Review of CARPE JUGULUM by Terry Pratchett (see his website)

A NOVEL OF DISCWORLD

Harper Prism, 1998

King Verence of Lancre is a very modern king who doesn't believe in old prejudices. Since the Uberwald is a near neighbor, it only seems natural to invite a family of vampires to his baby's christening. The vampires are very modern as well. But their modern ideas involve moving out of their old castle and into the much more modern one of King Verence--and of taking over his kingdom. Since they've trained themselves not to mind little things like garlic, religious symbols, or holy water, they might just be a little hard to dislodge--especially since they can control the minds of anyone who comes near them. Unfortunately for Lancre, all the kingdom has to defend it are four witches and a dubious priest of Om.

Author Terry Pratchett (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by Pratchett) delivers a fun-filled adventure. Agnes and the hapless Oats are nicely developed characters with enough complexities to keep a psychologist busy for years. Agnes, the maiden of the witch triad (I know I said four, but it gets complicated) has conflicted feelings toward the handsome vampire Vlad, but then, she's conflicted enough internally so she hardly notices. Pratchett fans will be delighted to see that the faith of Om has made a comeback (see SMALL GODS) and that the prophet Brutha really did transform that religion.

Pratchett's Discworld series is filled with stories that take our familiar fairy tales and turn them around. CARPE JUGULUM (seize the throat) retells the story of Dracula, but with a somewhat overweight witch as the love interest, vampires interested in becoming completely modern, and village mobs who can be counted on to riot on command. As always with Pratchett, CARPE JUGULUM delivers plenty of smiles and a few out-loud laughs.

Four Stars

Reviewed 6/10/03

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