Hogfather

by Terry Pratchett

My husband is not a big reader. There are good reasons behind this but since he married me I have encouraged him to read more (read as: took away his television). While I would like to take credit I really have good authors to thank for his interest in reading. He have developed quite an appreciation for one of my family's favorite authors, Terry Pratchett. What really drew his attention to Pratchett was the movie HOGFATHER. So in honor of Christmas, I mean Hogswatch, and to show my appreciation, I will review HOGFATHER, Terry Pratchett's 20th Discworld novel.

Though HOGFATHER is the 20th novel, you don't have to have read any of the other books. All of the books are stand-alone. The story starts out with the Auditors of Reality hiring the Assassins guild to kill the Hogfather, Pratchett's version of Father Christmas. The Hogfather ends up going missing so Death puts aside his black robes and scythe for a red cloak and beard and becomes the Hogfather. With Death running around the city not understanding what exactly his temporary position entails his granddaughter, Susan, tries to figure out what has happened. She meets some unlikely characters and works with the wizards of the Unseen University to determine what she needs to do to return everything to normal. Well, as normal as it can be on the Discworld.

During my trip to Scotland a couple of years ago the movie version came out. The first half was shown on Christmas and the second half was shown on Boxing Day. I loved it. When I got home I told my family about it and when it became available I bought it. The first time I showed it to my husband he was a little skeptical until the narrator started talking. I mean what's not to love when the main character gives this rendition of Jack and the Beanstalk: "And then Jack chopped down what was the world's last beanstalk, adding murder and ecological terrorism to the theft, enticement, and trespass charges already mentioned, and all the giant's children didn't have a daddy anymore. But he got away with it and lived happily ever after, without so much as a guilty twinge about what he had done...which proves that you can be excused for just about anything if you are a hero, because no one asks inconvenient questions. "

Though there are some differences between the book and movie I recommend watching the movie first if you're not sure this book is right for you. If you don't like the movie, I doubt you will like the book.