Carpe Jugulum

With Carpe Jugulum, Terry Pratchett returned to the witches of Lancre series. The witches, including the formidable Esme Weatherwax, must somehow defeat the Vampyres who have taken over the tiny mountain kingdom of Lancre. The coven has changed, of course. Magrat Garlick has left-off witching to be the Queen - a definite step down in the eyes of Granny Weatherwax. Agnes Nitt has replaced her. Agnes is of two minds about being a witch, but then Agnes is of two minds about everything. Sometimes that can even be an advantage. The occasion of the story is the christening of the King and Queen's new-born daughter. Reverend Mightily Oates, a very young, very nervous priest of Om, has agreed to perform the service. Oates has crises of faith so often that they might as well be scheduled. Reverend Oates is worried he will mess up the christening. He needn't have worried; of course he does. And King Verence, in a gesture of excessive good will, has invited everyone to the christening. Including those new and modern Vampyres from neighboring Uberwald. Everyone who knows anything about vampires knows they don't go where they aren't invited, but of course they were invited... And these new, modern Vampyres don't mind garlic, holy relics, wedges of lemon or the other traditional tools for managing the pests. And they are clever. As just one example, Granny's invitation to the christening has gone astray. Somehow, Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Agnes Nitt must find a way to force these Vampyres out, not just out of Lancre but out of the DiscWorld entirely. Pratchett is a man of firm convictions. One of those firm opinions is that the greatest sin of all is to treat people as things. Which is what vampires - and Vampyres - do. So the outcome is a foregone conclusion. Besides, they are up against Granny Weatherwax. Who also gets one of the great lines in vampire literature. I won't spoil it here, but as is always the case with Pratchett, it is a logical and hysterically funny implication of the whole blood-sucking thing. And exceptionally well-developed in the plot. I was particularly impressed with Pratchett's development of Mightily Oates. He is introduced as a bumbling stock character, but over the course of the story becomes something far more, earning the grudging respect of the entire coven. Someday I'd like to read more about Reverend Oates. The Witches series isn't my favorite, but among the Witches stories this is one of the best, second only to "Lords and Ladies." You'll never look at magpies in quite the same way. A very good tale, very well told. Highly recommended.

Those of us who grew up watching Hammer films know better than to invite a vampire into our castle. But suppose you are the new jester-turned-king of a small principality on Discworld, and you want to be friends with all of your neighbors, even if they happen to be undead. (Hint: always check to see if a country has a disproportionate number of 24-hour Walgreens before issuing your invitations).Not only does King Verence invite a family of vampires to his daughter's christening, his invitation to the powerful witch, Granny Weatherwax goes mysteriously astray.Foopahs abound. Granny Weatherwax closes up her cottage as though she never means to return. Her friend and fellow-witch, Nanny Ogg is upset by King Verence's choice of a priest of Om as the official baptizer--a priest who relies on bits of strategically placed paper to jog his uncertain memory--which is how the little princess ends up with the name 'Esmerelda Margaret Note Spelling of Lancre.'Of course, Lancre did once have a king named, 'My God He's Heavy the First.'This is obviously going to shape up as one of the most disastrous christenings since Sleeping Beauty got the shaft (or more correctly, the spindle) from the thirteenth fairy godmother. Then events take a turn for the worse when the vampires happily chow through Nanny Ogg's special garlic dip without a single rumble of indigestion.I love all of the Granny Weatherwax/Nanny Ogg Discworld novels, and even though "Carpe Jugulum" tackles some unusually serious themes (its vampires are truly evil, unlike the loveable, teetotalling Otto in "The Truth"), it is still vintage Pratchett and vintage Granny.It is amazing how an author of such absurd fantasies can still convey such a bone-chilling description of evil. Pratchett is much more than a 'simple' comic novelist.

Carpe Jugulum, the 23rd Discworld novel by the ever-amusing Terry Pratchett, introduces vampires to the Disc. Having read the books out of order, and having already read all of the subsequent ones, vampires are old-hat to me. A couple of times, I had to consciously remember that this was the first and that some of the things I knew about them weren't true in this one. That being said, this is another wonderful Discworld book, a notch on his belt that looks rather toothy.A number of people have commented on the similarities between this book and Lords & Ladies, with the vampires replacing the elves as villains. While I do see some similarities, there are some marked differences as well. Carpe Jugulum, I feel, stands well on its own two feet. There is a completely different purpose behind what the vampires are doing. The Count wants to modernize his people, to get them to overcome some of the "silly" stereotypes about vampires. He doesn't want a dank, gloomy castle with webs all over the place. He doesn't see the hunt as a game where the vampire always loses. He wants to take over in order to protect himself, his family, and his very way of life. If he didn't commit some thoroughly evil deeds in the process, his goal might actually be a legitimate one.However, he does commit these acts, and thus must be stopped. This is where the book does become a little standard, with an intractable enemy facing the witches and Granny using her "headology" to save the day. I have to admit that what she decides to do is very interesting, and a nice twist on vampire myths in general. I won't reveal what she does, but suffice it to say that she turns one of the typical vampire powers back on itself in a very novel way. The plot is well-told by Pratchett, and for once the ending doesn't actually come out of left field. If you read the characters properly (especially Igor, who is also introduced in this book), then you may be able to guess what happens.As for the characters, Pratchett again excels. The witches are their normal selves (Magrat is kind of shy but shields a strong backbone when push comes to shove, Nanny Ogg is lewd and crude but always knowledgeable, and Granny is her usual gruff self with a heart underneath which nobody will ever see unless they really look), but the new witch Agnes is also very interesting. She has a second side to herself which occasionally comes out. It is a separate personality, which is invaluable in protecting her from the vampire charms. Mightily Oats is also a hoot, but deep enough that you do start to care about him. His crisis of faith isn't exactly unique, but Pratchett gives him enough differences to avoid making him unoriginal.The vampires steal the show, though, along with Igor. We have the Count, who is determined to change things. His wife, the Countessa, is going along with him but doesn't really believe in it. The kids, Lacrimosa and Vlad, don't see any point to all this. They just want to fe

Okay, I have this odd sence of de ja vu when I read a vampire novel, I mean if you read 3 how different can the 4th be? Not this one. It's a beautiful satire and has far too many one liners and jokes like all Terry Pratchett books to really go into. It has Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax two of the witches in Lancre driving out the vampires (sorry, vampyres)who were invited in by King Verence for his daughter's christening. Possibly my favorite bit, was when the older vampires are making fun of young vampires who wear bright clothes and stay up until noon and wear their hair short and tell people that their name is Pam or Agnes.... it's a very funny quick read. I also have a hard time thinking of it being a blow off. There are bits with Granny Weatherwax that make you feel you may have just read somethingg important.