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Beautifully, gorgeously written, masterful interleaving of the multiple threads of story, wonderful narration.

I just found myself being perpetually frustrated that I had no idea what this "game" was that was being played. Granted, it was also never explained to the players, but WHYYYYYYYY

This book loses a star because the protagonist is such a jerk to begin with that the obligatory transformation doesn't feel plausible.

That said, it's another extremely heartwarming tale with a bit of deus ex machina to wrap things up with a nice tidy bow.

Review based on 2022 audiobook.

The fact that even the title is a pun should warn you what you're in for. Even so, this is the trademark Pratchett blend of humor with very serious social commentary, excellently performed by the narrators. It even shows the internalized misogyny of Granny not wanting Esk to become a wizard because it simply is not done.

Setting aside the fact that I really want Twoflower's luggage, this was a good conclusion to the story set up in the Color of Magic.

Listening to the 2022 audiobook, I do like how they set off the footnotes and Death with different voices/special signals. That said, I'm not a fan of Twoflower's stereotypical nerd speech impediment.

If you've made it this far, you know the formula. This one is interesting because there is no damsel in distress - Clara is perfectly capable of fighting off bandits too!

Everyone loves a Paladin, right? Especially in this world, where they're god-touched and have amazing abilities?

Well, what happens when their god dies? What does that do to all of their relationships?

Continuing on in the world of Clocktaur War and Swordheart, we have some more (formulaic, yes) romance, between a Paladin without a god and a perfume-maker who got pulled into a plot.

Something that needs to be gotten out of the way: There's very clearly a formula at work here. You're going to see the same pattern of how the relationships shake out in all of the books set in this world.

But.

Each one is still a unique story, and absolutely worth reading. The personalities at play, and the specifics of how things shake out are still compelling when you know basically what is going to happen.

This is a fun story (with some angsty bits - part of the formula) and descends into utter ridiculousness at points, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Highly recommend.

The story set up in the first book comes to a satisfying conclusion in this part. Naturally, it's not entirely happy, but a satisfying conclusion, nonetheless.

Thus begins our adventures in a world where being god-touched is quite literal, being possessed by demons is a real risk, and you're at war with a city who can apparently muster GIANT FREAKING CLOCKWORK SOLDIERS.

Naturally, the best people for the job are the most expendable: prisoners.

Overall fun story, with some angst, but you'll have to wait until part 2 for the resolution.

This hit my radar when I asked for some relatively cozy reading. And did this ever deliver! It's not a full novel, audiobook only about 4 hours, but it's a wonderful possible future full of people who genuinely care about the world. It's really more of a character study than a story, but still left me really eager to see what the characters get up to next.