Pyramids: Difference between revisions

Teppic has just graduated from the Guild of Assassins' School, the finest educational establishment on the Disc, when he learns that his father has died and he is now King of Djelibeybi, a tiny backwards state (heavily based on [[Ancient Egypt]]) which has long since sold its empire to pay for more pyramids to bury its dead kings in. At first enamoured with the idea of being the king, Teppic soon discovers that it's not quite what it's hyped up to be. A country thousands of years old shows remarkable resistance to change (or plumbing), and Teppic soon begins to yearn for what he left behind. With the help of a surprisingly sharp handmaiden named Ptraci and a camel named You Bastard who is not all he seems, Teppic [[Arc Words|goes forth]] with the attempt to escape his own kingdom from the clutches of the domineering High Priest Dios.

 

 

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* [[Anti-Villain]]: Dios.

* [[BFG]]: Obliquely referenced, as Teppic learned to use a "puntbow" from the ibis poacher whom his father absent-mindedly appointed as a tutor. Punt guns actually existed, and were used for the same purpose of killing waterfowl en masse.

* [[Brother-Sister Incest]]: A (chaste) kiss. And this being a version of [[Ancient Egypt]], the only one who has a problem with the idea is Teppic himself. Although, it was hinted that the mother was just as ''confused'' as her daughter and that Teppic and Ptraci weren't that closely related.

* [[Creature of Habit]]: Dios, literally.

* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: The Assassin's Guild school's final exam resembles the UK driving license test.

* [[Doublethink]]: The religious beliefs of the Djelibeybians are obviously contradictory, with multiple "supreme" gods ruling the other gods. Dios believes in all of them {{spoiler|even though he invented most of them himself}}.

* [[Endless Daytime]]: Thanks to Djelibeybi's many sun gods fighting over control of the sun.

* [[Evil Chancellor]]: Dios is more of an evil priest than an evil chancellor, but the trope is referenced in describing him. "It is a fact as immutable as the Third Law of Sod that there is no such thing as a good [[Grand Vizier]]. A predilection to cackle and plot is apparently part of the job spec. High Priests are the same way. No sooner than they're given the funny hats, they start getting ideas about throwing virgins into volcanoes."

** Depending on perspective, this happens to Dios as well.

* [[Fertile Feet]]: Although it was a later book that was the [[Trope Namer]].

** And [[Fridge Brilliance]] for those that realised that when he imagines the hieroglyphs for 'feather mattress' it's a hippo's bottom, a reference to a long-running series of bed adverts in the UK starring a hippo and canary.

** Of course the literal translation of 'Djelibeybi' is child of the Djel. Djeli-baby...

*** In a Usenet posting, Terry Pratchett realized that this sailed right over the heads of most American readers, as Jelly Babies are not generally sold there. One of the alternative jokes he suggested, Hersheba, later became an actual country in Discworld.

* [[Grapes of Luxury]]: Partially subverted. Teppic doesn't really approve of the practice, and even asks that the servants not peel the grapes because most of the vitamins are found in the skins.

** Quite a lot of elements in this novel are ''[[Gormenghast]]'' references, particularly Teppic's parents and how Dios's endlessly-repeated daily activities have worn depressions in stone, he's retraced his daily path so perfectly so many times.

** The relationship between Dios and Teppic is a shout-out to the British comedy of government, ''[[Yes Minister]]'', with Dios playing the [[The Humphrey|Sir Humphrey Appleby]] role of senior civil servant effortlessly running rings round an enthusiastic but clueless Minister. Dios even ''says'' "I am but a humble servant..."

* [[Stable Time Loop]]: {{spoiler|Dios definitely, to the point he may exist purely because of the loop, not even having been born but just existed. Also the Djel itself. In Teppic's [[Dream Sequence]] Khuft said the river appeared from nowhere...}}

* [[Stepping Stone Sword]]: Teppic uses knives this way, and notes that it's [[Awesome but Impractical]] as you eventually run out of knives, and it can ruin their cutting edges.

* [[Time Abyss]]: {{spoiler|Dios. 7,000 years old at the beginning of the novel... and at the end of the book he [[Stable Time Loop|is looped back to the beginning of the kingdom.]]}}

* [[Trojan Horse]]: The original is parodied - both Ephebe and Tsort's armies have read their history and nowadays fight battles just by building a dozen wooden horses, placing them on opposite sides of the battlefield, and waiting for the enemy to blink first and grab one.