Thief of Time - Terry Pratchett
                   Hardback or audio book

                      Reviewed by Sue

I'll get straight to the point by saying that this is one of my
favourite Discworld novels. Terry has surpassed himself this time,
with some great new characters, the return of some old favourites
and a gripping story to pull it all together.

Most of the action takes place in Ankh Morpork where a brilliant
clockmaker, Jeremy, is given a commission by a mysterious lady.
His task is to build the world's first truly accurate clock. He
accepts with enthusiasm since his whole life revolves around
clocks. He understands them and likes them far more than he does
people.

There's just one teensy problem. A totally accurate clock has
actually been built once before by a man in Uberwald.  It measured
the tick of the universe, which is even less than the smallest
amount of time you can imagine.  The clock was made out of glass
and powered by lightning. And when the lightning struck, history
was shattered.

The only people who can rebuild history are the Monks of Time. In
their mountain retreat, led by their abbot, recently reincarnated
as a dribbling baby, they store time in huge spinning drums called
procrastinators and then release it when it's needed. One of their
number, a sweeper called Lu-Tze, who is more than he seems, almost
managed to stop the glass clock from destroying history, but he
didn't quite get there in time, so he feels responsible for the
resulting mess. He knows that the monks can't rebuild history a
second time, so he looks on it as his personal crusade to stop the
activation of the second clock at all costs.

Lu-Tze has recently gained an apprentice, an orphan boy called
Lobsang Ludd, who also appears to have special talents. He was
originally apprenticed to the Thieves' Guild and seems to have as
much aptitude for matters relating to time as he did to thieving.
So the two of them set off for Ankh Morpork, carrying spinners,
portable procrastinators, which they can use to store time for
later release when those few extra seconds might make all the
difference. Wouldn't it be nice if we all had one of those?!

Jeremy has a helper for his clock-making, a familiar figure from a
previous book ... Igor. Not necessarily the same Igor, just AN Igor
who is delivered in a packing case from Uberwald where he had
helped the previous clock constructor. He's been sent by Lady
LeJean, the woman who commissioned the clock. But who actually is
she? Is she working on her own or is someone else involved? Will
the clock be started, or will Lu-Tze and Lonbsang get there in
time to stop Jeremy and Igor? Why are the Four Horsemen of the
Apocalypse saddling up? And who is, or was, the Fifth Horseman,
the one who left before they became famous?

I've been very fond of the Igors since Carpe Jugulum, so it's
great to see him/them back. The story is quite intricate, and the
normal good vs. evil fight which usually ensues in Terry's books
is gripping. There are some more new characters such as a yeti
with an unusual party trick and a monk called Qu who is really
good at inventing things, and old favourites like Death of Rats,
Quoth the raven and Susan StoHelit are back. Even Nanny Ogg makes
a very brief couple of cameo appearances.

Yes, a brilliant book, not to be missed by any of Terry's many
fans and it would also be a good introduction to the series for
anyone who hasn't read any of his books before.












                         - o -