''Thief of Time'' is a

fantasy novel Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fa ...

by British writer

Terry Pratchett Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first nov ...

, the 26th book in his ''

Discworld ''Discworld'' is a comic fantasy"Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle, ed., ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. book series written by the English author Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat pla ...

'' series. It was the last Discworld novel with a cover by

Josh Kirby Ronald William "Josh" Kirby (27 November 1928 – 23 October 2001) was a British commercial artist. Over a career spanning 60 years, he was the artist for the covers of many science fiction books including Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. ...

Plot summary

The Auditors hire young clockmaker Jeremy Clockson to build a perfect glass clock, without telling him that this will stop time and thereby eliminate human unpredictability from the universe.

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

discovers their plans, but cannot act against them directly, so he instead sends his granddaughter

Susan Sto Helit Susan Sto Helit (also spelled Sto-Helit), once referred to as Susan Death, is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series of fantasy novels. She is the granddaughter of Death, the Disc's Grim Reaper, and has a number of his a ...

. Meanwhile,

Lu-Tze This article contains brief biographies for characters from Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series. This list consists of human characters. For biographies of noted members of the Discworld's "ethnic minorities" (dwarfs, trolls, undead, etc.), ...

of the

History Monks This article contains brief biographies for characters from Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series. This list consists of human characters. For biographies of noted members of the Discworld's "ethnic minorities" (dwarfs, trolls, undead, etc.), ...

leads gifted young apprentice Lobsang Ludd in a desperate mission.

Characters

*Myria LeJean *

– the anthropomorphic personification of Death, or Grim Reaper, a recurring and popular character in the Discworld series. *Jeremy Clockson – a master clockmaker tasked with creating the perfect clock (whose name is a pun on British broadcaster

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster, journalist, game show host and writer who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for the motoring programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), Top Gear'' an ...

.) *Susan Sto Helit – Death's granddaughter. *

– a powerful member of the

masquerading as a humble sweeper. * Lobsang Ludd – apprentice of Lu-Tze

Reception

''Thief of Time'' was shortlisted for the 2002

Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel The Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel is a literary award given annually by '' Locus Magazine'' as part of their Locus Awards. Winners References External links The Locus Award Index: FantasyThe Locus Award: 2011 winnersExcerpts and summaries ...

. At ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Sam Jordison called it "as complicated, daft, hilarious and satisfying as vintage

PG Wodehouse PG or P.G. may refer to: *Parental Guidance (PG), a content rating in motion picture content rating systems and television content rating systems *Paying Guest (PG), also called homestay, a type of accommodation Businesses and organisations * ...

: part kung fu epic, part philosophical novel, part mind-bending experiment with chaos theory (and a piss-take of those three things)", and categorized it as a book to "give (readers) hope".Books to give you hope: Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
by Sam Jordison, at ''

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''; published September 15, 2016; retrieved July 10, 2017 At the ''

SF Site SF may refer to: Locations * San Francisco, California, United States * Sidi Fredj, Algeria * South Florida, an urban region in the United States * Suomi Finland, former vehicular country code for Finland In arts and entertainment Genre ...

'',

Steven H Silver Steven H Silver (born April 19, 1967) is an American science fiction fan and bibliographer, publisher, author, and editor. He has been nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer twelve times and Best Fanzine seven times without winni ...

observed that the book's parodying of

action film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

s is "masterful", and commended Pratchett for how "fresh" the humor was—while conceding that "reader(s) may not laugh out loud ... but there will be plenty of internal chuckling".Thief of Time
reviewed by

, at the ''

''; published 2001; retrieved July 10, 2017 At ''

Infinity Plus ''Infinity Plus'' (sometimes stylized as ''infinity plus'' and ''infinityplus'') was a science fiction webzine active from 1997 to 2007,

'', John Grant noted that it has "fewer moments of uproarious humour than" the majority of Pratchett's oeuvre, and that the "narrative fails to engender any sense of urgency in the places where it should", concluding that although "one could swiftly lay hands on a dozen genre-fantasy novels that are less worthwhile", it was not Pratchett's best work.Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett
reviewed by John Grant, at ''Infinity Plus''; published June 2, 2001; retrieved July 10, 2017

Writing process

During a 2011 interview, Pratchett discussed his process for writing, and mentioned a self-invented goddess of writers called Narrativia, whom he believed to be smiling upon him throughout his career. One example of Narrativia's intervention from ''Thief Of Time'' was the naming of a key character, Ronnie Soak, the forgotten fifth horseman of the apocalypse. Pratchett stated that he had picked the name at random, and was later "astonished when he noticed what it sounded like backwards. Suddenly, he knew of what this particular horseman would be a harbinger." In a direct quote Pratchett revealed his satisfaction with this coincidence, "I thought chaos – yes! Chaos, the oldest. Stuff just turns up like that."

References

External links

*
Annotations for ''Thief of Time''''Thief of Time''
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