Denver Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club

THE FIFTH ELEPHANT
by
TERRY PRATCHETT
Fifth Elephant USA paperback cover The Fifth Elephant (2000)
A Novel of Discworld

US HarperTorch paperback - 370 pages (left)
at end includes excerpt from Thief of Time

UK Corgi paperback - 459 pages
cover art by Josh Kirby
 Fifth Elephant UK cover
From the back cover of US paperback:
       Everyone knows that the world is flat, and supported on the backs of four elephants.  But weren't there supposed to be five? Indeed there were.  So where is it? . . .
       When duty calls, Commander Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork constabulary answers.  Even when he doesn't want to.  He's been "invited" to attend a royal function as both detective and diplomat.  The one role he relishes; the other requires, well, ruby tights. Of course where cops (even those clad in tights) go, alas, crime follows. An attempted assassination and a theft soon lead to a desperate chase from the low halls of Discworld royalty to the legendary fat mines of Uberwald, where lard is found in underground seams along with tusks and teeth and other precious ivory artifacts.  It's up to the dauntless Vimes -- bothered as usual by a familiar cast of Discworld inhabitants (you know, trolls, dwarfs, werewolves, vampires and such) -- to solve the puzzle of the missing pachyderm.  Which of course he does.  After all, solving mysteries is his job.

From the back cover of UK hardback:
       A Discworld novel of dwarfs, diplomacy, intrigue and big lumps of fat.
       Sam Vimes is a man on the run. Yesterday he was a duke, a chief of police and the ambassador to the mysterious, fat-rich country of Uberwald. Now he has nothing but his native wit and the gloomy trousers of Uncle Vanya (don't ask).  It's snowing.  It's freezing.  And if he can't make it through the forest to civilization there's going to be a terrible war.  But there are monsters on his trail.  They're bright.  They're fast.  They're werewolves - and they're catching up.  Sam Vimes is out of time, out of luck and already out of breath . . .

Read for group discussion on January 23, 2002
5th Elephant USA hardback cover Another Book Cover:

The Fifth Elephant (2000)

US hardback cover
Harper Collins
321 pages 		 
RATINGS:
How we each rated this book
Dan 8 Amy 7 stack of books 10   Wow! Don't miss it
8-9  Highly recommended
7    Recommended
5-6  Mild recommendation
3-4  Take your chances
1-2  Below average; skip it
0    Get out the flamethrower!
U    Unfinishable or unreadable
-    Skipped or no rating given
Cheri 8 Barb 7
Aaron - Cynthia 8
Jackie - Ron 9
Our book group has also read the following books by Terry Pratchett:
-- Guards! Guards! in July 1995
-- Good Omens (written with Neil Gaiman), in May 1996
-- Small Gods   in March 1999
-- Hogfather   in July 2000
-- The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents   in July 2003
-- The Truth   in June 2004
-- The Wee Free Men   in March 2007
Bibliography:
Terry Pratchett (1948-    ) is a English writer. His humorous, loosely-connected Discworld fantasy books are bestsellers in the UK.

Awards
1990 British Science Fiction Association Award for Pyramids
Carnegie Medal for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents

Pratchett's Discworld books include characters such as the inept wizard Rincewind, witch Granny Weatherwax, the City Guard or Night Watch, and Death.

Discworld series books
The Colour of Magic (1983)
The Light Fantastic (1986)
Equal Rites (1987)
Mort (1987)
Sourcery (1988)
Wyrd Sisters (1988)
Pyramids (1989)
Guards! Guards! (1989)
Eric (with illustrator Josh Kirby) (1990)
Moving Pictures (1990)
Reaper Man (1991)
Witches Abroad (1991)
Small Gods (1992)
Lords and Ladies (1992)
Men at Arms (1993)
Soul Music (1994)
Interesting Times (1994)
Maskerade (1995)
Feet of Clay (1996)
Hogfather (1998)
Jingo (1998)
Last Continent (1999)
Carpe Jugulum (1999)
The Fifth Elephant (2000)
The Truth (2000)
The Thief of Time (2001)
Night Watch (2002)
Monstrous Regiment (2003)
Going Postal (2004)
Thud! (2005)
Making Money (2007)
Nation (2008)

Discworld young adult books
The Tiffany Aching Adventures
The Wee Free Men (2003)
A Hat Full of Sky (2004)
Wintersmith (2006)

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents (2001)

Discworld related books Illustrated by Paul Kidby
The Pratchett Portfolio (1996)
Nanny Ogg's Cookbook (1999, with Stephen Briggs and Tina Hannan)
Gurps Discworld: Adventures on the Back of the Turtle (1998, by Phil Masters for Steve Jackson Games)
Death's Domain : A Discworld Mapp (1999)
Discworld's Unseen University Diary 1998 (with Stephen Briggs, 1997)
Discworld's Ankh-Morpork City Watch Diary 1999 (with Stephen Briggs, 1998)
Discworld Assassin's Guild Yearbook and Diary 2000 (with Stephen Briggs, 1999)
Discworld Fools' Guild Yearbook and Diary 2001 (with Stephen Briggs, 2000)
Discworld Thieves' Guild Yearbook and Diary 2002 (with Stephen Briggs, 2001)
The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable (2001).

Discworld related books with Stephen Briggs
The Streets of Ankh Morpork (1993)
The Discworld Companion (1994, 1997)
The Discworld Mapp (1995)
A Tourist Guide to Lancre (1998)
The New Discworld Companion (2003)

Discworld science books with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen
The Science of Discworld (1999)
The Science of Discworld II: The Globe (2002)
The Science of Discworld II: Darwin's Watch (2005)

Other Discworld spinoff books
Mort: A Discworld Big Comic (with Graham Higgins, 1994)
The Unseen University Challenge by David Langford (1996)
A Discworld Quizbook - The Wyrdest Link by David Langford (2002)
Where's My Cow? (illustrated by Melvyn Grant, children's picture book (2005)
The Unseen University Cut Out Book (with Alan Batley and Bernard Pearson, 2006)

Other books
Good Omens (written with Neil Gaiman, 1990) is subtitled The Nice and Accurate Prophesies of Agnes Nutter. It's a fantasy about the end of the world.

The YA Johnny Maxwell tilogy is Only You Can Save Mankind (1992), Johnny and the Dead (1993), and Johnny and the Bomb (1996)

The Nomes trliogy or the Bromeliad children's SF series is Truckers (1989), Diggers (1990), and Wings (1990).

Standalone works are his first novel The Carpet People (1971) a children's fantasy; The Dark Side of the Sun (1976) which is SF; Strata (1981) a SF parody; and The Unadulterated Cat (with Gray Jolliffe, 1990).

Links:
Our book club's page for Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
Our book club's page for Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
Our book club's page for The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Pratchett
Our book club's page for The Truth by Terry Pratchett
Our book club's page for The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
Fantastic Reviews: Aaron's book review of The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett - Wikipedia
Discworld - Wikipedia
L-Space Web: About Terry Pratchett
Discworld Monthly - Online newsletter about Terry Pratchett & his works
Terry Pratchett and the Discworld
Discworld MUD - multi-user game based on the Discworld books
January magazine - Profile | Terry Pratchett
GURPS Discworld - RolePlaying Game
The Discworld Emporium
TerryPratchettBooks.com

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 This page was last updated October 22, 2008