Book Review: Soul Music by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #16)

  When it comes to music, my opinion is that we are the music we listen to (the same thing applies to books, movies etc..).

About 17 years ago, when I was in highschool, a friend introduced me to heavy metal/rock music. After that fateful day, my parents stepped on a journey of sufferance, where in the decade that followed, they endured the daily presence of high volume metal/rock music in their house, until I moved out. Looking back, I am often astonished by the fact, that my parents managed to stay sane in those years.

I think for people belonging to Gen X and older Gen Y group (such as myself), rock music was a shaping influence during our teenage years. For example, I am pretty sure, that all those Metallica and Nirvana CDs that I listened to while growing up, has somehow influenced my personality and the way I view life today. Indeed, people can become the type of music they listen to. Furthermore, no matter where you go on earth, where people go, music goes. If you can understand the music some folks are listening to, then you can understand them. But what is the magic behind music that it plays such a central role in the world of man? The 16^th Discworld novel, titled Soul Music, is a book about music. It is also a humorous commentary about the music business.

Synopsis:

We've all heard of the phrase “soul music”. On Discworld, “soul music” is not just a metaphorical allusion....

When a young bard, Imp, arrived at Ankh-Morpork, he came to possess a mysterious guitar. After this union, the city of Ankh-Morpork is about turn upside down, by music with a personality, and it literally has rocks in it.

Meanwhile, Death has once again, entered a mid-career crisis and disappeared. In his absence, Death's grand daughter, Susan Sto Helit, was called to take up the family business of “undertaking”. But how will a blood and flesh human, such as Susan, fare in the job as the grim reaper?

What I think about this book:

Soul Music is split into two major plot lines. The first plot line followed Imp and his band, as they reached the celebrity status in the city of Ankh-Morpork. The second plot line followed the story of Susan and Death. I must say, I did not enjoy Soul Music as much as other Discworld novels. This is not saying Soul Music is a bad book. My problem is, I could not fully relate to the many inside jokes, and pop culture references in this book. I think people who have something to do with the music business, may be able to better appreciate these inside jokes and pop culture references. So if you are in this category, then perhaps you will enjoy this book more than I did. In other word, I could not fully appreciate the part of the story about Imp and his band (but I still found some of the jokes funny).

Having said this, I still like the humors in Soul Music. For me, the best part of the book, is relationship between between Death and Susan. Soul Music introduced Susan Sto Helit, she is Death's grand daughter (the daughter of Mort and Ysabel from Mort). In this book, Susan entered the story as a bright, but bored student at a boarding school in Ankh-Morpork. Susan didn't know she is Death's grand daughter, but Susan knew she is a little bit different to other kids at her school. As the plot unfolded in this book, Susan came to the knowledge about her personal connection with Death, and this part of the story focused on her exploration for the meaning of life and death.

I like the way Terry Pratchett characterized and portrayed Susan, she is a memorable and likable character. I also appreciated the golden wisdom in this book, when Terry Pratchett pointed out, that “education” is not necessarily the same as “learning”.

The writing style in Soul Music, is similar to other Discworld novels, where Terry Pratchett used words in witty, clever ways to create parodies and humors. Several plot lines developed separately, but gradually converged. This means Soul Music, like other Discworld novels, is a complex book. While it is not exceedingly difficult to understand this book, but a reader may feel the beginning of the book is filled with random events, and that the book is flowing at a slow pace. Similar to other Discworld novels, the pace in Soul Music sped up after 50 pages, as readers become familiarized with the different plots and characters. I found this is a trait shared by other Discworld books I've read in the past.

I did not enjoy Soul Music as much as other Discworld novels, but I still think it is a good book packed with funny jokes, memorable scenes (I especially love the scene when Death rode a motorcycle), tinging with some philosophical pondering about life and death here and there. People who has something to do with the music business, may be able to fully appreciate this book as an excellent, humorous commentary about the music business. Meanwhile, I like the introduction of Susan as a new, central character in Discworld series. I've heard there are more Discworld books featuring Death and Susan as central characters, and I look forward to reading them.