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Soul Music

Soul Music

FantasyHigh Fantasy
Pages
432
Published
1994
Language
English

Synopsis

Death is having an existential crisis and has gone AWOL — leaving his granddaughter Susan Sto Helit to take over the job she doesn't want and isn't supposed to have. Meanwhile, a young musician from the Ramtops arrives in Ankh-Morpork and discovers Music With Rocks In — a sound that plays the people rather than the other way around, and which may be the most dangerous force the Disc has ever encountered. A novel about rock and roll, grief, identity, and the seductive power of being somebody.

Prose complexity
6/10

Vibe

FunnyEmotionalSatiricalAdventurous
Coming of AgeReluctant HeroSacrificeMentor Figure

Genres

Fantasy High Fantasy Comic Fiction Humor Satire

About the author

T
Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) was an English author best known for the Discworld series, a sequence of forty-one comic fantasy novels set on a flat world carried through space on the backs of four elephants standing on a giant turtle. Across four decades, the Discworld grew from a parody of sword-and-sorcery fantasy into one of the most sustained works of social satire in English literature, examining politics, religion, science, gender, race, capitalism, and the nature of stories themselves. Pra...

Characters

Susan Sto HelitProtagonist

Death's granddaughter — a pragmatic, no-nonsense young woman thrust into the role of Death while her grandfather is missing. Her first appearance in the series.

Imp y CelynSupporting

A young musician (later known as 'Buddy') who discovers Music With Rocks In and is consumed by it — a riff on the 27 Club mythology.

The Death of RatsSupporting

A small grim reaper who takes care of rats and appears throughout the Death sub-series as a comic sidekick.

Cut Me Own Throat DibblerSupporting
Foul Ole RonSupporting
All characters in Soul Music

Frequently asked questions

  • When was Soul Music published?

    First published on 1 September 1994 by Victor Gollancz. It is the sixteenth Discworld novel and the third in the Death sub-series.

  • What music does Soul Music parody?

    Soul Music is primarily a parody of rock and roll's mythology — the 27 Club, the idea of music as a possessing force, the Elvis phenomenon, Buddy Holly, and the general narrative of rock gods destroyed by their own legend. The band's name 'Insanity' and the character 'Buddy' are direct nods to Buddy Holly.

  • Who is Susan Sto Helit?

    Susan is Death's granddaughter — the daughter of Mort and Ysabell from the earlier novel Mort. She is rational, competent, deeply irritated by the supernatural, and trying to be normal. She becomes a major recurring character in the Death sub-series.

  • What happens to Mort and Ysabell?
  • Is Soul Music suitable for music fans who don't know Discworld?

    It rewards knowledge of rock history — references to specific musicians, legendary deaths, and the mythology of rock stardom are richest for music fans. But the story works independently; Susan is one of Pratchett's most compelling new characters regardless of musical background.

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