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Thief of Time

Thief of Time

FantasyHigh Fantasy
Pages
399
Published
2001
Language
English

Synopsis

The Auditors of Reality have commissioned a clockmaker to build the first truly perfect clock — one that will stop time entirely. The History Monks, keepers of time itself, send their most unlikely operative, Lobsang Ludd, to prevent it. Meanwhile Susan Sto Helit is a schoolteacher dealing with very strange children, and a fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse has retired to make chocolate. The fifth and final Death sub-series novel, and Pratchett's most elaborate treatment of time as a philosophical problem.

Prose complexity
6/10

Vibe

FunnyPhilosophicalSatiricalAdventurous
Reluctant HeroMentor FigureSurvivalMystery Box

Genres

Fantasy High Fantasy Comic Fiction Humor Science Fiction

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, now a schoolteacher of unusual children, whose supernatural heritage she keeps rigorously suppressed until events make suppression impossible.

Lobsang LuddSupporting

A young thief and History Monk novice whose unusual relationship with time makes him the only person who can stop the perfect clock.

Jeremy ClocksonSupporting

A clockmaker of genius who has been commissioned to build something that should not exist — a perfect clock. His obsession and innocence make him dangerous.

Lu-TzeSupporting

The History Monks' most senior operative — who presents himself as an elderly sweeper. Lobsang's mentor and one of the series' great comic sages.

The Four Horsemen of the ApocalypseSupporting
All characters in Thief of Time

Frequently asked questions

  • When was Thief of Time published?

    First published on 17 May 2001 by Victor Gollancz. It is the twenty-sixth Discworld novel and the fifth (and final) Death sub-series book.

  • Who are the History Monks?

    The History Monks are a secret order of monks who maintain the flow of time itself — storing surplus time, redistributing it where needed, and preventing temporal catastrophes. They operate from a hidden monastery and are among the Disc's most powerful and least-visible institutions.

  • Who are the Auditors of Reality?

    The Auditors are cosmic bureaucratic entities who maintain the physical laws of the universe. They find consciousness — particularly human consciousness — deeply irritating because it is unpredictable. In Thief of Time they try to stop time entirely to eliminate the problem of existence.

  • What is the fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse?

    In Thief of Time, there is a fifth Horseman — Kaos (Chaos) — who left before the other Four became famous and now makes the world's best chocolate. His return is one of the novel's great jokes.

  • Is Thief of Time a good place to start the Death sub-series?

    Not ideally. Susan is richer with knowledge of Soul Music, where she was introduced. But Thief of Time works independently as a philosophical comedy about time, consciousness, and what it means to be truly present.

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