Scan barcode
A review by lizziestudieshistory
The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett
3.0
Hovering between 3 and 3.5 stars - I haven't made my mind up yet!
This was an incredibly fun read. I've not experienced an illustrated Pratchett before (I've only read Eric as a plain text copy) and Kidby's fantastic images really enhanced the story!
I loved seeing the strange collection of heroes - Rincewind, Leonard of Quirm, and Captain Carrot! - band together to save the Disc from the reckless actions of Cohen and the Silver Hoard. The little interactions between Carrot and Rincewind were hilarious and could only have been made better by having MORE of them. As two of my favourites it was a pleasure to see them meet in the most unexpected of circumstances (astronauts?!)
As usual I disliked the Silver Hoard and Cohen the Barbarian - they're just not characters I enjoy reading about and embody EVERYTHING I hate about traditional 'hero' characters... There's a reason I tend not the read sword and sorcery fantasy! However, their send off was suitably mad and I hope to never see them again.
My main complaint about this book is that it felt too long in the set up and then the rest of the plot was rushed through. The preamble with the Wizards and Guilds discussion with Vetinari about what to do over Cohen going to the Hub was slightly too long... And then the interesting bit with the building of Leonard's Kite, finding the crew, the launch, and then stopping Cohen felt like a whirlwind! Pratchett put the same number of plot beats into this little book as he would into his full sized novels, so the pacing felt a little bit off and we didn't get as much character as I would have liked.
Saying this I really did enjoy The Last Hero and it was a pleasure to see Kidby's art weaved into the story and elevate the plot!
This was an incredibly fun read. I've not experienced an illustrated Pratchett before (I've only read Eric as a plain text copy) and Kidby's fantastic images really enhanced the story!
I loved seeing the strange collection of heroes - Rincewind, Leonard of Quirm, and Captain Carrot! - band together to save the Disc from the reckless actions of Cohen and the Silver Hoard. The little interactions between Carrot and Rincewind were hilarious and could only have been made better by having MORE of them. As two of my favourites it was a pleasure to see them meet in the most unexpected of circumstances (astronauts?!)
As usual I disliked the Silver Hoard and Cohen the Barbarian - they're just not characters I enjoy reading about and embody EVERYTHING I hate about traditional 'hero' characters... There's a reason I tend not the read sword and sorcery fantasy! However, their send off was suitably mad and I hope to never see them again.
My main complaint about this book is that it felt too long in the set up and then the rest of the plot was rushed through. The preamble with the Wizards and Guilds discussion with Vetinari about what to do over Cohen going to the Hub was slightly too long... And then the interesting bit with the building of Leonard's Kite, finding the crew, the launch, and then stopping Cohen felt like a whirlwind! Pratchett put the same number of plot beats into this little book as he would into his full sized novels, so the pacing felt a little bit off and we didn't get as much character as I would have liked.
Saying this I really did enjoy The Last Hero and it was a pleasure to see Kidby's art weaved into the story and elevate the plot!