the world beyond "reality" and enjoy the immense wit Pratchett uses to describe it. You won't be disappointed. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

A rollicking trip through Djelibeybi (Jelly baby, a British candy, get it?), Ephebe (with it's suspicious resemblance to classical Athens), and Anhk-Morpork (which needs no tag line). We're introduced to life as a student in the Assassin's Guild, where school dinners are the most stressful event of the day but not for the bullying. We observe the true pyramid power, the ability to muck about with the flow of time, and gain insight into the lives of those who build the pyramids, those who build things to go in them, and those who go in them.

Most important, we meet Dios, the high priest of Djelibeybi. The man has LOTS of experience at managing royalty, but is overcome by Pteppic, the young price sent to Anhk-Morpork to be educated at the Assassins' Guild. (You'll appreciate how easy even your hardest final exam was.) No, Dios is not assassinated, just out-witted by the independence and cunning the boy acquired in his years in that city of cities, that festering dung heap on a warm day, Anhk-Morpork.

Ephebe, a city of philosophers in search of bath-towels plays a critical role in this story, and the value of a good listener is demonstrated, to the cent.

One of Pratchett's best. The characters are well developed. Shots are taken at New Age silliness, boarding schools, and philosophy. It ends with a twist. What else can we ask for?

This is a fairly early Terry Pratchett (number seven I believe) and demonstrate his unique ability to lampoon nearly everything at once. We find ourselves with Teppic the heir to throne of Djelibeybi, who has been sent off to Ankh-Morpark to learn a decent trade. Or rather, a lucrative indecent trade of inhumation (otherwise called assassination). Djelibeybi has been building bigger and bigger pyramids for some 7,000 years and is way behind on its payments. Somebody has to bring home a paycheck.

Teppic has mastered all the requisite skills (tucking equipment everywhere, wearing black clothes, swinging from buildings, etc) and now, in a flash of accidental good luck, he has passed his final exam. At this crucial moment, Teppic's father develops a sudden urge to fly and our young assassin must return to the world's most tradition bound kingdom (no toilets, no mattresses, and no aqueducts). Having spent years in the most corrupt city on Discworld Teppic must wear a very heavy mask, sleep on stone beds, and be a very bored god. And bankrupt the kingdom building his father's pyramid.

Pyramids are the problem. Since each one has to be bigger than the last, they have long since achieved enough mass to bend light and absorb time. This keeps their occupants alive, but the accumulation of present and future time has to be vented off nightly. The reason Teppic's country is so stodgy is that all the present and future is being shot off into space and they only have the past left to live in.

Now Teppic decides that his father's tomb will be an order of magnitude larger than its predecessors, and all quantum breaks out. Even before it is finished is becomes a major time hazard and suddenly, in one great big pffft, it folds Djellibaybi into a Hilbert space and leaves Teppic with a camel sized headache. Needless to say this irritates the heck out of Teppic's father (dead or not), all the mummified kings, and a large number of loose gods.

Pratchett uses this opportunity to mach fun of organized religion, solipsistic scientists, relativity, archaism, relatives, politics, war, and mathematicians with one or two humps and four stomachs. He spares no one, and it is great fun for the reader. His ability to pull a horrible pun out of thin air is unequalled. Pratchett's message has always been that life is too important to take seriously, By all means hunt this up, you'll be mummified laughing.

"Pyramids" is an odd entry in the Discworld franchise. It is neither a knock-you-down laugh riot, nor an existential meandering. It has great dollops of both, though, and sometimes the two sides clash confusingly in the middle. Other times, they fit together perfectly, like the large blocks that when stacked together make up a pyramid.
There are some classic Pratchett moments here. Funny stuff. Like when a doctor (medicine being a new artform on the Discworld) declares a man's temperature so hot you could fry an egg on his forehead. Then, predicting the complicated medical jargon we all know and love, he pompously declares that the man is suffering from `Pyrocerebrum ouerf culinaire'. A great and ridiculous moment. Even better is the scene near the middle of the book, where our hero, Teppic, encounters the legendary Sphinx, and ends up debunking the logic behind its famous riddle. It is a great scene, hardly integral to the plot, but wonderful to chomp on while it's playing.
As for that plot, well, Terry tries some complicated set pieces, and usually manages to pull them off with minimal explanation. He lets the reader figure out the merits of the Assassin's Guild, what it means to inhume a client, the concept of "flaring" off a pyramid, camel mathematics, and "quantum" architecture. Needless to say, none of these concepts are very useful in our world, but all make perfect sense on the Discworld.
I was somewhat disappointed that he returned to some tried and true devices. The ghost of the dead king, used so well in "Wyrd Sisters", here comes off as a tired rehash (although the king's afterlife companions turn out to be an interesting bunch). Also, the smart-mouth female sidekick has been done to death by this point. And our hero seems to be just an amalgamation of every Discworld hero so far, from Rincewind to Twoflower to Mort to Rincewind (again). Although Death returns, for a very brief but memorable appearance.
All told not the greatest entry in the series. Terry aims the bar quite high, which I commend him for, but he manages to knock it down more times than not.

Recently I became a fan of Terry Pratchett, after having read The Color of Magic. I continued to read the series in order, and I just finished reading Pyramids. Immediately I liked this book, because I found the Assassins Guild fascinating, and I thought Teppic was an interesting and cool main character.
The plot goes something like this: Teppic was born in Djelibeybi (a sort of ancient Egypt-like country) and was sent to Ankh-Morpork when he was 12 to become an assassin. Just after Teppic passes the final test, his father dies and he has to return to Djelibeybi to be king. When he arrives, he realizes a pyramid has to be built for his father, and he orders that it be the biggest pyramid in the valley, with labyrinths and statues and so forth. But the pyramid is -so- big and powerful that it somehow alters the fabric of time and space, and puts Djelibeybi into its own little dimension, separate from the outside world. It's now Teppic's job as king (and a god) to make things right, even if the High Priest likes to twist everything he says.
Thrown into the mix is the mysteriously old High Priest named Dios; the best mathemetician in the world (a camel); a handmaiden named Ptraci; the gods coming to life and freaking everyone out; and thousands of dead 'ancestors' lurching around and complaining about their pyramids. The story is humorous, as are all of Pratchett's books, and the characters are very likeable. And for those of you who like romance, there is definitely some of that (which I was glad of).
Some reviewers complain that the plot is thin and the characters are under-developed, but I must disagree. So far this is my favorite Discworld book, and I'm pretty sure it will stay that way. This is well worth buying, even if you're not a huge Discworld fan!

Pyramids represents something of a detour in Pratchett's Discworld series. The principal action takes place in the heretofore unfamiliar land of Djelibeybi, located in northern Klatch across the Circle Sea from Anhk-Morpork. This is a unique realm of the Discworld, two miles wide and 150 miles long. It is often referred to as the Old Kingdom for a very good reason-it is quite old, over 7000 years old in fact. It is a desert land whose pharaohs are obsessed with pyramid-building; besides bankrupting the country, this obsession has also had the unforeseen consequence of keeping the country firmly entrenched in the past. Pyramids, you see, slow down time, and there are so many pyramids in Djelibeybi now that new time is continually sucked in by them and released nightly in flares. In a land where the same time is reused daily, it comes as something of a surprise when the pharaoh Teppicymon XXVII decides to send his son Teppic outside of the kingdom to get his education. Just after becoming a certified, guild-approved assassin, young Teppic is called upon to return home after his father suffers the unfortunate consequences attendant upon thinking he can fly. Three months into his reign, he basically loses his kingdom-literally. The Great Pyramid being built for his father's mummy is much too big, and eventually it causes the temporal dislocation of Djelibeybi from the face of the Discworld. Accompanied by the handmaiden Ptraci, whom he rescued from certain death, and a camel whose name would be edited were I to state it here, Teppic must find a way to restore his kingdom back to its proper place and time above the ground. The ordeal is only complicated further by the fact that all of the land's dead and thousands of gods suddenly have appeared in person, acting as if they own the place.
While its unusual setting and the fact that it features characters seen here and nowhere else makes this novel seem a little different from its fellow Discworld chronicles, I must admit it is quite an enjoyable read. Pratchett ingeniously incorporates ideas and practices from ancient Egypt and ancient Greece: pyramids, mummification, Greek philosophers, the Trojan War and its Horse in particular, etc. Teppic is an enjoyable enough character, but we never seem to delve deeply enough to understand him properly. I loved the brash handmaiden Ptraci and her fearless contempt for tradition. All of the dead pharaohs are quite funny, particularly in terms of their opinions on an afterlife spent shut inside a tomb inside an escape-proof pyramid. The subplot featuring the history of warfare between two neighboring kingdoms really helps make this novel a true winner. Perhaps the most interesting thing to be found in these pages, though, is the actual identity and thought processes of Discworld's greatest mathematician. There is also much to amuse and delight fans of temporal dislocation theories-the pyramid builders make many incredible discoveries in the process of building the Great Pyramid, not the least of which is a means of utilizing the structure's innate time loop to call forth several different selves to help make sure the job is finished in the allotted time.
Even though this book is funny and satisfying enough to stand on its own, I would not start my Discworld reading with it. Aside from Teppic's time spent in Anhk-Morpork learning to be an assassin, the action takes place outside the much more familiar lands we encounter time and again in the other novels. Of course, Pratchett devotees will want to read it for the very reason that it acquaints us with a strange, otherwise unfamiliar section of the Discworld.

So my friend tells me about this author, Terry Pratchett, who in my fifth decade I have never heard of. And my friend is pushing the likes of Going Postal, Thief of Time, Guards Guards, and others of Prachett's books. One wonders if my friend knew that there was a "proper" starting place into Pratchett's Discworld. :P

I also decided to go against the, er, grain and enter Discworld not from "the beginning" (The Colour of Magic) but with Pyramids. So that my kids - avid fans of ancient egpyt (pharaohs and priests, tyrants and the titular ptopic: pyramids) - might take an interest in a writing style they've not encountered before: satire. Throw in an Assassins' Guild (NINJAS!) and I think I've, or Pratchett, has clinched the deal.

(Yes, I realize that Prachett has written two or more trilogies for "younger readers," including The Bromeliad Trilogy and The Tiffany Aching trilogy -- both of which I also bought for the kids and look forward to reading myself.)

And although several reviewers have stated that Pyramids is not the best place to start the Discworld series, I say Phtooey. The book has a cast of memorable characters, both major and minor: Teppic, Dios (the high priest), Pteppicymon XXVII, Ptraci, Chidder, even Cheeseworth, Hoot Koomi (the double faced priest) Pthagarom, Mericet (the master assassin), Endos (the attentive listener), the tyrants of Ephebe and Tsort (read: ancient Greece and Troy), DEATH HIMSELF. And, of course, the greatest mathematician in the world.

I find the book a page turner of the first Tsort. From the characterizations of Dios and Pteppicymion, the early exploits of Teppic at Assassins' School to his summons to his father's kingdom and his innocent consorting with Ptraci...

...I was surprised most of the fantasy elements of the story could better be classified as science fiction (i.e., Pyramid Power run amuck), but I also realize I wasn't reading The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic or other of the Rinceworld novels.

The satire of Pyramids is brilliant. The writing style begs to be read aloud, and I found myself doing so at great lengths even though no one was around (probably a good thing) until my throat got sore (probably a bad thing). Read aloud it becomes sort of a Monty Python in print, except you're no longer dealing with print. Additionally, the book has great "re-play value," in that it can be read more than once for amusement. I am going to have to read it a second time to pick up some of the subtleties I missed.

The plot is light but fantastic. (The underlying satire probably more enjoyable). Nevertheless the story races to the climax, where all the major players: the gods, the priests, the undead ancestors of -what - Djelibeybi ("Jelly Baby," a popular British confectionary), the King's Embalmers (one whose name is Dil, who pickles the dead kings), the Pyramids' architects (Ptaclusp and his twin sons Ptaclusp IIa and IIb), and Teppic himself collide in a rousing attempt to rouse the Kingdom of Djelibeybi from the slumber of its having fallen through a fractal in the space-time warp. Ah: pyramid power: don't ever underestimate it!

And don't underestimate Pyramids. In fact, I am loath to leave the world of Pteppicymion and Djelibeybi for the wider world of Ankh-Morpork and "Discworld proper." (I kind of rince to think about it.) Where Ive heard there are such things as dragons and wizards. I guess it's great my kids are as entranced by those topics as well, having read Tolkien. Now let's see if they can understand and enjoy Pratchett as much.

"Heavy hangs the head" goes the old saying. Teppic doesn't wear a crown, but there's plenty else. Besides all the gear he took up while training to be an Assassin in Ankh-Morpork, there's The Reaping Hook of Justice, The Sheaf of Plenty and The Three-pronged Spear of the Waters of the Earth. Oh, yes, there's also a gold mask for identity. All this has been imposed on Teppic since ascending the throne of Djelibeybi at the death of his father. Along with the paraphernalia, Teppic has also inherited a staggering, if unspecified, debt load. In Djelibeybi, each monarch is to "rest" in a pyramid, each one larger than that of his/her predecessor. With seven millennia of monarchs, the shores of the River Djel are occupied with these man-made stone mountains. And nobody can remember how long it's been since any of them was paid for.

Teppic, having breathed the foetid air of Anhk-Morpork, misses feather mattresses and plumbing. He is also suspicious of the type of "justice" prevailing in Djelibeybi. Long centuries of "tradition" have conditioned the populace to endure bizarre forms of justice. So conditioned that they will self-inflict punishment, no matter how illogical. Teppic has difficulty understanding this, but Dios, his high priest is there to counsel him on how the system works. There's also another voice, just at the level of perception, adding to Teppic's uncertainty. Urged by Dios to build the greatest pyramid ever to honour Teppic's departed father, the new king has reservations. Something is telling him it's a bad idea.

The bad idea proves worse than he can imagine. The ranks of pyramids contain the fourth dimension, Time, which can distort the other three if enough accumulates. Events transpire, not the least of which is the disappearance of Djelibeybi, river, pyramids and all. This situation allows Pratchett to make his first drastic departure from the image of "humourous fantasist" pinned on him by uncomprehending critics. He does so with gusto. Employing the assistance of the Discworld's greatest mathematician [not a dolphin!], Pratchett guides us through the world of quantum physics. Far from fantasy, this is serious science brought to life by the one writer who can accomplish it with such finesse. Who but Pratchett could utilise the metaphor of Djelibeybi stretching like "a lead ball on a rubber sheet" in such a context?

What happens when Time distorts the other dimensions? If you're outside, how do you return? If you're inside, what effect will the transformation of those dimensions mean to reality? What will be reality? Pratchett answers those questions in ways that will astound fans of fantasy and confound physics professors who seek ways of awakening their legions of drowsy students. He formulates a new reality in which those things we believe in but never see are given substance. Will we still believe in them when they confront us? How will we cope with the forces they possess? Pratchett poses these questions to prod us into considering them for ourselves. Can you accept his challenge?

Read this as a guidebook to the world beyond "reality" and enjoy the immense wit Pratchett uses to describe it. You won't be disappointed. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

It is obvious from reading other reviews that readers of Terry Pratchett each have their own particular favourites, and these can vary wildly. `Pyramids' was the first of his books that I read and even though I have now read most of them it remains, in my opinion, one of the best. What did I like about it? Well, the concept of a king who was actually trained to be an assassin (rather than one who took on the role to get there) was a good start. A kingdom called Djelibeybi (you have to say it aloud) that remarkably resembles Egypt, but skewed in the way that only Pratchett's Discworld series can, was also clever. Add to that swipes at pyramidology, the way some of religions followers abuse the power they get from it, and a teenage hero concerned about all the normal things that teenagers are concerned about, and you get a funny book. Perhaps my favourite bit is that camels are the smartest creatures on the disc (maybe you have to have met some camels to really understand that). If you are a fan of Terry Pratchett, there is a fair chance you will like this book. If you've never read him before, buy `Pyramids' and prepare to laugh.

As a relatively new fan of Terry Pratchett and his Discworld series, I was so impressed by what he wrote so far I started to believe that everything from the series will be brilliant and excellent. Therefore, despite the fact other books sounded better, I picked "Pyramids" at random. And also because
... All I can say is, even the best writers can make mistakes now and then - and that I will be more careful next time.

About the book: Pyramids is set in Djelibeibey, which is the Discworld equivalent of Ancient Egypt. The main character is Teppic, the son of the Pharaoh who gets sent to Assassin's school in Ankh-Morpork for a few years, only to come back exactly when his father dies and he becomes the new Pharoah of the kingdom. The plot gets complicated by the building of a pyramid which is bigger than any pyramid which has ever been built in the kingdom. This pyramid somehow twists the rules of space, time and belief to create a big mess.

Does this sound a big vague? To me it does - and the story feels confused and vague to the end. Many plot lines aren't fully explored, many characters aren't fully developed.. the plot is very thin, it feels as if it leads nowhere. Even the jokes in the book weren't as witty as the other Discworld novels I have read. It's a pity since the premise has a lot of potential, and Teppic is cool as the main character.

What can I say, I guess Pratchett is human after all, even great authors can do less than perfect every now and then. Was I disappointed? Yes. Will I continue to read more Pratchett novels? You bet! I guess I would recommend this book only to people who are absolutely die hard fans of Discworld.. for anybody else I would say, Skip this one.

Teppic, who has just finished his training at the Assasins' Guild in Ankh-Morpork is called back to his home kingdom, because he is the only heir to the throne of his late father. Waiting for him back at home are numerous problems -- building a pyramid bigger than any other for his father, dealing with a high priest that just doesn't seem to listen to him, etc. The cast is very, very interesting, and is what pretty much makes the book. There's your 1000-year old high priest, a camel that's also the greatest mathematician on Earth, a sea trader whose business is about 30% legal, a handmaiden (what does that mean, anyway?), a whole lot of architects, and of course the new pharaoh, Teppic. This is the book's first release in the United States, so I've been waiting for it for a long time, and I'm not disappointed. I'm sure you won't be, either.

Pyramids
A funny story set up in discworld Egypt, where the king is also god for real, and traditions has rule everything, some funny moments.

Spoilers

I kind of suspected the priest called dios was up to something with him ruling the kingdom and having the kings being puppets. Liked how at the end the Ptraci becomes King and we don’t know if at the end she managed to keep Teppic

Got halfway through it before I put it down...yes, it was that annoying.

Here Pratchett was satirizing Egypt and religion, especially ritual magic and the cult of personality. It got too over-the-top and predictable...same ol' gags as always.

Only for discworld fanboys.

1 out of 5 stars.

Teppic, only legitimate son of the king of an impoverished kingdom, is sent to an assassins' school for his training. Students who fail disappear. When called back to take the throne, he finds himself contending with the chief priest. Mysterious pyramids, a runaway handmaiden, an educated camel, and a friend from school all add to the complications leading to an interesting climax. There are some digressions in the story, easy to skim over, and it skips from character to character and is written with some flashbacks necessary to explain the plot. Overall, it is an interesting story.