I have been reading Pratchett's books in order and have now completed #26... I have to say that reading what has taken him a lifetime to write is actually a very interesting experiment in watching a writer grow at his craft. Early Discworld books are one joke after another, with the plot simply stringing together the insanity of the humor... but as time has passed, his style had become far more plot driven and far less interested in the humor. True this book is still amusing, but one would read it for the plot versus the gags. I don't recall laughing out loud a single time while reading, though I did find much of the History Monks bits to be quite entertaining.

Though they claim this is on of the "DEATH" books, Death plays a very small part, taking a backseat to his granddaughter Susan. Susan has moved on from being a nanny and is now a school mistress. Once again the Death of Rats shows up to tell her that her grandfather needs her to save humanity again. Susan has quite a knack for saving humanity.

Then we have Jeremy, the clock maker... he has been employed by a mysterious woman to build a clock entirely out of glass that will tick with the beat of the world. She of course fails to tell him that a clock like this has been made before... and time stopped...

Susan isn't the only one who will be out to stop Jeremy... we have Lu-Tze and his apprentice Lopsang who are sweepers at the dojo of the History Monks. The wisdom passed from Master to Apprentice is where you will find most of the humor in this book.

The five horsemen of the apocalypse show up... yeah, turns out there were five but one quit a long time ago... but now worries... when it's time to ride out they'll all show up right? I mean Famine, War, Pestilence and Death are always ready to ride out right? Are you sure? Perhaps their hobbies have become more interesting to them.

Then we have the bad guys... the Auditors, we all know them and despise them since they tried to take away Christmas, I mean Hogswatch. The auditors audit the Discworld and truly despise humanity because we are not orderly, tidy or easily cataloged. The auditors play a much larger role in this book than in any of Pratchett's previous works.

Though I enjoyed reading this book, it won't go down as one of my favorite Discworld novels. The introduction of the History monks was nice, and I love Susan as a character... but on the whole the humor was more subtle than I would have liked, and the plot really didn't grab me the way some of the other plot driven novels did. Though Death and Susan are among my favorite characters, they always end up in my least favorite books. Amazing how that happens. Still I would suggest reading this book, it has a wonderful take on logic, rules, and time in general.

When it comes to some airplane/beach reading, Terry Pratchett's Discworld books are definitely not a bad choice if you're a sci-fi/fantasy fan. They're light, not too long, and funny in that British kind of way. They'll make you think a little bit, but not too much to make your head hurt. The mixture of comedy, action, and a little romance is just right for when you want an enjoyable book that isn't too heavy and overbearing.

That said, "Thief of Time" is the fourth of Pratchett's Discworld novels I've read and it didn't really make much of an impact on me. It killed a couple hours at the airport, on the plane, and later on a train but that was really about it. Mostly, this felt the same as the other Discworld books I'd read where some seemingly innocuous thing created by some fringe character threatens to destroy the universe until a ragtag bunch of non-heroes band together to stop it.

In this case, Jeremy Clockson is an orphan adopted by the Clockmaker's Guild who is obsessive about making accurate clocks. A strange but beautiful woman named Lady LeJean comes into his shop one day with the challenge to make the Ultimate Clock. Jeremy takes this on with the help of his rented Igor and some inspiration from his dreams for a glass clock.

Unbeknownst to Jeremy, this has already been done before and the fallout required the mysterious History Monks to patch Time back together into something resembling a plausible reality. Sweeper Lu Tse was the one who nearly stopped the last clock and vows to stop it this time with the help of his new assistant Lobsang Ludd. Meanwhile, Death realizes the universe will end on Wednesday and is preparing for the Apocalypse by rounding up the other three Horsemen: Pestilence, Famine, and War in a style reminiscent of the "Blues Brothers." In the meantime he tasks his "granddaughter" Susan to look into what will bring an end to life as we know it.

All these different plot threads come together fairly well in the end as all our non-heroes battle the bureaucratic Auditors for the fate of the universe. Still, as I said, even though I've only read four of these it felt like I'd read most of this before with only the specifics changed. I suppose when you write as many of these as Pratchett has it's easy to fall into a formula, albeit an enjoyable formula.

As I said at the beginning though, if you want some light reading that is a little more substantial and enjoyable than the latest Nicholas Sparks or James Patterson rag, Pratchett is your man. It just probably doesn't matter WHICH one you read.

That is all.

Thief of Time is the most fun of the recent Discworld novels, avoiding the more somber tone of some. Pratchett's satire touches on martial arts, Eastern monastic mysticism, mad scientists, time, teaching, chocolate lovers, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse mixed with the Beatles, and a hilarious take on reincarnation. The villains are the bureaucratic Auditors who want to put an end to the messy chaos of life. That their plan gets them into much more trouble than they expected is one of the most amusing parts of the book. The fate of one renegade Auditor is surprising poignant. The action is fast-paced and keeps your interest the whole time. Highly recommended for a Discworld fan.

I'm not giving this a lukewarm review because it's shabby or poorly written or otherwise sub-par, only because it simply didn't turn out to be my taste. "Thief of Time" consists of vignette after vignette and conversation after conversation on the nature of time, humanity, and the absurdities of life, all done with a humorous Monty Python-esque and Douglas Adams-ish bent. Individual scenes are somewhat amusing (I like Monty Python and Douglas Adams) but the whole thing sort of meanders and spins its wheels. I like momentum and story and progression, even with humorous satires, and this just sort of lost me time and again (no pun intended). But, as stated, strong fans of offbeat humor and satire may like this more than I did. I hear a lot of good things about Terry Pratchett, so I'll probably eventually try another of his "Discworld" titles (apparently it doesn't matter where you start). But I think I'll take a break for a while.

I've heard many good comments about Terry Pratchett's work, from many different people, but somehow never managed to pick up any of his books until now. Having finished this one, I can't say that I disagree with any of what I've heard. Pratchett has created a highly imaginative world, one where the rules, while different from the ones we're accustomed to, have their own logic. There is also lots of humor in his work, and I often found myself giggling, or even laughing right out loud.

This is, perhaps, one of the most inventive conceptions of time I've ever come across. The quasi-quantum view of time presented here presents an abundance of opportunities for confusion and paradox, but it provides a wonderful framework to hang the story on. And what a story it is, full of surprises and interesting twists, all drawing the reader towards a fairly satisfying ending. This was a thoroughly entertaining book, and I look forward to reading more of Pratchett's work.