Soul Music by Terry Pratchett

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This is my second time reading the book. Original rating was 4/5 stars

I’m surprised that I had previously rated this book as 4/5 because I don’t remember liking it that much. That was confirmed on this re-read. Yes, the book continues Death’s story from Mort, but so much of the story seems a retread. Once again Death stops being death for a while. This time it’s his granddaughter, Susan, who takes up the mantle. Sure, what she does with it is different than what Mort did, but it’s still repetitive. The rest of the book is mostly an excuse to have a bunch of band names that are plays on words from 1950s-1980s band names.

We follow Buddy of the Holly and his band as they introduce rock and roll to Ankh-Morpork and the surrounding cities and towns. The wizards also get into it and the magic makes them act like teenagers. Compared to Moving Pictures, the other media Discworld book, I like this one a bit more, but that’s because it stays in Ankh-Morpork and deals with the regulars there. Contrasted with other books that introduce modern tech like the telegraph, stamps, and money – it’s just not as much fun to read.

I think you could easily skip this one and not lose too much. I mean, you won’t know who Susan is when you get to Hogfather, but Pratchett usually does a good job of catching folks up.



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