On a mission from Glod! (Soul Music - Terry Pratchett)

Member Name: Boonoiy

Product:	Soul Music - Terry Pratchett
Date:	18/02/02 (125 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Death, The faculty

Disadvantages: None

Well, Pratchett's done it again hasn't he now? Another of his books on Death and a particularly good one to boot. Although Death appears in each and every book in the beloved Discworld series, there are certain books which have this wonderful caharacter as the focus of the story - like Reaper Man and Mort, this is one of those books.

Plot:
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Death has gone again, his grandaughter, Susan, is now in charge of the whole executive arm of mortality and is none too pleased with the responsibility. She's dragged away from school by the persuasive powers of the Death of Rats and his (?) trusty translator raven - she takes over and is thrown in at the deep end!

Her first job she sees The Band With Rocks In and is set on an impossible course of action trying to save the life of their lead singer - this is no ordinary music, it's alive and it WILL NOT FADE AWAY!

The story follows the band, the music that they play and the mutlitude of experiences they have with their music.

The Band:

Buddy (nee Imp) - The band's token human, a harp player from Llamendos, a clasically trained bard and one hell of a great player. Picks up the Guitar in a matter of minutes and becomes the bands frontman after a small incident with Mr Clete at the Musicians' Guild.

Glod (nee Glod) - The Dwarf, horn player, the backbone of the band and the one with the idea to get together in the first place - he's the world's worst dickerer and manages to talk their appearance fee down time after time.

Cliff - One of nature's drummers - "I 'its 'em together" being his philosophy when it comes to playing his chosen instrument of the Rocks - as he's a troll he's got massive strength and is a noisy and stupid member of the band with a lot of magical comedy moments.

The Librarian makes an appearence as the keyboard player but leaves after a single performance.
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The band is central to the plot of this book - they are the reason Susan's able to get Death back in the saddle and the reason that the entire world is in danger, with a crush on Buddy and a feeling of righteous anger, Susan is in something of a dilemma - to save the world by trying to rearrange History of to let it run its course and let the world be damned! All sorts of divers alarumus ensue.

With the wizards going mental for the music, CMOT Dibbler getting involved as The Band's manager and every no-good street person wanting to get hold of a guitar, there's trouble to be had!

Characters:
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Susan - Death's grandaughter, a well educated girl with a healthy disrespect for all this belief in things which shouldn't be real - none too happy at becoming Death. Hates being mistaken for the tooth fairy.

Death - The ultimate reality and he's got a bit bored with it all.

The Band - see above.

CMOT Dibbler - All round salesman and indiscriminate seller of just about everything (esopecially if it's not nailed down). Attaches himself to the band and gets them on a tour, always likes to have a hand in everything. CMOT = Cut My Own Throat (sales pitch).

The Wizards - Appearances from The Senior Wrangler, The Dean, well most of the faculty really. Ponder Stibbons tries to tame the music and his students get involved too.

Overall:
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Pratchett's way is to take bits from everywhere else and make them his own - he's quite clearly influenced by The Blues Brothers in this book as well as taking a lot of references from the great Rock 'n' Roll songs. It's a book which works on a whole loada levels, from the kiddies to the grown-ups, there's something for all to enjoy.

Jokes abound, as usual and there's many a time I found myself laughing out loud at this book. It's witty and clever throughout a
nd it shows a clear understanding of the human character - Glod is there to make money, as is Dibbler and his cohorts, Buddy wants to be famous and Susan wants to be normal - references to greed, insanity, such notions as "living for the music" are played out here and the book manages to weave them all together seemlessly.

A true Pratchet book, instantly recognisable from its distinctive cover style, its simple prose and humerous footnotes.

A worthy addition to anyone's bookshelf.

Summary: