432 pages
English language
Published June 13, 2013 by Penguin Random House.
Who would want to harm Discworld's most beloved icon? Very few things are held sacred in this twisted, corrupt, heartless -- and oddly familiar -- universe, but the Hogfather is one of them. Yet here it is, Hogswatchnight, that most joyous and acquisitive of times, and the jolly old, red-suited gift-giver has vanished without a trace. And there's something shady going on involving an uncommonly psychotic member of the Assassins' Guild and certain representatives of Ankh-Morpork's rather extensive criminal element. Suddenly Discworld's entire myth system is unraveling at an alarming rate. Drastic measures must be taken, which is why Death himself is taking up the reins of the fat man's vacated sleigh . . . which, in turn, has Death's level-headed granddaughter, Susan, racing to unravel the nasty, humbuggian mess before the holiday season goes straight to hell and takes everyone along with it.
if you like your christmas with a hearty serving of humor and a side of philosophy, you'll like this one.
A lot of Pratchett's Discworld novels tend to have multiple chaotic plotlines that crash into each other. Sometimes that works well, sometimes it doesn't, and in this case, I would mostly put it into the latter category. I like the character of Susan, I wish it had followed her point of view more, and various shenanigans of the professors at the Unseen University were just tedious. That said, this book had some keen observations about how Western societies celebrate Christmas and what capitalism and commercialization do to cultural or religious observances. It was okay.
(Listened to the audiobook. It may have received a different score if I’d read it.)
