Amazon.co.uk:
Which
aspect
of
The
Fifth
Elephant
are
you
most
pleased
with?
Terry Pratchett:
There's
always
an
element
of
surprise
for
the
author
when
a
complex
character
moves
through
the
plot.
I
liked
the
way
Vimes
reacted
to
Uberwald
and
the
way
he's
desperate
to
work
within
the
framework
of
the
law
because
he's
so
afraid
of
what
he
might
do
if
he
didn't.
I
like
Sam
Vimes.
He
knows
that
whatever
he
does,
the
lords,
kings
and
politicians
will
run
the
show,
yet
he
plods
on
nevertheless.
But
in
truth
I
enjoyed
writing
the
Igors.
Amazon.co.uk:
Are
you
consciously
exploring
Discworld
race/species
relations
in
increasing
depth,
or
did
it
just
work
out
that
way
in
the
writing?
Pratchett:
It
has
just
been
a
case
of
sitting
back
and
thinking
about
what
I'd
already
written.
You
know
...
we
have
this,
and
this,
so
what
follows?
Amazon.co.uk:
So
although
vampires
have
had
a
bad
press
in
the
series,
Vimes
finally
meets
one
he
can
grudgingly
respect
(and
she's
on
the
wagon
like
him).
Werewolves
have
had
it
good
because
they've
been
represented
by
the
lovely
Angua,
and
now
The
Fifth
Elephant
shows
the
dark
side.
It's
also
interesting
that
what
surely
began
as
a
throwaway
line
about
the
difficulty
of
telling
dwarves'
sexes
has
built
into
a
key
factor
in
their
society.
Pratchett:
It's
really
been
a
case
of
applying
to
the
other
races
the
same
rules
I'd
apply
to
humans;
it's
dumb
to
think
in
terms
of
"good
races"
and
"bad
races",
and
nail
characteristics
to
them
without
considering
how
these
would
work
in
a
society.
All
races
are
"complex".
Amazon.co.uk:
Would
you
say
that
Tolkien,
for
all
his
virtues,
has
done
a
bit
of
a
bad
thing
here--imprinting
fantasy
with
this
default
assumption
of
whole
races
of
genetically
programmed
bad
guys,
like
the
orcs?
Pratchett:
Hmm.
Does
it
start
with
Tolkien?
All
he
was
doing
was
echoing
a
very
definite
human
trait:
classify
them
as
orcs
(or
gooks,
slants,
towelheads
or
whatever)
and
you
can
kill
'em
easier,
'cos
they
ain't
human
...
But
he
certainly
impressed
on
the
public
consciousness,
against
the
run
of
history,
the
idea
of
elves
as
Good
Guys.
Amazon.co.uk:
A
notion
that
was
given
a
trouncing
in
your
novel
Lords
and
Ladies.
Do
you
plan
further
rethinking
of
unloved
Discworld
minorities
like
the
vampires?
Pratchett:
In
the
next
book,
currently
known
as
The
Truth
,
I
pick
up
one
of
the
ideas
expressed
in
The
Fifth
Elephant
:
that
vampires
who
successfully
go
"on
the
wagon",
and
therefore
free
up
a
lot
of
intellect
which
up
until
then
has
been
concentrating
on
getting
the
next
meal,
might
be
quite
formidable
creatures.
But
somewhat
obsessive
about
whatever
they
do
...
Amazon.co.uk:
10
years
or
so
ago,
I
seem
to
remember
you
muttering
that
you
might
soon
move
on
from
Discworld.
Obviously
you're
still
finding
it
fruitful!
Was
it
a
matter
of
getting
your
second
wind
or
of
consciously
deciding
to
take
more
risks
and
push
at
the
boundaries
or
...?
Pratchett:
The
second.
And
finding
whole
novels
in
throwaway
lines.
Take
Uberwald--a
huge
empire
has
crumbled,
a
lot
of
political
certainties
have
gone,
there
are
new
alliances
...
there
are
a
lot
of
resonances
there
which
I
didn't
realise
existed
when
I
put
it
on
the
Discworld
map.
While
I
hope
to
do
a
non-Discworld
fantasy
in
the
near
future,
I
know
there
are
more
Disc
novels,
several
of
them
with
(mostly)
an
entirely
new
cast.
In
The
Truth
,
for
example,
the
main
characters
are
all
new
and
the
City
Watch
are
all
background
characters.
This
makes
it
fun,
I
think,
for
old
readers--we
know
how
Vimes
and
Co.
think,
so
seeing
them
from
someone
else's
perspective
gives
a
fresh
twist.
Amazon.co.uk:
So
there's
no
end
in
sight?
Pratchett:
You
know
I've
said
I'll
never
knowingly
write
the
last
Discworld
novel.
But
it
has
to
evolve
to
keep
going.
If
I'd
written
25
versions
of
The
Light
Fantastic by
now,
I'd
be
ready
to
slit
my
wrists.
Amazon.co.uk:
But
some
fantasy
authors,
whom
we'd
better
not
name,
have
done
more
or
less
exactly
that.
What
would
have
really
happened
to
you,
I
wonder,
along
that
leg
of
the
Trousers
of
Time?
Pratchett:
Hmm.
Interesting.
Maybe
I'd
have
sold
a
few
more
books,
been
considered
a
moderately-successful
author,
kept
the
day
job
and
by
now
would
have
had
early
retirement
from
National
Power.
Or
something
even
more
weird
may
have
happened.
Amazon.co.uk:
Can
you
tell
me
anything
more
about
that
next
book
you
mentioned?
Pratchett:
So
far
it's
at
charcoal-sketch
level.
But,
in
short,
The
Truth
deals
with
the
opening
of
Ankh-Morpork's
first
newspaper,
whose
reluctant
editor
has
almost
immediately
to
become
an
investigative
journalist
(and
what
is
the
truth?
Will
you
know
it
when
you
see
it?
And
what
if
it's
the
wrong
kind
of
truth?).
There
are
no
"printers'
devil"
gags,
but
I'm
rather
pleased
with
King
of
the
Golden
River;
people
will
have
to
read
the
book
to
find
out
what
he
does
for
a
living.
Amazon.co.uk:
Was
it
difficult
to
shed
all
the
much-repeated
stuff
about
Discworld
wizards'
implacable
opposition
to
movable
type?
Pratchett:
Not
when
Arch-chancellor
Ridcully
realises
how
much
the
engravers
charge.
As
Vetinari
says,
history
doesn't
flow,
it
jerks
forward
(I
quite
like
his
vague
strivings
towards
a
New
World
Order).
He
gets
the
priesthood
on
his
side,
too,
by
pointing
out
how
much
Good
News
is
being
turned
out
by
the
presses
of
Omnia.
Amazon.co.uk:
Coming
back
to
The
Fifth
Elephant
,
I
enjoyed
the
impossible-crime
mystery
thread.
Were
you
consciously
nodding
to
Poe,
John
Dickson
Carr,
the
whole
detective
tradition?
Presumably
there
are
nostalgic
influences
back
there.
Pratchett:
Only
insofar
as
it's
in
the
very
air
we
read.
What
I
wanted
to
do
was
get
Vimes
involved
in
what
is
ultimately
a
political
crime,
where
he's
out
of
his
depth
(until,
in
his
head,
he
can
turn
it
back
into
the
kind
of
crime
he
can
deal
with).
I
liked
the
idea
of
a
locked
room
mystery
where
they
left
the
door
unlocked.
Amazon.co.uk:
Yes,
Vimes
spends
a
lot
of
time
out
of
his
depth
and
being
relentlessly
chased
by
werewolves.
That
chase
sequence
is
nicely
broken
by
a
farcical
Russian-drama
interlude--but
how
many
of
your
fans
will
get
all
the
"Cherry
Orchard"
and
"Uncle
Vanya"
allusions?
Does
it
matter?
Pratchett:
No.
Probably
a
lot
of
younger
readers
won't
spot
them,
but
so
what?
It's
still
funny,
I
hope;
it's
just
that
there's
two
levels.
You
can't
write
a
series
like
this
with
the
idea
that
every
single
reference
must
be
caught
by
everyone,
you
just
try
to
give
people
a
sporting
chance.
I'd
bet,
incidentally,
that
far
more
people
have
acquired
a
vague
shorthand
idea
about
Russian
drama
("gloomy
people
in
big
houses
going
on
about
how
much
better
things
used
to
be")
than
have
ever
sat
through
a
Chekhov
play.
Amazon.co.uk:
You've
said
in
the
past
that
the
fans
always
ask
for
more
appearances
of
the
wizardly
supercoward
Rincewind--has
he
now
been
retired?
Bearing
in
mind
the
extremes
to
which
you
keep
pushing
Vimes
and
Granny
Weatherwax,
do
you
think
you'll
ever
take
the
big
step
of
killing
off
these
or
other
long-running
characters?
Pratchett:
In
the
next
couple
of
years
a
major
character
(that
is
to
say,
"has
featured
in
the
forefront
of
at
least
one
novel")
will
die.
I
know
this,
because
I've
written
it.
But
wait,
't'will
not
be
what
you
expect.
Rincewind
will
probably
be
back,
alas
...
it's
hard
to
make
him
more
than
two-dimensional,
though.
I
have
not
given
a
lot
of
thought
to
killing
off
the
seriously
big
characters,
and
it's
quite
hard
to
see
how
you
could
kill
Granny.
But
I
can
see
them
gently
retiring.
Amazon.co.uk:
Why
"alas"
to
the
thought
of
Rincewind's
return?
You're
the
master
of
Discworld,
after
all.
Will
the
fans
send
you
dead
rats
if
you
fail
to
give
Rincewind
another
outing?
Pratchett:
No,
I
quite
like
him,
and
he's
useful,
but
it's
hard
to
do
a
lot
with
him.
He's
basically
an
observer.
He's
shallow
all
the
way
to
the
bottom.
He
makes
a
useful
appearance
in
The
Last
Hero
,
which
will
be
a
book
mightily
illustrated
by
Paul
Kidby--I
mean
seriously
illustrated,
the
art
taking
as
much
or
more
room
as
the
text.
I've
written
the
story,
and
the
artwork
I've
already
seen
is
very,
very
good.
Amazon.co.uk:
In
your
own
view
of
Discworld
cosmology,
was
there
"really"
a
Fifth
Elephant
whose
mighty
fall
from
the
sky
caused
the
coveted
Uberwald
fat
deposits,
or
do
you
have
some
other
private
theory
of
their
formation?
Pratchett:
All
tribal
myths
are
true,
for
a
certain
value
of
"truth".
Amazon.co.uk:
Do
you
still
manage
to
deal
with
all
your
fan
mail?
Pratchett:
Ahahaha.
Yes.
It's
noticeable
that
the
fan
mail
has
levelled
out
now
and
the
fan
e-mail
has
increased.
Sign
of
the
times,
I
suppose.
Amazon.co.uk:
Have
you
any
favourite
anecdotes
from
your
trip
to
Australia
for
the
World
SF
Convention
in
September?
Pratchett:
It
turned
out
that
the
parents
of
one
of
the
guides
at
a
rainforest
lodge
in
Far
North
Queensland
were
fans,
and
they
invited
us
to
visit
(which
meant
walking
along
the
beach
at
low
tide
and
keeping
a
look
out
for
crocs
because
they
live
in
a
little
valley
otherwise
accessible
only
by
boat
or
a
long,
long
slog
through
the
forest).
Imagine
a
garden
containing
every
tropical
fruit
you
can
think
of
and
some
you
can't,
a
waterfall
cascading
into
a
turtle-haunted
pool
behind
the
house
and
a
house
full
of
books.
We
drank
passion-fruit
wine
and
ate
custard
apples
and
came
back
by
boat
on
a
glassy
sea
while
the
stars
were
coming
out.
You
couldn't
buy
it
for
quids.
Amazon.co.uk:
Many
thanks,
Terry
...
and
I
hope
you
survive
the
marathon
Fifth
Elephant
autograph
sessions
without
too
many
bruises.
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