Last Continent, The

Inhoud

IT'S THE DISCWORLD'S LAST CONTINENT AND IT'S GOING TO DIE IN A FEW DAYS, EXCEPT...
Who is this hero striding across the red desert? Sheep shearer, beer drinker, bush ranger, and someone who'll even eat a Meat Pie Floater when he's sober.
A man in a hat whose luggage follows him on little legs. Yes, it's Rincewind, the inept wizard who can't even spell wizard. He's the only hero left.
Still...no worries, eh?

Bespreking

Rincewind goes down under

There is something gravely amiss with the time-space continuum of the Discworld. Rincewind, our faithful anti-hero who has unknowingly rescued the multiverse from several terminal and quite annoying endings, is stuck in a desolate desert somewhere in a country called EcksEcksEcksEcks. Just a few moments ago he was still hanging around the Island of Agatea, but due to some last minute luck was teleported to his current torment. At least he now has no need to run away from sharp objects and his only concern is to find the next waterhole. No worries. Only, when was the last time you he had a decent conversation with a Kangaroo? But help is on the way: the elite corps of the Unseen University, lead by Archchancellor Ridcully, is on a mission to rescue their lost son. And they are very close. Only one slight detail went wrong: they missed their target by about 300000 years.

In The Last Continent Terry Pratchett has a go at Australia and its strange peculiarities. The result is, as can be expected, a very humorous view on kangaroos, aborigines and corks on strings. But the book offers more than a never-ending flow of Crocodile Dundee puns, it also gives a quite interesting view on time travel and the potential danger of treading on ants that might influence your future in the past. The introduction of the university's housekeeper, Mrs. Whitlow, leads to an avalanche of in between sheets jokes. But the absolute hilarious episodes of the book start when Rincewind meets the Discworld version of Priscilla Queen of the Desert. I never expected that leather and high heels were that popular in the Discworld.

What might confuse the readers is the story line. Great effort is put in setting the plot and getting the protagonists into the strangest situations, but when the denouement is explained the narrative speed is increased. With sometimes only a single line the solution to a certain predicament is given. Only by rereading part of the book I managed to get a more consistent view on the story. Even then I am not sure that I followed Terry's train of thought fully. Nevertheless the tongue-in-cheek approach of Terry never fails to deliver on an enjoyable read.