Teppic, the crown prince of Djelibeybi, trains at the Ankh-Morpork Assassins' Guild before returning home to succeed his father as Pharaoh. His kingdom is a narrow, tradition-bound land where massive stone pyramids function as temporal batteries that stabilize the flow of time. When the construction of an unprecedentedly large pyramid causes a dimensional collapse, the nation physically rotates ninety degrees out of the Diskworld’s alignment. Teppic must navigate ancestral ghosts, personified mathematical constants, and a literal war between gods to prevent his country’s permanent disappearance.
Fans of satirical fantasy read this book for its interrogation of how dogmatic tradition and religious bureaucracy paralyze social progress. Readers find a cynical deconstruction of ancient myths and a logical look at the architectural consequences of belief. The narrative provides a specific contrast between modern education and ancient expectations. One walks away with a perspective on how the weight of history can literally crush the living, expressed through the lens of Euclidean geometry and the practical difficulties of ruling a kingdom of the dead.
Escapist; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Escapist Adventurer. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1989
- Language
- EN
