Soul Music
November 23, 2006
"Soul Music" by Terry Pratchett
HarperTorch 1995 paperback edition
For an extended period in the late 1980s and for most of the 1990s, Terry Pratchett's Discworld books became very topical, each book focused on a specific concept that it would mine for its satire. Hollywood, Christmas, Australia, journalism, etc. It would come off as a predictable formula in the hands of a less talented writer, but Pratchett has imagination to spare and a seemingly preternatural grasp of how to make the English language funny, so it worked even when his topic of choice seemed limited. While he's moved away from the strict topicality recently, these books have some of his most pointed satire. "Soul Music" is his "rock 'n' roll" novel, a broad take on popular music that tells the tale of a young musician who accidentally brings rock to Discworld, with the usual dire consequences. It's one of the weaker novels in the series, saved only by the fact that Pratchett seems biologically incapable of being less than funny. But often the plot is sacrificed in favor of the jokes, something which can get tedious very quickly. That there is an extended subplot about the Grim Reaper tiring of his job and trying to fit in with humanity (a plot device Pratchett has worn thin in previous Death stories) doesn't help much. While enjoyable, it's mostly a stopgap between better entries.
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