SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
[READ: September 2021] Pyramids
After six books tackling roughly the same geographical area, Pratchett sets out to “Egypt” for Pyramids. “Egypt” in this case is the wonderfully named Djelibeybi.
Djelibeybi is going broke. They make pyramids for each of their Pharoahs. And each pyramid gets bigger and more impressive. But where does the money come from when the Pharoah is dead?
Teppic (short for Pteppicymon XXVIII), left Djelibeybi and is studying at the Assassin’s Guild in Ankh-Morpork. He’s not the best assassin but he has learned a lot (and has survived). Indeed, he manages to pass his final exam (meaning he survived). But after he does so he has a psychic realization that his father the Pharoah has died and he must go home and take over the throne.
Dios is the high priest of Djelibeybi. He is the actual ruler of the country. He makes all of the rules and decisions saying that everything he wants is “tradition” etc. The Pjaroahs tend to nod and go along with it (Dios is like 200 years old). Dios is intent upon making Pteppicymon XXVII’s Pyramid the biggest the country has ever seen.
Like in Wyrd Sisters, the ghost of the ruler lingers. Pteppicymon XXVII does not want a massive pyramid. He doesn’t really want any of this. And he certainly doesn’t want young Ptraci to doe on his behalf. Ptraci does not want to die either and although Teppic grants her clemency, Dios insists that she must be killed.
Teppic has been sneaking around (using his assassin skills) undermining many if Dios’ plans. Dios is pretty angry and wants to capture the mysterious figure (who he believes (but cannot prove) is Teppic.
Meanwhile, the pyramid builders, are more than a little concerned with the size of the pyramid they are creating. One of the builders is more of a math brain and he continues to calculate the power that this pyramid will exude. (All pyramids give of magical energy, but once you put the cap on top, it is properly contained. This pyramid is so massive that it portends much trouble). And indeed, the pyramid is so big that it warps reality.
It rotates Djelibeybi 90 degrees so that is it essentially invisible.
Pratchett has a lot of fun with philosophers in this book. Teppic and Ptraci travel to Ephebe where philosophers are abundant. They seek the philosophers advice about how to get back into a city that has rotated out of existence.
But he has even more fun with camels. Camels, you see, are the greatest mathematicians on the Disc. Indeed, the one that Teppic and Ptraci ride on (named You Bastard) is THE greatest mathematician. Camels are so smart that they know to not even let on that they are smart–they know what humans are apt to do to them if they discovered how smart camels are. So they act belligerent and stupid (and are named things like Bloody Stupid, Evil Minded Son of a Bitch and You Vicious Brute).
He also talks a lot about gods in this book. Once reality has collapsed the gods begin to appear on the Disc. And as he says, “The trouble with gods is that after enough people start believing in them, they begin to exist. And what begins to exist isn’t what was originally intended.”
In addition to the gods appearing, all of Teppic’s ancestors appear as well. They have an interesting game of telephone as they try to read the ancient marks in the oldest pyramids (which only the oldest, most decrepit deceased can read) and translate them through the years as the language has changed.
It’s through these ancestors that Teppic is able to attempt to set things right. And in a nice twist, young Ptraci winds up being a much more sensible person to have in charge of a country than an assassin anyway.
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