Terry Pratchett

Who would want to harm Discworld's most beloved icon? Very few things are held sacred in this twisted, corrupt, heartless -- and oddly familiar -- universe, but the Hogfather is one of them. Yet here it is, Hogswatchnight, that most joyous and acquisitive of times, and the jolly old, red-suited gift-giver has vanished without a trace. And there's something shady going on involving an uncommonly psychotic member of the Assassins' Guild and certain representatives of Ankh-Morpork's rather extensive criminal element. Suddenly Discworld's entire myth system is unraveling at an alarming rate. Drastic measures must be taken, which is why Death himself is taking up the reins of the fat man's vacated sleigh . . . which, in turn, has Death's level-headed granddaughter, Susan, racing to unravel the nasty, humbuggian mess before the holiday season goes straight to hell and takes everyone along with it.

Hogfather

Better watch out ... It's that time of year again. Hogswatchnight. ‘Tis the season to be jolly, to hang mistletoe and holly, and other stuff ending in olly. ‘Tis the season when the Hogfather himself dons his red suit and climbs in his sleigh pulled by -- of course! -- eight hogs and brings gifts to all the boys and girls of Discworld. But this year, there's a problem. A stranger has taken the place of the Hogfather. Well, not exactly a stranger. He's actually pretty well known. He carries a scythe along with his bag of toys, and he's going to SLEIGH everyone he sees tonight. Ho ho ho. Even the laugh is wrong. The switch has been arranged by the Auditors, mysterious superbeings who want our universe to be a collection of rocks swinging in curves through space. Life is messy. Why not get rid of it? And who better than -- you know who? Somebody has to rescue the real Hogfather before this morbid impostor tracks soot on the world's carpets. It's up to Ankh-Morpork's intellectual elite, the assembled wizards of Unseen University -- with the help of a monster-bashing nanny, the world's worst inventor, plus a bona-fide, honest-to-god god (the oh god of hangovers, to be precise) -- to come up with a plan to save the universe. And they'd better hurry. The bogus Hogfather is asking the wrong questions. Like: How come rich kids get all the nice toys? How come the poor kids are left with the cheap stuff? "That's life," he is told. Which cuts no ice with Death.

Sarah Sammis

'Has the energy of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the inventiveness of Alice in Wonderland' Sunday Times The Discworld is very much like our own - if our own were to consist of a flat planet balanced on the back of four elephants which stand on the back of a giant turtle, that is . . . OH, THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING IN THE STOCKING THAT MAKES A NOISE, said Death, OTHERWISE WHAT IS 4:30 A.M. FOR? Superstition makes things work in the Discworld and undermining it can have Consequences. It's just not right to find Death creeping down chimneys and trying to say Ho Ho Ho . . . It's the last night of the year, the time is turning, and if Susan, Gothic governess and Death's granddaughter (sort of), doesn't sort everything out by morning, there won't be a morning. Ever again . . . _________________ The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Hogfather is the fourth book in the Death series; a festive feast of darkness (but with jolly robots and tinsel too).

(Discworld Novel 20)

Fraser Simons

This was mostly just a fun romp, but must say the ending came together more so than I’d expected it to. It leans a little heavy into the amusing vs systemic things I like as well. But has an undeniable charm to it, I think.

Susan had never hung up a stocking . She'd never put a tooth under her pillow in the serious expectation that a dentally inclined fairy would turn up. It wasn't that her parents didn't believe in such things. They didn't need to believe in them. They know they existed. They just wished they didn't. There are those who believe and those who don't. Through the ages, superstition has had its uses. Nowhere more so than in the Discworld where it's helped to maintain the status quo. Anything that undermines superstition has to be viewed with some caution. There may be consequences, particularly on the last night of the year when the time is turning. When those consequences turn out to be the end of the world, you need to be prepared. You might even want more standing between you and oblivion than a mere slip of a girl - even if she has looked Death in the face on numerous occasions...

Marsh Wu

The movie is VERY true to the story. Seriously. And the movie is 3 hours long! Hooray for movies being truthful to the book!

Charlotte Rayfield

Michael M.

The Death of Rats helps it SQUEAK out that fifth star.

I loved it. It was fun, fanciful, and just silly. I laughed many times at everything from holiday logic to common sense logic explained in the way only Terry Pratchett can.

It's definitely worth a read, and should be pretty easy to jump into without reading other Discworld books beforehand. You would have to just take what the book tells you at face value though, as the layers developed in prior books do build on each other to make everything fit better.

Pam Sartain

** spoiler alert **
           The Hogfather is one of those books that I like to try to read every Christmas, and having seen the TV version, I have to try to decide which I'm going to enjoy, and this year chose the book!

I really enjoy Death playing the Hogfather, and convincing Hex that there is a Hogfather, to the extent that he won't work if his teddy bear is taken away! 

A very good book, and one that I feel ranks up there with a Christmas Carol as a book that embodies the spirit of Christmas!

IT'S THE NIGHT BEFORE HOGSWATCH AND IT'S TOO QUIET. Where is the big jolly fat man? Why is Death creeping down chimneys and trying to say Ho Ho Ho? The darkest night of the year is getting a lot darker... Susan the gothic governess has got to sort it out by morning, otherwise there won't be a morning. Ever again... The 20th Discworld novel is a festive feast of darkness and Death (but with jolly robins and tinsel too). As they say: You'd better watch out...

Beth Bartholomew

This was my first Pratchett book, a festive read for the festive period. I went into this expecting weirdness, with death as a main character what more could I have hoped for? I have heard many people say Death is their favourite Discworld character and now I know why. Instead of a morbid and miserable antagonist I was met with a rather innocent, kind and humorous protagonist in Death.

Plot for this book? Who knows. It really was all over the place and this wasn’t helped by the lack of chapters, it made it very hard to break up the reading because usually I had to stop in the middle of some weird scene. I found it easy to get lost in the discworld, something that I suppose would happen less with the more Pratchett I read. Structurally this book was heavily dialogue based, which I enjoyed, it increased the pace of the more boring parts of the story.

The general premise of Death replacing the Hogfather (the Discworld equivalent of Father Christmas) was an entertaining one and I liked him visiting people in shopping centres and his desperation to give them all exactly what they wanted. There was a startling sense of realism as Death’s servant Albert explains that not everyone can get what they wanted as a gift, or there would be a misalignment in the class system. Ah how the real world creeps into fiction.

If you want to read the rest of my review, then please visit my blog https://booksnestbookishopinions.word...

Sage McParland

Dom Jay

Ricardo

Sean Bannen

NordicShivers

It's the night before Hogswatch. And it's too quiet. Superstition makes things work in the Discworld, and undermining it can have consequences. It's just not right to find Death creeping down chimneys and trying to say 'Ho Ho Ho...' It's the last night of the year, the time is turning, and if Susan, gothic governess and Death's granddaughter (sort of), doesn't sort everything out by morning, there won't be a morning. Ever again... Adapted by Terry Pratchett's long-time collaborator Stephen Briggs, this play text version of Pratchett's bestselling Discworld novel Hogfather wittily and faithfully reimagines the story for the stage.

Hogfather

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