I am a great fan of Pratchett's books, I love the way he satirises a well known plot or myth and turns it into an hilarious adventure set in an intricately detailed fantasy world of his own devising. Yet you can still detect a certain fondness for the original text that seeps through to you, the reader.

The fifth Elephant is a complex interweaving of several subplots, the crowning of a new dwarven king, continuing the battle for dwarven sexual recognition liberation, and the development of Sam Vimes, once more venturing forth from his "patch" of Ankh-Morpork to do battle upon the world's crimes, investigation the stolen/imitation dwarf crowning scone (an reference to scots and the english...?).

The plot is enthralling and Pratchett continues to develop his likeable characters, a sparkling additon to the Vimes saga. Many witty one-liners intwined in an hilarious plot. A great book.