A Book Review: Pyramids by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #7)

Amazon is selling a book called “1000Things People Believe That Aren't True”. As its title suggests, this book clarifies 1000 misconceptions many people believe in. Indeed, in our world, people have a lot beliefs and practice many traditions. However, if we ask “why do you believe this?” or “why are things done this way?” Then somewhere down the line of our investigations, we often find the reason many people subscribe to some popular beliefs and traditions, is simply because “people have always believed it”, or “people have always done things this way”. And if may I add, rational arguments often hold little sway over persuading people to alter practices for certain traditions or beliefs.

I offer an example to illuminate this observation. In a few weeks, Christmas will visit us once more. In the minds of many people, 25^th December is the birthday of Jesus. However, even the most conservative Bible scholar will tell you, biblical evidence places the time for Jesus' birth to anywhere but December. Instead, some scholars have argued the birthday of Jesus probably fall somewhere in September, at the time for Feast of Tabernacles. Why do we celebrate Christmas on 25^th December? This is because the Roman Catholic Church chose this day, and it became a tradition throughout Christendom (and passed down to modern day). Having said this, I speculate a proposal to change Christmas from December to September will attract little support, despite the knowledge we have in our hands.

If you have read this far, then I want to thank you for your patience. I hope you found my introduction interesting. At this point, you are probably wondering, does this have anything to do with the book I will be reviewing today? The answer is yes! Sir Terry Pratchett's 7^th Discworld novel, titled Pyramids, invites readers on a journey to the ancient kingdom of Djelibeybi, where questions about beliefs and traditions await in the shadow-haunted pyramids, laying spread across the lands like blue mantles beneath the stars.

Without further delay, allow me to provide a synopsis for this book.

Synopsis:

For seven thousand years, Pharaohs ruled supreme in the desert kingdom of Djelibeybi, a kingdom rich with ancient traditions. In Djellibeybi beliefs, the Pharaoh makes Discworld go around. When a Pharaoh passed away, royal embalmers mummify his body. The new Pharaoh then build a magnificent pyramid to house the mummy, where the dead Pharaoh is believed to go on living forever.

Teppic is a Djelibeybi prince. Yet, he is unlike all Djelibeybi princes who came before him. Teppic grew up in Ankh Morpork, and is educated at the city's prestigious assassin's school. When his father died, Teppic returned to his place of birth and inherited the throne. While assassin's school may have taught Teppic thousands of ways to inhume a person, but its education does not extend to preparing one to be a Pharoah.

In other words, Teppic found the whole “being a Pharoah” business rather difficult. Adding frost to snow, Teppic also has to deal with die-hard-traditionalist priests and sacred crocodiles. But none of these problems bring as much ache to poor Teppic's head as his number one priority; building a mother of all pyramid in honor of his dead father. However, with a great pyramid comes greater havocs. Things are about to go pear-shaped, big time...

My thoughts on this book:

Pyramids belongs to “Ancient Civilization” series in Discworld. It is witty, funny, and philosophical at the same time. This book shares some similarities with Small Gods, where both books explored religion, and the nature of belief. However, Pyramids is not an empiricist refutation to beliefs and traditions. It does not criticize religious belief system. Instead, Terry Pratchett packed the theme of the book inside a gripping, humorous story. Through a tale of intrigues, Terry Pratchett provoked his readers to start asking the right questions. Questions such as “Why do we believe this?” and “Where did this belief come from?” These questions are invaluable keys to critical thinking.

This book is very well written. It made numerous references to tropes in the fantasy genre, and poking fun at them by blowing these tropes out of proportion. Meanwhile, the story features a cast of eccentric, over-exaggerated but very memorable characters. Each character has a distinct personality of his/her own, brought to life by Terry Pratchett's vivid writings. The most fitting description that comes to my mind, if I may say, is comparing Pyramids to Monty Python movies.

However, while Pyramids does provoke a handful of questions about the nature of religion and traditions, but it does so in a non-offensive fashion. Meanwhile, the humor in Pyramids is not crude but genuine, and Terry Pratchett once again showed a big-hearted attitude towards the things that he wished to challenge. Let me sum this all up in a quote from Oscar Wilde:

“If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, or they will kill you.”

In Pyramids, Terry Pratchett authored a living embodiment for Oscar Wilde's timeless quote, and I would say this book could even earn a smile or two from the staunchest conservatives.

Having said the above, I must also say, while Pyramids is certainly a good novel, but in my opinion it is not the best Discworld novel. In this book, some places, especially the middle of the book, moved at a slow pace. The ending, on the other hand, was not as climatic as it could have been (I thought the ending was a bit anti-climatic). So in terms of storytelling, I think other Discworld novels, such as the books from Ankh Morpork City Watch series, Moist Von Lipwig series, Witches series, or Death Series, tell better yarns than the one in Pyramids.

My reading of Pyramids proved to be another rewarding venture in Discworld. The storytelling in Pyramids may not be as well-paced as in the later Discworld novels. Yet, its wellspring of comedic reliefs, coupled with a philosophical backdrop exploring the nature of belief, made Pyramids a solid entry to Discworld, and a worthy book to spend a few hours of your time on. Furthermore, Pyramids is a stand alone novel. This can be a very good place for newcomers to enter Discworld, and discovering for the first time, the spellbinding charm that have enchanted millions of readers across the world.