And now for something completely different! I have slowly but surely been working my way through the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett for a while now, and this is where I'm up to.
Like all books in the series, Hogfather is set in the fantasy Discworld and doesn't take itself too seriously. As is immediately obvious from the front cover, the main subject of parody in this book is Father Christmas and Christmas in general. The main characters to be featured are Susan and Death, while many other Ankh-Morpork regulars such as the Wizards and the Watch also make appearances.
Susan is one of my favourite characters, because she has a constant battle between the 'family business' and trying to lead a 'normal' life. The different perspectives she and her grandfather have on the world make for some interesting and amusing conversations.
The story focuses around Hogswatch and the problems it would cause if the Hogfather were to, er, 'disappear' on a permanent basis. In the process it manages to poke fun at almost every part of the commercial side of Christmas, from the over-eating to the shops cashing in. Bogeymen and Tooth Fairies get a lot of page-time too.
Did I enjoy it? Yes of course. I haven't yet read a Discworld book that I haven't enjoyed. Several people remarked as I was reading the book that it was one of the better ones in the series. Although it's not my favourite so far I really liked the concept of the story and the way it was played out. And as I mentioned before, I love the chemistry between the characters.
The Discworld books are written such that you could pick up any of them to start reading, but you definitely get more out of the references made if you've read the earlier books. In this case, knowing Susan's back story would be a big help to avoid confusion!
If you want some light-hearted relief, and enjoy looking at things in a different way, then I would absolutely recommend reading this book.
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