The Last Hero (Discworld 27), by Terry Pratchett

The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another masterpiece by Terry Pratchett! Ok, maybe not “masterpiece”, but a really, really fun book! The Last Hero is a great adventure taking place in the Discworld, with the titular “last hero” (Cohen the Barbarian) climbing Cori Celesti, the “Olympus” of the Discworld, to return that which the first hero stole - fire, and lots of it!

The book is a unique blend of fantasy, sic-fi, and satire. This time Terry Pratchett has some of our favorite heroes, the wizard Rincewind, Captain Carrot, and a surprise stowaway (among others) become astronauts! In order to save the world, they have to race to the top of the Cori Celesti, before Cohen and his Silver Horde reach it, and the fastest way there is going around the world, flying in a in a dragon-powered-spaceship after it has dropped off the edge of the ocean - remember, this is literally a *disc* world, it’s flat and the ocean just falls off the edges!

The book is structures so that the two narratives intertwined, and each has its own separate sets of characters and separate themes. While the narrative of Carrot and Rincewind focus on engineering and science (mixed with magic), and the adventurous spirit of explorers and astronauts, the narrative of Cohen focus on themes of old age, of what it means to be a hero, and pokes fun at staples fantasy novels. I think one of the readings of the story is that although we don’t have heroes like in the ancient mythologies (like Hercules or Beowulf), we have heroes like the watchmen (police) that put their lives on the line for the safety of citizens with no rewards, or explorers (astronauts) that fling themselves into the unknown.

When I picked it up, I was a little surprise with how short it was, but in the end it felt just right. Although the story is fas-paced, it does not feel rushed. It’s full of wit and fun, and with an excellent ending (which turns out to be yet another satire, this time of cliffhangers and ambiguous endings).

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