Hogfather

, #20

Paperback, 445 pages

English language

Published March 8, 2006

ISBN:
978-0-552-14542-8
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Goodreads:
797189

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4 stars (8 reviews)

Hogfather is the 20th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, and a 1997 British Fantasy Award nominee. It was first released in 1996 and published by Victor Gollancz. It came in 137th place in The Big Read, a BBC survey of the most loved British books of all time, making it one of fifteen books by Pratchett in the Top 200.The book focuses on the absence of the Hogfather, a mythical creature akin to Father Christmas, who grants children's wishes on Hogswatchnight (December 32) and brings them presents. While Death attempts to fill in for the Hogfather, his granddaughter Susan Sto Helit tries to find and rescue the Hogfather.

9 editions

reviewed Hogfather by Terry Pratchett

Holiday reading

5 stars

A few years back, I added this to my list of Christmas reads - books I reread (or at least think about rereading) every year during the holidays, books that get me in the mood, because of content (this one, obviously) or past associations (Lord of the Rings) or because somehow they seem to me to suit the season, in the same way that fires, green branches inside, lights, rich food and so on do, that contribute to the hygge.

Hogfather is set in Discworld, where most of Terry Pratchett's books are set. Like most of his books, it riffs off some aspect of our world - in this case Christmas - in a satirical but loving and insightful way. In this book, the Hogfather - a Santa Claus/Spirit of the Solstice figure - is incapacitated by some creatures who are opposed to human creativity. And Death has to step …

reviewed Hogfather by Terry Pratchett (Discworld, #20)

Review of 'Hogfather' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

How would you go about killing someone who was never really alive – not in the usual sense of the word? Mr Teatime (pronounced teh-ah-tim-eh) knows exactly how he'd do it.

As philosophical textbooks go, this is a stonker. What is the nature of belief? How do beliefs interact with reality? How do they colour our view of reality?

As for zingy and/or pithy moments … this books got them in spades.
“The phrase 'Someone ought to do something' was not, by itself, a helpful one. People who used it never added the rider 'and that someone is me'.”

As a novel, though, this one falls a bit short. The plot meanders a bit too much for my liking.

Very good, but not Sir Pterry's finest.