My Discworld Book Number
This is my 25th Discworld book.
Discworld Serial Number Based on Publishing Date
This is the 20th book in the Discworld series and was published for the first time in 1996.
Introduction to Discworld Series
Discworld is a fictional world created by writer Terry Pratchett. It is a flat world balanced on the back of 4 elephants; they in turn stand on a giant turtle. The turtle’s name is Great A’Tuin. The names of 4 elephants are Berilia, Tubul, Great T’Phone, and Jerakeen.
Pratchett writes stories set in this world. He has written 41 Discworld books. The genre of these books can be broadly said to be fantasy-satire.
Discworld is a satiric reflection of our own world. The flat world should be the first indication of the satire. Because in this world things are as people (as in flat-earthers) want them to be.
Magic is strong in Discworld. Light travels quite slowly because of thick magic in the atmosphere.
In this world different humanoid species (combinedly known as sapients) live together, but not necessarily peacefully.
Premise of Hogfather
The books of Discworld series are set in different parts of Discworld with different set of characters and different subjects. Present book is the third book in the Death subseries. The previous three books of the subseries are respectively Mort, Reaper Man, and Soul Music. The subseries follows the life (or something like life) of Death of the Discworld.
I have been reading about Hogswatch festival in different books before this one, in the series. From the description it is clear Pratchett has written Hogswatch on basis of his country’s Christmas festival. That’s why I wanted to read the book last year around Christmas time but could not unfortunately.
Hogfather is Santa Claus of the Discworld. Hogfather travels all around the Discworld to give gifts to children on the night before Hogswatch. But does he really exist? The Auditors of the universe, who manages the universe, want him to go away to remove the chaos.
With Hogfather gone missing, the strong belief in him by lots of people became spare. The extra beliefs circulating in the world turn impossible beings into reality. This creates chaos. From the previous books, we know how much Death loves the Discworld and its residents. He steps in to help out in this chaotic time. Susan, his granddaughter presently working as a nanny must join ranks to help in his grandfather’s mission.
Important Characters
DEATH
He (that’s the pronoun used for him although he is only a very tall skeleton) comes at the time of deaths to take away the souls. He talks in capital letters and I have no definite idea how that translates into audio media (please don’t tell me how it is represented in some audio book or visual media because I like something to be left to imagination). He is immortal of course. His special power includes creating things out of nothing, traveling to any place in no time, and he has visions for all times. He can sometimes extend lives of humanoids and sometimes he can make them immortal. Three things he can’t grasp: colours (except black), plumbing, and music.
Sometimes it is implied that he attends to every humanoid death (there are different Deaths in charge of different creatures’ deaths) and some other times it is implied he has assistants seeing to most deaths. He only attends to important souls such as wizards and witches. But we have never met any of his assistants except his onetime intern Mort.
He is not a scary devilish monster. He is more comparable to Hindu God of Death Yama, a wise and fair being with a sympathetic disposition. He comforts the recently demised and eases them into the afterlife.
In spite of being in charge of Death he has a big heart and he feels for humanoids and Discworld. He had once adopted a girl as his daughter. Now he is a grandfather.
Every once in a while, he starts questioning the meaning of his life, his profession, and everything else. His existential crises have landed him in Discworld from time to time leaving his abode and work.
In the present book he is, as they say in Hollywood, trying to save the Christmas *cough* Hogswatch. In the spirit of Hogswatch he goes overboard about fulfilling wishes but must every wish come true?
In this book he acts as the goofy comic relief while his Man Friday Albert is the straight man and the voice of reason.
SUSAN STO-HELIT
She is apparently a normal young woman with a very normal name except the fact that she is Death’s granddaughter. She is a nanny to two children.
Susan has inherited many powers of her grandfather even though she is not the biological granddaughter. Maybe spending her childhood with Death has rubbed off on her somehow. She helps out some time in the “family business”.
In this book she finds out she is naturally good with children.
MISTER TEATIME
“It’s pronounced Teh-ah-tim-eh,”
He is the ex-member of the Guild of Assassin. The Guild had fired him for being too disturbed in the standard of the Guild. But now the Guild must recall him for one last job, a job too lucrative for words. Teatime is your garden variety psychopath killer who kills left and right for convenience, to get out of boredom, or just for sheer pleasure. In his current assignment he has hired help of few assistants, who are not member of the Guild of Assassin although they pursue similar profession.
BILIOUS
The oh god of hangover, manifests because of the excess belief circulating around. In bad hangover state people tend to say “oh god” hence the expression. He has absorbed the hangover of every drunk in the world. Hence he always feels terrible except the interval when his hangover was momentarily cured.
He has just come into existence hence everything is fresh, new, and puzzling for him. He holds the key to the location of the missing Hogfather hence he joins Susan in her mission.
PROFESSORS AND WIZARDS OF UNSEEN UNIVERSITY
With excess beliefs creating havoc in the Discworld, how could the epicentre of magic Unseen University would stay undisturbed. Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully discovered a bathroom in the university. While having relaxing bath he creates more havoc. Young Ponder Sibbons and hex are busy in looking for answers of the current chaotic situation. Hex is a calculating machine which does not work on magic like our world’s computer. However, unlike our computers Hex can be threatened of physical harm to accomplish users’ projects. This fact has increased my yearning to live in the Discworld drastically.
Themes
Beliefs
The book’s core theme is beliefs in things, stories, beings, and fantasies. Especially children, generation after generation, through stories and lore believes in various things. Some of those things are good and some are fearful. Hogfather and tooth fairy come under the good ones as both get gifts for children. Soul cake duck is also a good one as it gifts children chocolate eggs (A satire on easter eggs obviously). On the other side there are Bogeyman, Sandman, jack frost, and the bear who comes when a child stand on cracks.
It is never a good idea for older folks to laugh off at children’s fear or not taking the fears seriously. Maybe the fears are not real but we need to understand the fears are real for children. After all fear is something which dwells in our minds and fears of every age group is equally-ish real or unreal.
At some places it feels as if the writer wants to convey that if children are scared of something/someone parents/elders must take them seriously. So many children are hurt by someone and are not believed in by elders.
In the book, only children and Susan can see these mythical beings.
Underworld/mafia
Underworld exists in Discworld outside of the purview of the guild system. The members have nick names like American gangsters – Chickenwire, Medium Dave etc. But at the end of the day even they have certain value system.
Fine dining
What is fine dining? Some (literal) dirt and leather with fancy names and fancy ambience.
Philosophy
There has been discourse on philosophy in the book. Philosophy being a common theme in all Discworld books.
“There are many who would say this…person does not exist,” he said.
He must exist. How else could you so readily recognize his picture?
Western organsised education system
The upside and mostly the down side of this system, which makes people less and less adaptable to real life situations.
Some more quotes I Loved with context
The first line sets the mood of the book nicely –
Everything starts somewhere, although many physicists disagree.
I can empathise totally with the “reader” –
… the very oldest stories are, sooner or later, about blood. Later on they took the blood out to make the stories more acceptable to children, or at least people who had to read them to children…
Now this is some sound philosophy –
The philosopher Didactylos has summed up as alternative hypothesis as “Things just happen. What the hell.”
That’s life for you –
Education had been easy. Learning things had been harder.
I feel you sister, although her grandfather seems to like cats –
Susan had never been able to see the attraction in cats. They were owned by the kind of people who liked puddings. There were actual people in the world whose idea of heaven would be a chocolate cat.
That happens a lot –
Right now, the light at the end of his mental tunnel showed only more tunnel.
That’s fair –
“I am not losing my hair!” snapped the Dean. “It is just very finely spaced.”
That’s government for you –
It’s amazing how good governments are, given their track record in almost every other field, at hushing up things like alien encounters.
Some X Files reference here –
The truth may be out there, but lies are inside your head.
Also some Narnia reference –
“There are magic wardrobes … if you go into them, you come out in a magic land.”
End words
Two “machines” of Discworld I discovered in this book. One is a speaking tube ala our telephone and the other one is a washing engine. Needless to add our washing machine.
As usual I loved reading this Discworld series book.
Musings 