Reading Terry Pratchett books nowadays is a bittersweet experience. On the one hand, they are brilliant and funny and clever, but the flipside is that they remind you what a talent was lost with Pratchett’s passing.
It’s been a while since I read any of the Discworld books so I jumped at the chance to read ‘Soul Music’ which features some of my favourite Discworld characters but had – up to this moment – slipped my attention. Thanks to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of this book is simple – rock music comes to Discworld. This is rock music as we might vaguely recognise it – powerful, transformative, kind of ridiculous sometimes…and has the capacity to make people want to paint their bedrooms black. On Discworld, however, it is literally Music With Rocks In (thanks to a percussive troll forming part of the first rock supergroup) and there are the usual surreal and magical elements due to the wizards of Unseen University getting involved, not to mention Death’s grand-daughter, Susan.
I love the Pratchett novels where Earth-things become Discworld-things – especially the surprisingly entertaining takes on the postal service (‘Going Postal’), the printing press (‘The Truth’) and even football (I’m not a fan, but ‘Unseen Academicals’ is genius). The topic of rock music is perfect for Pratchett’s satirical and sly take on human behaviour – and it is pin-sharp and as funny as you’d expect.
One of the strengths of this novel is the characterisation – I absolutely adored the range of strange, petty and quirky wizards (plus the orang utan Librarian) that make up the faculties of Unseen University. Death is also a brilliant character – strangely human, oddly compassionate and also off to join the Foreign Legion for a bit of respite from the day job. The supporting cast – rock musicians, music fans, promoters, venue owners, jealous members of the Musicians’ Guild – are brilliantly-drawn and often instantly recognisable caricatures of human types.
As with all of the Discworld novels, former knowledge of the series isn’t essential and the books can be read in any order. ‘Soul Music’ may be more enjoyable if you have a vague understanding of Susan’s parentage (explored in ‘Mort’) but Pratchett is great at filling in gaps in knowledge and explaining how life on the Disc works.
If you haven’t read any Pratchett before, this is a fun place to start. I’ve read quite a few of the Discworld books – previously being drawn to the witches, vampires, the university and Death – and this is a good one. If you haven’t visited Discworld for a while, it’s time you did and remembered why Pratchett is such a clever and entertaining writer. Even if fantasy isn’t usually your thing (it isn’t one of my go-to genres), there is a lot to enjoy and it is genuinely very funny.
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Header photo by Joe Ciciarelli on Unsplash
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