The Fifth Elephant
 |
|
| Author | Terry Pratchett |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series |
Discworld 24th novel – 5th City Watch story |
| Subject |
Diplomacy, Conspiracies, Vampires, Werewolves, Ship of Theseus
|
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
|
Publication date
|
1999 |
| Awards | Came 153rd in the Big Read. |
| ISBN | |
Diplomacy, Conspiracies, Vampires, Werewolves, Ship of Theseus
The Fifth Elephant is the 24th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. It introduces the clacks, a long-distance semaphore system. The novel was nominated for the Locus Award in 2000.
The Ankh-Morpork City Watch is expanding; there is now a Traffic department with traffic cameras implemented using iconograph technology and a wheel clamping team, and the clacks are beginning to replace homing pigeons for communications between officers. The Watch is also investigating the theft of the replica Scone of Stone (a parody of the real-life Stone of Scone) from the Ankh-Morpork Dwarf Bread Museum. (The Scone of Stone in the novel is kept under close guard in a dwarf mine in Überwald, and will form a vital part of the forthcoming coronation ceremony of the dwarfs' new Low King.)
Samuel Vimes, Commander of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch and Duke of Ankh, is sent to the remote region of Überwald as an ambassador to take advantage of the coronation to negotiate with the new Low King on increased imports of fat. (Underground fat deposits are abundant in Überwald as a fifth discworld-supporting elephant impacted there in prehistoric times, according to legend.)
Überwald is also the traditional home of the Disc's dwarfs who are about to enthrone a new Low King. A cabal of local werewolves seek to exploit this opportunity to destabilize the already deeply divided dwarf society. They instigate the apparent theft of the real Scone of Stone from its closely guarded cave, hoping to cause a civil war between traditionalists and progressive dwarfs and isolate the country under the werewolves' feudal leadership.
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