Skip to content

Theatre of Cruelty

Theatre of Cruelty

CrimeFantasy
Pages
4
Published
1993
Language
English

Synopsis

Sam Vimes investigates a theft in the night streets of Ankh-Morpork — a crime that, characteristically, turns out to be considerably more complicated than it first appears. A short story set in the early years of the City Watch, capturing Vimes at his most laconic and the city at its most atmospheric. Originally published in WTVA Newsletter (1993) and later collected in A Blink of the Screen.

Prose complexity
5/10

Vibe

GrittyFunnyAtmosphericTense
Anti-HeroMorally GreyMystery Box

Genres

Crime Fantasy High Fantasy Satire Science Fiction Humor Mystery Short Stories

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

Sam VimesProtagonist
Carrot IronfounderssonSupporting
Nobby NobbsSupporting
Fred ColonSupporting
All characters in Theatre of Cruelty

Frequently asked questions

  • What is Theatre of Cruelty?

    A short story of approximately 2,500 words, featuring Sam Vimes and the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. First published in the WTVA Newsletter in 1993; later collected in A Blink of the Screen (2012).

  • Do I need to read the Watch novels first?

    Recommended but not required. The story is brief and the Watch context helps, but Vimes's voice is distinct enough to stand alone. Readers unfamiliar with the Watch will miss some layers.

  • Is Theatre of Cruelty widely available?

    It is included in A Blink of the Screen: Collected Shorter Fiction (2012), which is the main way to access Pratchett's short fiction. The original newsletter publication is a collector's item.

Read all 1 reviews