Customer Reviews

Carpe Jugulum

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I picked this up in a European airport, thinking it was going to be a quick silly read, like Tom Sharpe. It's nothing like, but I wasn't disappointed. My only caveat: start earlier in the Discworld series - starting here made for a confusing beginning and the uncomfortable sense that I was missing stuff.

I honestly enjoyed this book...and considering the large number of books I read, for me to clearly remember what a book was about over a year after reading it means that there had to be something memorable in the first place.

Here, the blend of the witches, the vampires (SMART, for once...I must say, it was a pleasure to meet this breed), the Watch, all together really made for an enjoyable experience. To see threads from other novels is always half the fun of reading Discworld, for me...to see threads from "Masquerade", without it being "Masquerade, 2" absolutely made it, in my books.

Don't get me wrong. "Carpe Jugulum" isn't "Thief of Time". But that doesn't make it shoddy by any means.^^

If you enjoy watching those old horror b-movies...well, the book reminds a touch of the feeling of laughing at the cardboard tombstones in "Plan 9 From Outer Space"...great satire.

But that's Prachett. This man just doesn't WRITE bad books.

Terry is probably the funniest author alive but this work is not
his triumphs.

Quite frankly it often came over more like Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
than vintage Pratchett. In the first half of the book I could
not tell any difference between what was written and a standard
fantasy. By the time the comedy overcame the tripe this book
was ruined for me. What a shame.

The villains are a family of vampires, who move in and take over Lancre and its royal family, while Granny Weatherwax and the other witches try to stop them (and eventually succeed, of course). As my wife says, it just seems like a rehash of Lords and Ladies.

This has got to be my favorite prachet book so far. Im so glad i finally read it!

This is just one of umpteen reviews, so I'll skip the summary. In fact, the only reason I'm reviewing this AT ALL is that I bought the book through Amazon, so every time I write a review of something else, they remind me I still haven't reviewed this one.

But, after having it for months, I've finally started to read it. Wow, I'm glad that I did!

Let's be honest. The plot is really secondary to the characters. And that is where PTerry shines. He gives us characters with motivations and passions, likes and fears, and he lets the humor flow from that, rather than forcing a plot point to make the humor come out. PTerry's humor is never forced.

However, as many have pointed out, this plot is a re-hasing of Lords and Ladies. Without a doubt, Lords and Ladies is my favorite. So when this plot also takes place in Lancre with an outside force of supernatural beings assaulting the kingdom, it felt like I was coming back to a well-eorn fable. I knew the plot, and I could concentrate on reading about the characters.

And we learn so much about the characters this time. Nanny Ogg and Agnes get some great treatment this time around (which they lacked in previous books), and even Granny Weatherwax gets some new twists. The characters are delicious.

Why a four star rating instead of a five, then? Because PTerry wasn't as inventive this time. In Lords and Ladies, we see Elves in a different way. Cliches are broken, mangled, played with, and twisted. But the Vampires (vampyrs, as they prefer) are somewhat mundane. One of them is even named Vlad, for Pete's sake! PTerry certainly did give us a new take on some of the traits of the Vampires, but they didn't get the much-needed overhaul that the Elves got previously.

Otherwise, an entertaining, highly-readable, highly-quotable book (as Discworld books tend to be). But it's still the younger, less successful brother compared to Lords and Ladies.

While I agree with others that this is not at all a rewrite of Lord and Ladies, this also is one of the weaker books in the series.

The quick story is that the king has invited vampires into his kingdom - an invitation they quickly accept so they can take it all over. Of course, they have to contend with Granny Weatherwax and initially she appears to be a push-over...

The vampire portions are really well done and I enjoyed them a lot. It was easy to see their motivations and empathise with them (despite their dark nature.) The witches behavior was much more haphazard and odd - none of them appear to be strong characters (except Granny, of course) and instead appear to just stumble into everything. While it's true that is a large part of Rincewind's appeal but I guess I don't expect it everywhere in the Discworld. Oh well, it is a funny book with some of the best humor he's written - I just wish the other parts were just as solid as the comedy.

I love Terry Pratchet's Discworld novels, and I'm partial to the novels featuring the witches. This novel, however, is by far my favorite. Not only to you have Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Agnes Nit, you get a pack of vampires and an army of pixies -- I mean, Pictsies.

Although the Pictsies are amusing, what really makes this novel is the family of vampires who want to lead a normal life. Particularly amusing is the Count's teenage daughter, Lacci (short for Lacrimosa), who does the most un-vampiric things, like staying up until noon, wearing brightly-colored clothes, and asking her friends to call her Gertrude.

You can never go wrong with a Discworld novel, and this one in particular is amazingly funny!

Vampires are all-powerful, so what stops them from doing exactly as they please? Nothing whatsoever, unless one of their number decides to stop things simply to uphold the principles of narrative causality. I love Terry Pratchett's work, but this is one of my less favorites. Like many books by European authors, it concentrates on the cruel triumph of the overlords and the futile struggles of the serfs, to an extent that American readers may find frustrating.

Not being a huge fan of fantasy I find it hard to write a review for the occasional Terry Pratchett novel I do read. I enjoy is offbeat look at the real world in translation to his books and enjoy the corny humor that is sprinkled in. However I find myself giving every Pratchett three stars because they all seem to be lacking something. The hard thing is that the something is something I cannot put my finger on.

"Carpe Juglum" or "Seize the Throat" takes place in the land of Lancre. There is great cause for celebration in Lancre since the Queen has given birth to the first child of the royals. In a massive celebration by inviting many guests. The guest include vampires from Uberwald, and everybody knows not too invite a vampire into your castle. Quickly the vampires take over the land of Lancre, and it is up to the witches of Lancre and the weak in faith priest Mightly Oats to save the dayand drive the vampires back or become a servant to there leader.

In total the book is fun and cute in it's own way. Igor the vampire's servant gives the book many laughs. To get in touch with witches a reader might want to try out other Discworld novels with these characters in it. They beginning is a little cloudy and some earlier information will be helpful to any new Pratchett reader