Terry Pratchett - Thief of Time

Thief of Time is Terry Pratchett's 26th Discworld novel, and unfortunately I think it is one of the weaker of the books from the mid part of the stories. It is a Death novel, though Death is not in it a great deal, playing more of a side-character to the main arc. This is one of the reasons I feel the story is a little shallow and bity.

Thief of Time is the story of how the Auditors are defeated. These grey men like things simple and ordered. They like to count and tally. They're like the ultimately dangerous accountants. They heat the chaos and unpredictability of human life. Their plan to destroy life involves creating a clock that will enable the end of the universe - being built, inevitably, in Ankh Morpak. 

Opposed to this is Lu-Tze and his apprentice from the History Monks, whose job is to keep history in roughly the right order. They take time from one thing to another to ensure it all balances out, as everyone is always borrowing, stealing, forgetting and wasting time. Even the lesser of Pratchett's novels have some brilliant moments and he excels himself here with one fantastic pun - the spinning devices that the monks store time on are called procrastinators.

Lu-Tze's James Bond like adventure to save the universe doesn't quite work - the best part of the story is how the Auditors sabotage themselves by becoming slightly human and indulging in a few of our quirks. Thief of Time didn't work for me this time - perhaps it has dated far more than other Discworld books, though it has its moments and if you like Pratchett's other books it shouldn't be skipped.

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