I do love it when Terry Pratchett gets it right, and with Soul Music he definitely strikes the right chord. With this book, the third in the Discworld "Death" series, we find Susan - an odd girl who doesn't really engage with her classmates or teachers, and has the unusual ability to make people not see her when she wants to. Susan is the "grand-daughter" of Death - he of the long black shroud and scythe. But, she doesn't know this until he turns his back on his duties and sets out to "try and forget" - and suddenly, Susan finds that she has, somehow, taken on his role for the Discworld. Despite people mistaking her for the Tooth Fairy, she gets to work, and soon realises that she can save people from their fate - people she doesn't think deserve to die at that exact time. One of these is a musician, who comes across a strange guitar that kind of possesses him. This guitar pretty much plays itself - and boy, how it plays. There unfolds a skit on the story of rock and roll and how it influenced an unsuspecting public as well as other musicians - let alone the managers who then proceed to make a whole lot of money out of the venture at the expense of the talent! There are some really clever moments and the story is jam-packed with humour. One of the lines that made me laugh out loud is to do with the standard counting in of a song, which, at one point, is performed by the troll member of the band - and due to his limited numbering system, the count goes "One, two, many, lots." Will Susan realise that she should not interfere with the destiny of the individual, even though it may not seem "fair"? And will Death pull himself together and get back to work? This book is well worth the few hours it takes to read - full of wit and wisdom and lots of rock and roll references (all with the Discworld spin of course). Enjoy!
My STAR rating: FOUR.
Length: 378 print pages.
Price I paid: £1.99.
Formats available: print; abridged audio CD; unabridged audio download; ebook.
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