SOUNDTRACK: hiatus
[READ: March 2022] The Last Hero
The Last Hero is a Discworld illustrated short story or fable . Really what that means is that there’s only one main plot line since most Discworld stories have multiple plots that interweave and then come together. So it doesn’t really feel short because a full adventure happens–just without all of the ancillary characters.
And, perhaps most striking for any Discworld book is that this one is fully illustrated by Paul Kidby. Only every other page is full text. The rest are half picture or full picture. But the pictures are also very deatiled and will keep you busy for a while. This particualr version has 16 all new pages of illustrations.
The Last Hero is Cohen the Barbarian. We last saw him in Interesting Times when he became the Emperor of the Agatean Empire. But, well, being in charge of things is kind of boring. And, frankly, it’s no way for a hero to go out. When one of the Silver Horde died by choking on a concubine–I think you mean cucumber– Cohen decides they need a plan. So he gathers the rest of the Silver Horde for one last adventure.
The very first hero, “Fingers” Mazda, stole fire from the gods and gave it to mankind (analogous to Prometheus), and was chained to a rock to be torn open daily by a giant eagle as punishment. Cohen’s plan is to give the fire back–in the form of a giant explosive packed into a large sled filled with explosive Agatean Thunder Clay. They plan to blow up the gods at their mountain home, Cori Celesti.
Like every good heroic horde, they have found a bard to detail their exploits. This bard is used to writing songs of love and is well out of his depth. But he comes along pretty nicely by the end.
They also come across Evil Harry Dread (the last Dark Lord) and Vena the Raven-haired (an elderly heroine who has now gone grey). These two characters are wonderful and Pratchett has a lot of fun with the conventions of heroes and villains (Evil Harry only hires stupid henchmen who aren’t very good with weapons, etc).
So there is a second story, although it bears directly on the first. The Wizards of Unseen University are aware of Cohen’s plans and warn Vetinari that if Cohen blows up the mountain it will pretty much destroy the disc because all of the magic that is holding the disc together. Vetinari brings Leonard of Quirm out of his attic and has him build a spaceship that will fly under the disc and get to the other side much more quickly than any other form of travel. This of course allows for lots of images of the travelers in Astronaut uniforms, etc,
And the travelers will be Leonard himself, Captain Carrot who would volunteer for just about anything that he could and Rincewind, because whenever a volunteer is needed it always falls to him anyway. Plus, Rincewind has spent the most time with Cohen, so he probably knows him better than anyoen–not that that will help.
Things are going great until the calculations seem to be failing. Could Leonard have made a mistake? Hardly. The Librarian accidentally fell asleep in the ship (which negatively affected their rations of air and food)
In an unexpected twist the trio wind up landing on the moon (thanks to some brilliant deductions on Ponder Stibbons’ part) which helps them avoid running out of air and offers fuel for the dragons. Yes, the ship is powered by dragons.
The Horde have snuck into Cori Celeste disguised as (hilarious) gods. And for the first time in a long while we get a good look at the gods. The two page spread drawing of the gods is pretty outstanding. And the gods’ reaction to the god who has banned both garlic and chocolate is pretty hilarious.
Having the pictures is a fun contribution to the story. And this seems like a fitting sendoff for Cohen and the Silver Horde.
1. The Colour of Magic
2. The Light Fantastic
3. Equal Rites
4. Mort
5. Sourcery
6. Wyrd Sisters
7. Pyramids
8. Guards! Guards!
9. Faust Eric
10. Moving Pictures
11. Reaper Man
12. Witches Abroad
13. Small Gods
14. Lords and Ladies
15. Men at Arms
16. Soul Music
17. Interesting Times
18. Maskerade
19. Feet of Clay
20. Hogfather
21. Jingo
22. The Last Continent
23. Carpe Jugulum
24. The Fifth Elephant
25. The Truth
26. Thief of Time
27. The Last Hero
28. The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents
29. Night Watch
30. The Wee Free Men
31. Monstrous Regiment
32. A Hat Full of Sky
33. Going Postal
34. Thud!
35. Wintersmith
36. Making Money
37. Unseen Academicals
38. I Shall Wear Midnight
39. Snuff
40. Raising Steam
41. The Shepherd’s Crown
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