Terry Pratchett is a phenomenal writer! I'll tell you that any of his books, especially the Disc World series are well worth picking up! In my youth I loved the Lord of the Rings books by J.R.R. Tolkien (and yes, I'm talking pre-movie adolescence, thank you). I read any fantasy/adventure novels I could get my hands on. Eventually I ran out of books worth reading.... In my late teens I even resorted to Harry Potter, which I thought was amusing (but with a very low reading level) until I stumbled upon Terry Pratchett. Oh what a day! It was as if I had been waiting for his writing since the first time I picked up a book! The worlds he has created within the Disc world series are so interesting and entertaining. On each page he has spelled out endless wit, comedy, and enchantment. The characters hook you from the start and in each book you learn more about them and how they intertwine with one another. The imagery Pratchett depicts with his stories is absolutely amazing! And one of the things that I think is the best about this series is you don't necessarily have to read them in a particular order. There are a few here or there within the series that do fit better together read in a certain order but besides those you can just go with the next one that strikes your fancy. Every time I finish one I CANNOT wait for the next! Soon I'll be done with the series and this is sad... But reading them all was well worth it! See for yourself!

This was a lot of fun to read for the subtle and not-so-subtle allusions to rock and the various artists. Susan as a reluctant Death made for some engaging reading as did the antics of Ridcully and company. Pratchett must have had a great time writing Soul Music. I like these new characters added to "the usual suspects". Death was at his engimatic best. Colon and Nobby made for some interesting comic relief throughout while CMOT Dibbler as the band's manager was all you could have expected and then some. I thoroughly enjoyed Soul Music.

Death is perhaps the most entertaining character in the Discworld series. Though he may be the most stable character, the character's sojourns outside normal duty in various books lead to mayhem in Discworld. In "Soul Music" mayhem yet again erupts in the absence of Death.

As Death takes time to "think about things", his granddaughter Susan inherits the duties of the reaper. Guided by Death of Rats, Susan begins to take to her duties until she must collect the soul of the guitarist of Band with Rocks In. For some reason, his time refuses to expire as the less than talented musician thrives playing the guitar with auspicious origins. Creating more of a conflict, Susan even appears to be falling for him. Readers of the Discworld series, know that Death will return to save the day. Yet learning how Death untangles the twisted mess is the fun of his adventures.

Loaded with wit and great one-liners, "Soul Music" is among the best tales from Discworld. Perhaps the best chuckles or groans come from the Ankh-Morporkian twist on Earthly rock'n'roll. Even the rock'n'roll cliches live in the alternate universe.

Imp (Bud as in plants in Springtime) Y Celyn (Of the Holly trees) makes music his life (without understanding all the implications) and organizes a band with a troll, a dwarf, and briefly an orangutan; Death's grandaughter Susan considers the consequences of silliness, Death expresses gratitude with a rose in his teeth, a big hearing-impaired spotted cat arranges for a singer to appear with just one glove, the neighborhood witch arrangements are explained, a felonious monk's musical talent is discussed, and music-with-rocks-in is introduced.

One of the absolute best of Pratchett, and definately the best of the thread about Death. There are more rock and roll references per page than any other book in history, and more laughs than a rational man can deal with (I had no problem...) All the hallmarks of Pratchett's finest work; beautifully tangled threads of the story, humor both subtle and flagrent, puns to tears, and more than the customary presense of Death (and Death of Rats, and Death's servant Albert). It stands as well alone as it does as part of the Death stories or Ankh-Morpork stories.

Kudos!

It hardly gets any funnier than this: DEATH (skeleton in black robe) has a teenage granddaughter named SUSAN who gets a crush on a young musician Imp y Celyn (which translates Celyn = Holly, Imp = Bud). Ructions in reality ensue when Susan tries to save Buddy from his appointment with Fate.

If there is a musical catchphrase that Pratchett fails to warp, pun or riff off of, than it isn't an important one. Pratchett's characters are lively and engaging; his plot runs on rockets and his humor, whether you find it satiric or merely slapstick, is truly funny. As always, Discworld holds up a warped mirror to our world and shows a true picture. This is one of Pratchett's best. Highly recommended.