New Releases by Terry Pratchett

It''s a game of Trolls and Dwarfs where the player must take both sides to win ... It''s the noise a troll club makes when crushing in a dwarf skull, or when a dwarfish axe cleaves a trollish cranium ... It''s the unsettling sound of history about to repeat itself ... THUD! It''s the most extraordinary, outrageous, provocative, insightful, and keenly cutting flight of fancy yet from Discworld''s incomparable supreme creator ... Terry Pratchett Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch admits he may not be the sharpest knife in the cutlery drawer—he might not even be a spoon. But he''s dogged and honest and he''ll be damned if he lets anyone disturb his city''s always-tentative peace—and that includes a rabble-rousing dwarf from the sticks (or deep beneath them) who''s been stirring up big trouble on the eve of the anniversary of one of Discworld''s most infamous historical events. Centuries earlier, in a gods-forsaken hellhole called Koom Valley, a horde of trolls met a division of dwarfs in bloody combat. Though nobody''s quite sure why they fought or who actually won, hundreds of years on each species still bears the cultural scars, and one views the other with simmering animosity and distrust. Lately, an influential dwarf, Grag Hamcrusher, has been fomenting unrest among Ankh-Morpork''s more diminutive citizens with incendiary speeches. And it doesn''t help matters when the pint-size provocateur is discovered beaten to death ... with a troll club lying conveniently nearby. Vimes knows the well-being of his smoldering city depends on his ability to solve the Hamcrusher homicide without delay. (Vimes''s secondmost-pressing responsibility, in fact, next to being home every evening at six sharp to read Where''s My Cow? to Young Sam.) Whatever it takes to unstick this very sticky situation, Vimes will do it—even tolerate having a vampire in the Watch. But there''s more than one corpse waiting for him in the eerie, summoning darkness of the vast, labyrinthine mine network the dwarfs have been excavating in secret beneath Ankh-Morpork''s streets. A deadly puzzle is pulling Sam Vimes deep into the muck and mire of superstition, hatred, and fear—and perhaps all the way to Koom Valley itself.

Terry Pratchett''s profoundly irreverent novels are consistent number one bestsellers in England, where they have garnered him a revered position in the halls of parody next to Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Carl Hiaasen. In The Light Fantastic only one individual can save the world from a disastrous collision. Unfortunately, the hero happens to be the singularly inept wizard Rincewind, who was last seen falling off the edge of the world...

A Young Dwarf''s Dream Corporal Carrot has been promoted! He''s now in charge of the new recruits guarding Ankh-Morpork, Discworld''s greatest city, from Barbarian Tribes, Miscellaneous Marauders, unlicensed Thieves, and such. It''s a big job, particularly for an adopted dwarf. But an even bigger job awaits. An ancient document has just revealed that Ankh-Morpork, ruled for decades by Disorganized crime, has a secret sovereign! And his name is Carrott... And so begins the most awesome epic encounter of all time, or at least all afternoon, in which the fate of a city—indeed of the universe itself!—depends on a young man''s courage, an ancient sword''s magic, and a three-legged poodle''s bladder.

Terry Pratchett takes Shakespeare''s Macbeth and then turns it up ''till the knob comes off. It''s all there - a wicked duke and duchess, the ghost of the murdered king, dim soldiers, strolling players, a land in peril. And who stands between the Kingdom and destruction? Three witches. Granny Weatherwax (intolerant, self-opinionated, powerful), Nanny Ogg (down-to-earth, vulgar) and Magrat Garlick (naive, fond of occult jewellery and bunnies). Stephen Briggs has been involved in amateur dramatics for over 25 years and he assures us that the play can be staged without needing the budget of Industrial Light and Magic. Not only that, but the cast should still be able to be in the pub by 10 o''clock! Oh, and a world of advice omitted from the play text- LEARN THE WORDS Havelock, Lord Vetinari

Terry Pratchett''s incredible Discworld, floating through space on the backs of four elephants* standing on a giant turtle, supports some of the most popular characters ever imagined in the world of fantasy fiction. But the Discworld people are real, and here they are, warts (except, of course, in the case of Granny Weatherwax) and all, from Rincewind the incompetent wizard to Greebo, the rather too human cat. *once there were five, but that''s another story

The alchemists of the Discworld have discovered the magic of the silver screen. But what is the dark secret of Holy Wood Hill? It’s up to Victor Tugelbend (“Can’t sing. Can’t dance. Can handle a sword a little”) and Theda Withel (“I come from a little town you’ve probably never heard of”) to find out.