| $@%&! level: Low “Bedroom” level: Low Violence level: Low Back Cover: “When her dear old Granddad—the Grim Reaper himself—goes missing, Susan takes over the family business. The progeny of Death's adopted daughter and his apprentice, she shows real talent for the trade. That is until a little string in her heart goes 'twang.' With a head full of dreams and a pocketful of lint, Imp the Bard lands in Ankh-Morpork, yearning to become a rock star. Determined to devote his life to music, the unlucky fellow soon finds that all his dreams are coming true. Well almost.” |
Okay, that's enough dramatic sentence fragments. Needless to say, this being a Discworld novel and involving Death and Death's granddaughter, I obviously enjoyed it thoroughly. Oddly enough, though, I think my very favorite part is the troll percussionist explaining what he does with his musical rocks. (Bashes them together, and then bashes them together again. I know percussion is more complicated than that, but it's still an amusing description.) Another favorite is the mania that grows around the new kind of music. I've always enjoyed the way the Discworld tends to mirror reality, and especially the way it's written as if people have no choice about it. Like the story has to go a certain way and people get caught up in its spell once it starts. And then once it's over they wonder why they ever did that. In this case, the wizards are the most strongly affected, and it's hilarious the way that powerful men of advanced years and girth end up acting like rebellious teenagers.
Also, the Librarian builds a motorcycle and Death steals it. You get a lot of the iconic heavy metal Death images in here. After all, in the end the only way to stop the music is to kill it.