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Tanya's Reviews > Hogfather
Hogfather (Discworld, #20)
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The Hogfather, Discworld's version of Santa is... indisposed, and meddlesome Death decides to fill the vacant position. I wish I'd realized a month earlier that this is essentially a jolly good Christmas story, it would've made for a great seasonal read; I feared that reading it in January would mar my enjoyment, but that wasn't the case at all.
Death is one of my favorite Discworld characters, but the books focused on him can be a bit much, and so far, I haven't enjoyed them as much as I always felt I should, but Hogfather was a surprising exception. I'm not sure if this is due to Pratchett having really hit his stride as far as his voice goes, or if having different, broken-up narratives helped take much of the focus away from Death's shenanigans, but I thoroughly enjoyed it; it made me chuckle very often, and offered a perspicacious look into the inner workings of humanity—just the way I like my Discworld novels. Less sociopolitical in this particular case, Hogfather tackles the uniquely human issue of belief in a similar vein as in Small Gods, which is hands-down my favorite stand-alone Discworld book I've read so far. There's even a hint of Gaiman's yet-unpublished American Gods in it, what with belief being what sustains a deity, and Old Gods finding new niches to keep on going once there's no more use for them in an ever-changing world.
I really loved the Wizards in this, and came to the realization that I've never cared that much about them before because they usually come in tandem with Rincewind, which is a character I dislike... but throw in Susan, Death's pragmatic, level-headed, no-nonsense granddaughter, a murder plot involving universe Auditors who hate messy humanity and an Assassin that even his fellows at the Guild find too creepy, the Death of Rats and his Raven sidekick, the Librarian, a hilarious cameo by the City Watch, and you've got some of the best of Discworld condensed into one book. Everything about this installment just worked.
—â¶Ä”â¶Ä”â¶Ä”â¶Ä�
My other reviews for the Death sub-series:
1: Mort · ★★★★½
2: Reaper Man · ★★★★
3: Soul Music · ★★�
4: Hogfather
5: Thief of Time · ★★★★
All my reviews for the Discworld series in publication order (work in progress): (view spoiler)
Death is one of my favorite Discworld characters, but the books focused on him can be a bit much, and so far, I haven't enjoyed them as much as I always felt I should, but Hogfather was a surprising exception. I'm not sure if this is due to Pratchett having really hit his stride as far as his voice goes, or if having different, broken-up narratives helped take much of the focus away from Death's shenanigans, but I thoroughly enjoyed it; it made me chuckle very often, and offered a perspicacious look into the inner workings of humanity—just the way I like my Discworld novels. Less sociopolitical in this particular case, Hogfather tackles the uniquely human issue of belief in a similar vein as in Small Gods, which is hands-down my favorite stand-alone Discworld book I've read so far. There's even a hint of Gaiman's yet-unpublished American Gods in it, what with belief being what sustains a deity, and Old Gods finding new niches to keep on going once there's no more use for them in an ever-changing world.
I really loved the Wizards in this, and came to the realization that I've never cared that much about them before because they usually come in tandem with Rincewind, which is a character I dislike... but throw in Susan, Death's pragmatic, level-headed, no-nonsense granddaughter, a murder plot involving universe Auditors who hate messy humanity and an Assassin that even his fellows at the Guild find too creepy, the Death of Rats and his Raven sidekick, the Librarian, a hilarious cameo by the City Watch, and you've got some of the best of Discworld condensed into one book. Everything about this installment just worked.
"You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable."
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little�"
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
"So we can believe the big ones?"
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
"They're not the same at all!"
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME... SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point�"
MY POINT EXACTLY.
—â¶Ä”â¶Ä”â¶Ä”â¶Ä�
My other reviews for the Death sub-series:
1: Mort · ★★★★½
2: Reaper Man · ★★★★
3: Soul Music · ★★�
4: Hogfather
5: Thief of Time · ★★★★
All my reviews for the Discworld series in publication order (work in progress): (view spoiler)
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Reading Progress
April 20, 2015
– Shelved
January 19, 2019
–
Started Reading
January 25, 2019
–
Finished Reading
