Interesting Times – Josh Kirby Paperback – Letterbox Edition

Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett – Penguin Letterbox Edition (Josh Kirby cover)

There is a curse. They say: may you live in interesting times.

On the Disc that is not a toast. It is a threat. Rincewind the Wizzard has already used up his lifetime ration of excitement. He would like a quiet cupboard, a potato and no horde of anything. Then an albatross arrives from the Agatean Empire on the Counterweight Continent. They have asked for a Great Wizzard. The wizards of Unseen University look around the faculty, look at Rincewind, and decide that “great” is a flexible spelling.

The oldest empire on the Disc is wobbling. A tract called What I Did on My Holidays has given the peasants ideas. Warlords are counting armies. The Red Army is not quite what the name suggests. Cohen the Barbarian, five foot of surgical sandal and undefeated career, has brought the Silver Horde to do one last impossible job. Lord Hong has plans that involve chess, cruelty and other people’s destinies. Somewhere in the mix is Twoflower, a very special butterfly, and the Luggage, which does not need a visa.

First published in 1994, Interesting Times is Discworld novel 17 and the next full outing for Rincewind after Eric. It is Pratchett on empire, revolution and the hero who survives by running in a straight line through other people’s epics. You can start here if you already like cowardice as a martial art. It sings louder if you have met the Luggage before.

This new Letterbox paperback from Penguin carries Josh Kirby’s original cover art. Kirby’s Agatea: banners, blades, and one wizard who did not ask to be in the painting.

• Discworld novel 17
• Wizards / Rincewind sequence
• Publisher: Penguin
• Cover artist: Josh Kirby
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 432
• Size: approx. 198 mm × 128 mm × 26 mm