Thief of Time
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- For the Tony Hillerman novel see A Thief of Time
| Terry Pratchett The Discworld series 26th novel – 5th individual story  | |
| Outline | |
| Characters: | Jeremy Clockson, Lobsang Ludd, Lu-Tze |
| Locations: | Ankh-Morpork, Ramtops |
| Motifs: | Wuxia and Martial arts films, Apocalypse, Momo, Matrix |
| Publication details | |
| Year of release: | 2001 |
| Original publisher: | Doubleday |
| Hardback ISBN: | ISBN 0-385-60102-6 |
| Paperback ISBN: | ISBN 0-552-14840-7 |
| Other details | |
| Awards: | |
| Notes: | |
Thief of Time is the 26th Discworld novel written by Terry Pratchett.
Contents |
[edit] Synopsis
The Auditors convince a young clock maker, Jeremy Clockson, in Ankh-Morpork to build a perfect glass clock. They do not reveal that this will imprison Time (the anthropomorphic personification) and thereby freeze time (the physical quantity) on the Discworld. Naturally, Death isn't about to let that happen, but since his hands are tied he sends his granddaughter Susan to thwart them.
Meanwhile, in a distant valley, a young apprentice of the History Monks, Lobsang Ludd, and his old teacher, Lu-Tze, called 'The Sweeper', hear that a glass clock is being built. Lu-Tze knows of such a clock's side-effects, since he was sent to prevent a previous clock from being built. He and Lobsang head for Ankh-Morpork to stop Clockson from building it.
The Auditors, meanwhile, are using human bodies to pose as and learn about humans. One in particular, operating under the alias Myria LeJean, is quite disturbed by "her" experiences as "she" becomes more and more human by the minute...
[edit] Notable aspects
- Thief of Time features the neologism Substition (first used by Pratchett in Jingo), a term denoting the opposite of superstition.
- "'No, they're a substition,' said Susan. 'I mean they're real, but hardly anyone really believes in them. Mostly everyone believes in things that aren't real.'"
- A number of the oddities noted by Susan as evidence that the timeline was fractured had previously been commented on by fans. These include the variable dating of Koom Valley; the fact that an Elizabethan theatre was "a new type of building" in Wyrd Sisters, but there was a venerable Victorian Opera House by Maskerade and the uncertainty as to the setting of Small Gods.
[edit] The Small Gods Question
Thief of Time in fact gives an answer to when Small Gods happened. Late in the book, during the proceedings of the Apocalypse, an angel, foretold to appear in the Book of Tobrun in the Book of Om, appears and keeps insisting to know if this is the Apocalypse until Death tells him he's not a formal part of the proceedings now;
- THE BOOK OF TOBRUN HAS NOT BEEN CONSIDERED OFFICIAL CHURCH DOGMA FOR A HUNDRED YEARS. THE PROPHET BRUTHA REVEALED THAT THE WHOLE CHAPTER WAS A METAPHOR FOR A POWER STRUGGLE WITHIN THE EARLY CHURCH. IT IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE REVISED EDITION OF THE BOOK OF OM, AS DETERMINED BY THE CONVOCATION OF EE. --Death.
[edit] Translations
- Крадец на време (Bulgarian)
- Zloděj času (Czech)
- De dief van tijd (Dutch)
- Procrastination (French)
- Der Zeitdieb (German)
- Lleidr Amser (Welsh)
