Thief of Time by: Terry Pratchett

 

Terry Pratchett and the end of the world seem to go hand in hand.  Good Omens was his and Neil Gaiman’s humanist take on the apocalypse, but over a decade later Pratchett published his final Discworld novel to feature Death and Susan as major protagonists in Thief of Time.  The Auditors of Reality hire clockmaker Jeremy Clockson to build a clock to stop time and kickstart the Discworld apocalypse, three of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse refuse to ride out, the fifth horseman is a milkman, and there’s an upper class Lady LeJean which is secretly one of the Auditors gaining sentience so Pratchett can explore what it means to be alive.  This latter point is the most interesting philosophical thrust of Thief of Time, Pratchett being staunchly against groupthink which leads to the narrow, authoritarian viewpoints of the Auditors.  The novel essentially becomes a book of characters discovering their purpose sense of individuality, often tying it to the unique sense of identity that sets the individual apart from others while giving them purpose to help others and society in general.  What’s fascinating about Thief of Time, is that unlike the preceding Discworld novels, this is less of a satire on one of the evils of society (that is more of a background detail on how society isolates the mentally ill) and more of Pratchett demanding people to pursue what makes them happy with who they are.  Lady LeJean eventually choses the name Unity and has a heel turn despite being the one to stop time and get Jeremy Clockson isolated and building the clock.  The rest of the Auditors to take human form also begin to take on parodies of individual identities, all based on colors in what I believe is doing a parody of Clue.

 

Susan also essentially completes her arc of finding belonging and a sense of purpose, something that has been developing since Soul Music and Hogfather, each adding a piece to the puzzle of who Susan is.  Soul Music allowed her to strike out on her own, Hogfather showed her ability to guide the young through her own sensibilities, and Thief of Time pushes that further by making her a schoolteacher and looking for someone who understands.  Thief of Time subtly becomes a love story built on mutual friendship and appreciation in only the way that Pratchett can do, ending on the exact moment where our two characters realize they are in love with one another on the final page but in the best way.  If there was anything that does not work in Thief of Time it is Pratchett’s handling of the monastic characters of the novel, not in a way that is offensive, but in a way that just does not work for me personally.   Perhaps it is not having the cultural reference point of what is being parodied, nor a knowledge of the faiths that are being referenced, but this was one significant plotline that just dragged what could have been another perfect Pratchett down.  There is an extended cameo from Nanny Ogg who is always a fun character and the exploration of her past in this novel while simple is actually really fun and feels especially as if it belongs here and not in one of the witches books.  The character and use of Time is also especially strong from Pratchett, beginning what I assume is a series of reflections from the author on the passage of time and his own life.

 

Overall, Thief of Time is another stellar entry in the Discworld.  While not quite as strong as some of the other Death entries, it does wrap Death and Susan’s story up quite nicely and there’s this subtle way of rewriting the inconsistencies now that in the 21^st century Pratchett has the internet to keep continuity straight.  The plot and characters are wonderful and it’s just classic Pratchett at this point.  9/10.