Pyramids (edit title)

• Rated 4 stars

“take a bit to warm up but when it does its funny as hell”

• Rated 4 stars

“Quantum mechanics... very inventive.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Enjoyed it =)”

• Rated 5 stars

“ Pyramids by Terry Pratchett

Pyramids is a stand-alone book about a pharaoh's son, Teppic, who goes to Ankh-Morpork to study at the Assasin's school, then later travels back to his country, Djelibeybi to become king when his father dies. He has dealings with a camel--You Bastard, the smartest creature in the world, a head priest --Dios, a man who has managed to keep himself alive for thousands of years through necromancy, all the gods of the kingdom come down to earth, and all his buried ancestors -- mummies who are angry about having been caged in pyramids for their entire after-life. It's a rollicking good read that, like all of Pratchett's books, requires concentration to pick up all the wit and innuendos. I read it for the second time slowly, a few pages a night, and enjoyed it immensely.

Some good quotes:


Teppic had learned how not to move stealthily. Millions of years of being eaten by creatures that know how to move stealthily has made humanity very good at spotting stealthy movement. Nor was it enough to make no noise, because little moving patches of silence always aroused suspicion. The trick was to glide through the night with a quiet reassurance, just like the air did. (157)

Dil nodded. He was a religious man. It was a great comfort knowing that the gods were there. It was knowing they were here that was the terrible part. // And Dil was realizing that there are few things that so shake belief as seeing, clearly and precisely, the object of that belief. Seeing, contrary to popular wisdom, isn't believing. It's where belief stops, because it isn't needed anymore. (178)

Belief is a force. It's a weak force, by comparison with gravity; when it comes to moving mountains, gravity wins every time. But it still exists, and now that the Old Kingdom was enclosed upon itself, floating free of the rest of the universe, drifting away from the general consensus that is dignified by the name of reality, the power of belief was making itself felt. // For seven thousand years the people of Djelibeybi had believed in their gods. // Now their gods existed. They had, as it were, the complete Set. // And the people of the Old Kingdom were learning that, for example, Vut the Dog-Headed God of the Evening looks a lot better painted on a pot than he does when all 70 feet of him, growling and stinking, is lurching down the street outside. (202-3)

Suddenly, Djelibeybi was no place for honest doubt. Honest doubt could get you seriously picked up and your arms and legs torn off. (206)

What, when you got right down to it, was he going to tell them to do? And then he thought: it doesn't matter. Provided I sound confident enough. Old Dios always drove them, he never tried to lead them. Without him they're (the priests) wandering around like sheep. (207)

Koomi sought support from the crowd of priests, who were busily inspecting their nails or staring intently into the middle distance. The message was clear. He was on his own. Although, if by some chance he won the battle of wills, he'd be surrounded by people assuring him that they had been behind him all along. (209)

Teppic dreamed. // And in his dream he was standing on a high place, but unsteadily, because he was balancing on the shoulders of his father and mother, and below them he could make out his grandparents, and below them his ancestors stretching away and out in a vast, ...pyramid of humanity whose base was lost in clouds. // He could hear the murmur of shouted orders and instructions floating up to him. // If you do nothing, we shall never have been. (245)

A camel in distress isn't a shy creature. It doesn't hang around in bars, nursing a solitary drink. It doesn't phone up old friends and sob at them. It doesn't mope, or write long soulful poems about Life and how dreadful it is when seen from a bed-sitter. It doesn't know what angst is. (257)

The priests were going irrational. // It wasn't that the gods were disobeying them. The gods were ignoring them. // The gods always had. It took great skill to persuade a Djelibeybi god to obey you, and the priests had to be fast on their toes. For example, if you pushed a rock off a cliff, then a quick request to the gods that it should fall down was certain to be answered. In the same way, the gods ensured that the sun set and the stars came out. Any petition to the gods to see to it that palm trees grew with their roots in the ground and their leaves on top was certain to be graciously accepted. On the whole, any priest who cared about such things could ensure a high rate of success. // However, it was one thing for the gods to ignore you when they were far off and invisible, and quite another when they were strolling across the landscape. It made you feel such a fool. // Rituals hallowed by time had filled the air in the palace with sweet blue smoke and cooked enough assorted livestock to feed a famine, but the gods were settling in the Old Kingdom as if they owned it, and the people therein were no more than insects. (270)

Teppic sat on the throne and watched the life of the kingdom reassemble itself, like a smashed mirror that is put together again and reflects the same old light in new and unexpected ways. // No one was quite sure on what basis he was on the throne, but no one else was at all keen on occupying it and it was a relief to hear instructions issued in a clear, confident voice. // Besides, giving orders stopped him thinking about things. Like, for example, what would happen next. But at least the gods had gone back to not existing again, which made it a whole lot easier to believe in them, and the grass didn't seem to be growing under his feet anymore. (308)

He hesitated, halfway to the door. You could stay, he told himself. It wouldn't work, though. It'd end up a terrible mess; you'd probably end up splitting the kingdom between you. Just because fate throws you together doesn't mean fate's got it right. (312)”

• Rated 3 stars

“The one Pratchett book that I've not enjoyed as much. Funny in places, although not laugh loud funny, the plot just seemed more tricky than usual to keep track of.”

• Rated 5 stars

“While it's unrelated from the other Discworld books entirely, I found Pyramids to be fun and well written. Apart from Mort, this may be my favorite Discworld book so far (I'm reading in publication order, currently at Witches Abroad.)”

• Rated 3 stars

“It's only three stars in relation to the rest of his books. It's just... not my favorite. ”

• Rated 5 stars

“Pratchett is a genius, no doubt. And this one's no less a masterpiece than the rest!

Here's a sampling...

Context: The dead have arisen, and the mummies are all walking the land of Djelibeybi, clamoring for the giant pyramid to be destroyed, so the time warp can be broken and normal time restored...so these mummies are good folk after all, and Koomi, the aspiring head priest with a head full of ambition and gas, tries to address the rebellious deadizens in his characterestic pompous way...here goes Pratchett:

"Koomi felt the eyes of the assembled brethren and sistren upon him. He cleared his throat, adjusted his robe, and turned to face the mummies.

They were chanting something, one word, over and over again. He couldn't quite make it out, but it seemed to have quite worked them up into a rage.

He raised the staff, and the carved wooden snakes looked unusually alive in the flat light.

...

And the connoisseurs of mankind's tendency to put his pedal extremity where his tongue should be are agreed that when the judges' envelopes are opened then Hoot Koomi's fine performance in 'Begone from this place, foul shades' will be a contender for all-time bloody stupid greeting."

I mean, Pratchett, from where do you get such inspiration???!!!

”

• Rated 0 stars

“Brill! Funny”

• Rated 3 stars

“Not my favorite, but still a good read. I tend to go through the entire series about once a year, and have been known to skip this one. However, it does show a move away from pure parody and satire toward a little more depth, something that characterizes the following books in the series. If nothing else, it's a fun walk through an ancient civilization. A few ancient civilizations, actually. [/br]”

Lisa-Marie J wrote this review Monday, May 25 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No