What happens when the Disc is once again exposed to an idea of our world? In this case, it's rock'n'roll music. Nothing that involves Discworld is ever quite what we would consider normal, and the idea of rock music is no exception.
The sixteenth book of Discworld is another book in the Death arc. This of course means we have Death, his servant Albert, and the Death of Rats (thanks to the events of Reaper Man). It also gives us Quoth the Raven, Imp y Celyn the bard from Llamedos, Glod Glodsson the dwarven horn player, Lias Bluestone the troll percussionist, and last but definitely not least, we get Susan Sto Helit. Susan is the child of Ysabell, Death's adopted daughter, and Mort, who was once Death's apprentice in the book that bears his name. This makes her Death's granddaughter in a rather unusual and roundabout way, but this is also very important to the story and future books, and she inherits some of his abilities, especially the ability to avoid being detected by most people which disconcerts her teachers. With all that potential money to be made, C.M.O.T. Dibbler is bound to show up and try to make some money off of it. We also have to deal with an unhappy musicians' guild, with its humorous leader, Mr. Clete, and we get to meet the shortest troll ever, Asphalt the main band's roadie, who I quite liked as a minor character; he was a fun addition.
It also involves the UU staff and several of the night watch. Both groups are always welcome in any book. They add a lot of enjoyment to any story they are involved in. The Librarian is quite a fan of this music with rocks in, even playing on keyboards at times. Most of the UU participants fall under the spell of music with rocks in, and especially some like the Dean who really get into the rock'n'roll spirit, but several, including Mustrum Ridcully, Ponder Stibbons, and some students that work with the experiments in the HEM (High magic building), are worried and intrigued by this strange musical phenomenon. This is also the first appearance of Hex, at least in prototype form. It's essentially a computer that is dominated by ants and uses punch cards. It's one of the HEM projects that will play a larger role in future volumes.
Due to a tragedy early in the book, Death is feeling melancholy about things. He decides to leave on his own, not even taking Binky along with him. This could of course cause problems. The Death of Rats manages to get Susan's attention, partially thanks to Quoth, since she has inherited some of Death's capabilities and can fill in. She was at the Mended Drum where Imp, Glod, and Lias were playing, and where she had an appointment with Imp in her role as Death, when the music sprung up and took over things. Music with rocks in became an instant hit and it starts altering events for its own purposes. This is music that is primal and integral to the very existence of everything, but it's not the proper time for the Disc, it's the wrong music for where the world is at.
With Death gone missing and the music getting stronger and influencing more and more of the Disc, Susan has her hands full. She takes after her father a bit here, although the music stepped in and altered things instead of her doing so, and she takes advantage of being Death more than once to achieve the outcome she sought in a few situations. The music makes demands that she's not pleased with. Between that, the musician's guild, Death taking time off to ponder things, Albert and the Death of Rats trying to get Death back to work, the staff at UU mostly falling under the spell of the music while Archchancellor Ridcully and Ponder Stibbons try to work out what's going on, we get a great romp through Discworld, with lots of musical jokes and plenty of frantic, fun action, and an ending that feels quite satisfying.
This book has some aspects of Mort and Reaper Man, while also being its own thing. Sir Terry does like to revisit ideas, but he doesn't simply just rehash things thankfully, so this book easily stands on its own despite these similarities. The book is also heavier on puns and references than usual, and for Discworld that's saying something! It takes the names of famous bands and songs and makes jokes about them, such as: "Pathway to Paradise" (Stairway to Heaven), "We are Certainly Dwarves" (They Might be Giants), "Sto Helit Lace" (Chantilly Lace), and many more. It even has references to The Blues Brothers, including the brothers ordering at the diner and "We're on a mission from God" although it's a mission from Glod in this case.
Another enjoyable and humorous romp through Discworld. While I mostly listen to death, black, and thrash metal, I also do enjoy some classic rock, and grew up listening to a lot of oldies (50s and 60s), while also listening to the radio in the 70s, and watching a lot of MTV in the 80s, so most of the jokes and ideas are things I'm familiar with to a great degree. Some of the references may be on the obscure side for younger audiences. I've seen people ask about "Don't Tread on My New Blue Boots," as one example, and I thought that one was extremely obvious (Blue Suede Shoes), but it's likely due to the time I grew up in. It's a great book as always when Sir Terry is involved, but it lacks some of the bite of many of his other books, so its rating reflects that.
3.875 bands with rocks in out of 4.
Some fun quotes:
"This was music that had not only escaped, but had robbed a bank on the way out. It was music with its sleeves rolled up and its top button undone, raising its hat and grinning and stealing the silver."
"It is said that whomsoever the gods wish to destroy, they first make mad. In fact, whomsoever the gods wish to destroy, they first hand the equivalent of a stick with a fizzing fuse and Acme Dynamite Company written on the side. It's more interesting, and doesn't take so long."
"'I'VE SEEN THE INFINITE,' said the stranger. 'IT'S NOTHING SPECIAL.' The holy man glanced around. 'Don't be daft,' he said. 'You can't see the Infinite. 'Cos it's infinite.' 'I HAVE.' 'All right, what did it look like?' 'IT'S BLUE.'"
Morella is a Gen Xer who likes strange things a bit too much.
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