Pyramids

a novel of Discworld Discworld, #7

by Terry Pratchett

Mass Market Paperback, 352 pages

English language

Published July 30, 2001 by HarperTorch.

ISBN:: 978-0-06-102065-0

(153 reviews)

It's bad enough being new on the job, but Teppic hasn't a clue as to what a pharaoh is supposed to do. After all, he's been trained at Ankh-Morpork's famed assassins' school, across the sea from the Kingdom of the Sun.First, there's the monumental task of building a suitable resting place for Dad -- a pyramid to end all pyramids. Then there are the myriad administrative duties, such as dealing with mad priests, sacred crocodiles, and marching mummies. And to top it all off, the adolescent pharaoh discovers deceit, betrayal -- not to mention aheadstrong handmaiden -- at the heart of his realm.

12 editions

Hyperlink Your BOOKS reviewed Pyramids by Terry Pratchett (Discworld -- 7)

Brilliant

5 stars

I have a feeling all my reviews so far have been very focused on when the Discworld series starts feeling "like itself" - capturing the feeling and exploring the themes that I remember it for as a whole from when I read it as a kid.

Well, this one is no different! However, it might be the last one that mentions it, because I think this book is the one that really gets to the theme of progress that runs through almost every memory I have of the series.

Equal Rites tried it, but I felt it pulled its punches. Wyrd Sisters skirted the edges of it with the implication of a renaissance in the arts kicking off in Ankh-Morpork. But in Pyramids we have a story about a man returning to his kingdom which is literally stuck in the past, bringing new ideas, and kicking off events which leave …

jonn reviewed Pyramids by Terry Pratchett (Discworld -- 7)

All the king's camels

5 stars

This book is quite a strange one. It almost apologises for the power for the sake of greatness, talks a lot about the runaway effects and—most importantly—it is the first time Pratchett has played around with the "international" Discworld in earnest. I like that actually this book is very centrist, for he lack of a better word. I also liked the bit from @Didactylos review "narrative oscillates between absurd and deeply disturbing".

There are a couple of deep quotes that makes me appreciate this re-read and suggest that there's probably going to be one more re-read in my life. One about Artela, the late wife (or main concubine?) of the Pharaoh failing to remember not to swim in the river:

He missed Artela. There’d been a terrible row about taking a wife from outside the Kingdom, and some of her foreign ways had puzzled and fascinated even him. Maybe it …

He missed Artela. There’d been a terrible row about taking a wife from outside the Kingdom, and some of her foreign ways had puzzled and fascinated even him. Maybe it was from her he’d got the strange dislike of pyramids; in Djelibeybi that was like disliking breathing. But he’d promised that Pteppic could go to school outside the kingdom. She’d been insistent about that. “People never learn anything in this place,” she’d said. “They only remember things.”

If only she’d remembered about not swimming in the river…

Which, to me is talking about the balance between the creative approach and appreciating the fact that standard approaches are standard for a reason.

And a couple of really punchy ones:

Dil shivered. “That’s no guideline, take it from me. What’s an engineer?”

“Oh, a builder of aqueducts,” said IIb quickly. “They’re the coming thing, you know.”

Dil stood up, a little shakily.

“I,” he said, “need a drink. Let’s find the river.”

And one which isn't too smart, but I missed it on the first read:

“I’m sure you’re capable of doing it yourself. You look like a man who does things himself, if ever I saw one,” she added sourly.

Dreibl00m reviewed Pyramids by Terry Pratchett (Discworld, #7)

One of the best Discworld books

5 stars

I've read about 10 books from the discworld series, and this is one of my favorites so far

Eduardo Santiago reviewed Pyramids by Terry Pratchett

Review of 'Pyramids' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Fun, but fluffy. Not especially memorable or enlightening.

matt reviewed Pyramids by Terry Pratchett (Discworld, #7)

Review of 'Pyramids' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

A strong standalone addition to the series. The ancient Egypt setting works very well, and Teppic is one of the most likable leads this side of Granny Weatherwax. The end was messy, but overall stayed on topic and delivered its message.

The Gnome King reviewed Pyramids by Terry Pratchett (Discworld, #7)

Review of 'Pyramids' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I always find Pratchett's book hard to read and really struggled at times with this one, I think having all new characters didn't help, in his other books having a familiar face is very helpful. In Pyramids Pratchett does write some very clever lines, unfortunately they are not as frequent as in previous books so there were only a few laughs from me this time. I did enjoy a lot of the references to our history, especially the Trojan horse(s) scene, that was one moment of brilliance. The biggest weakness was the development of a number of characters at the assassins academy which were then not used again...still I expect Pratchett re-uses them in future books.

Roight book 7 done, off to see what book 8 is.

Didactylos reviewed Pyramids by Terry Pratchett (Discworld, #7)

Review of 'Pyramids' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Another re-read from many years ago. Some amazing echoes of life today. The narrative oscillates between the absurd and the deeply disturbing. So so clever

Jay Stevens reviewed Pyramids by Terry Pratchett (Discworld, #7)

Review of 'Pyramids' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Entertaining, as always. An interesting take on cultures mirroring Classical Greece and Egypt, with all sorts of history gags such as Greece and what is assumed to be Persia going to war with each side building an army of wooden horses and hiding troops inside of them, each hoping that the enemy will take them into one of their cities while simultaneously talking about how they aren't going to be dumb enough to fall for it.
The take on the different Egyptian gods is also a more subtle joke that requires a little knowledge about the history of Ancient Egypt to get; at a certain point in the book, all the gods of a thousand pharaohs become real, and the joke is how there are so many different gods all assigned to the same task over the years that none of them are quite sure how exactly they're going to go about it. This mirrors how the mythology of the real-life Old and New Kingdoms became unified, making everything a lot more confusing when it came to figuring out which god was in charge of what.
There are also some bits about the stand-in for the Greeks, who have a council made up of stand-ins for people like Aristotle, Socrates, Pythagoras, Sophocles, Plato, et cetera. Naturally, all these people have togas and beards, and naturally, all their discussions turn into massive arguments where nothing gets done. They are ruled by a "Tyrant," who is a democratically elected leader under the principle of one man, one vote: there is one man who elects the leader (the leader), and he casts one vote to elect him for four more years, and it is hailed by all as a great leap forward in democracy (again a dig at Athens' system, which was remarkably similar, although not quite as extreme).