Mini Review Monday – Hogfather

From Goodreads:

IT’S THE NIGHT BEFORE HOGSWATCH AND IT’S TOO QUIET.

Where is the big jolly fat man? Why is Death creeping down chimneys and trying to say Ho Ho Ho? The darkest night of the year is getting a lot darker…

Susan the gothic governess has got to sort it out by morning, otherwise there won’t be a morning. Ever again…

The 20th Discworld novel is a festive feast of darkness and Death (but with jolly robins and tinsel too).

As they say: You’d better watch out…

I can’t let the Festive season pass without settling down to re-read Hogfather by Terry Pratchett. It perfectly sums up the feelings of the Christmas season for me and I really love how Pratchett captures it all from the commercialism, the odd personal traditions and the food to the traditional meaning of the mid winter solstice. It really explores the nature of belief, with all the thought provoking good humour that you expect from Pratchett. He has a way of making you ponder the unexplainable aspects of the world, the deep and dark topics in a light and jovial manner.

I love Death as a character. I just think he is a really inventive and interesting perspective and to learn about Hogswatch through Death, allows for all those unusual and rarely asked questions to be pondered. Susan, Death’s Granddaughter, is also a fantastic character. I really just love all the various characters from the Oh God of Hangovers to Mr Teatime.

This is for me a quintessential Christmas read. Its one of those books that each time you read you find something new. You find a new meaning, a new favourite quote, a new joke you didn’t spot before. It makes me smile, it brings me joy and that makes it a fantastic book in my opinion.