Thief of Time: Difference between revisions

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~~The~~ 26th ''[[Discworld]]'' novel. ~~The~~ fifth in the Death/Susan theme, although it also feels like something of a standalone.

'''''Thief of Time''''' is the 26th ''[[Discworld]]'' novel and the fifth in the Death/Susan theme, although it also feels like something of a standalone.

The Auditors of Reality are at it again. This time, they plot to stop time and therefore all the messiness of life, freezing it perfectly. To do so, they approach a driven, unstable watchmaker called [[Shout-Out|Jeremy Clockson]] - so called because he was a foundling of the Clockmaker's Guild - to build, or rather ''re''build, the Glass Clock of [[A Worldwide Punomenon|Bad Schueschein]]. This Clock, built by a [[Mad Scientist]], previously stopped time briefly [[Time Crash|before breaking and then shattered history]], causing the History Monks to have to put it back together imperfectly (and incidentally [[A Wizard Did It|explaining all the Discworld series' continuity errors]]). Its existence survives only in a fairytale and the memory of an [[The Igor|Igor]], the grandson of the one who helped build the Clock. In order to interact with Jeremy, an Auditor makes a human body and inhabits it under the alias Lady [[Meaningful Name|Myria Lejean]], but in the process finds herself losing her former nature and becoming addicted to life.

Meanwhile, another foundling called Lobsang Ludd has been taken away by the History Monks and is taught their disciplines - chiefly chronological kung fu. A difficult but know-it-all student, he is apprenticed to Lu-Tze (from ''[[~~Discworld/Small Gods|~~Small Gods]]''), spoken of with fear yet claiming to be only a simple sweeper, and thus outside the system. Via their Mandala, the monks learn of the attempt to reconstruct the Glass Clock, and know that this time there's no hope of repairing history if it strikes. Merely a birth pang of the coming doom causes the room of Procrastinators (time manipulating machines) to go haywire, yet Lobsang somehow instinctively calms them. Lu-Tze, who failed to stop the first clock, is put on the case by the Abbot, a serial reincarnator currently in the body of a baby. He and Lobsang journey down towards Ankh-Morpork...

Meanwhile, another foundling called Lobsang Ludd has been taken away by the History Monks and is taught their disciplines - chiefly chronological kung fu. A difficult but know-it-all student, he is apprenticed to Lu-Tze (from ''[[Small Gods]]''), spoken of with fear yet claiming to be only a simple sweeper, and thus outside the system. Via their Mandala, the monks learn of the attempt to reconstruct the Glass Clock, and know that this time there's no hope of repairing history if it strikes. Merely a birth pang of the coming doom causes the room of Procrastinators (time manipulating machines) to go haywire, yet Lobsang somehow instinctively calms them. Lu-Tze, who failed to stop the first clock, is put on the case by the Abbot, a serial reincarnator currently in the body of a baby. He and Lobsang journey down towards Ankh-Morpork...

{{tropelist~~|page={{SUBPAGENAME}}~~}}

* [[Against My Religion]]: Used by an (unusually creative) Auditor to explain his irrational behavior while disguised as a human.

* [[Almighty Janitor]]. Lu-Tze, and ''how''.

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* [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]]: Soto - one of the best field agents the Monks of Time have - refuses to cut his hair, as he believes it to be a separate entity that simply happens to live on his head.

** Turns into a [[Brick Joke]] near the end of the story, {{spoiler|when the last surviving Auditors attempt to kill him, but instead wound his hair, which actually ''is'' a separate creature.}} This turns out to be a mistake on their part.

* [[Call Back]]: Susan asks if Lobsang has "rhythm in his soul", a reference to ''[[~~Discworld/~~Soul Music|Soul Music]]''.

* [[Call Back]]: Susan asks if Lobsang has "rhythm in his soul", a reference to ''[[Soul Music (novel)|Soul Music]]''.

* [[Color-Coded Timestop]]: Not only the passages in which time is sliced are described as having weird colours, Lobsang eventually confirms that there are scrolls explaining how the world changes its colours as time is sliced.

** [[Fridge Brilliance]]: The colours correspond to the [[Real Life]] [[wikipedia:Relativistic Doppler effect|Doppler effect]].

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*** Refer also to [[Michael Moorcock]]. In his scifi novel ''The Final Countdown'', time-travelling hero ''Jerry Cornelius'' - another J.C. - is duped by his adversary Miss ''Brunner'' into helping devise a supercomputer that puts a stop to human history - end effectively to the pasage of time...

* [[Contest Winner Cameo]]: Marco Soto

* [[Continuity Nod]] and [[Fandom Nod]]: In reference to the [[Continuity Snarl]] mentioned below, Lu-Tze points out several issues that fans have pointed out over the years about ''Discworld'' continuity as examples of problems caused by the new patchwork history. For example, there's the opera house/theatre business and the fact that Ephebe's philosophers are so long-lived (they appear both in ''[[~~Discworld/Pyramids|~~Pyramids]]'' and ''[[~~Discworld/Small Gods|~~Small Gods]]'', set about a century earlier).

* [[Continuity Nod]] and [[Fandom Nod]]: In reference to the [[Continuity Snarl]] mentioned below, Lu-Tze points out several issues that fans have pointed out over the years about ''Discworld'' continuity as examples of problems caused by the new patchwork history. For example, there's the opera house/theatre business and the fact that Ephebe's philosophers are so long-lived (they appear both in ''[[Pyramids]]'' and ''[[Small Gods]]'', set about a century earlier).

* [[Continuity Snarl]]: In-universe example, this is what happened to Discworld history after the first Glass Clock struck and the History Monks were unable to completely repair it. There's even a [[Shout-Out]] to specific continuity errors fans have previously pointed out, such as some characters crossing over between ''[[~~Discworld/Pyramids|~~Pyramids]]'' and ''[[~~Discworld/Small Gods|~~Small Gods]]'' despite the books taking place decades apart ([[Epileptic Trees|... probably]]) and the setting up of a Shakespearean-style theatre being new and radical in ''[[~~Discworld/Wyrd Sisters|~~Wyrd Sisters]]'' when it turns out that the city has had a Victorian-style opera house for many years in ''[[~~Discworld/Maskerade|~~Maskerade]]''.

* [[Continuity Snarl]]: In-universe example, this is what happened to Discworld history after the first Glass Clock struck and the History Monks were unable to completely repair it. There's even a [[Shout-Out]] to specific continuity errors fans have previously pointed out, such as some characters crossing over between ''[[Pyramids]]'' and ''[[Small Gods]]'' despite the books taking place decades apart ([[Epileptic Trees|... probably]]) and the setting up of a Shakespearean-style theatre being new and radical in ''[[Wyrd Sisters]]'' when it turns out that the city has had a Victorian-style opera house for many years in ''[[Maskerade]]''.

* [[Cosmic Retcon]]: The aforementioned [[Continuity Snarl]] is used to [[Hand Wave]] plot holes and [[Schizo-Tech]] in the rest of the series.

* [[Crystal Dragon Jesus]]: Readers with an eastern philosophy bent will quickly notice that "Order of Wen the Eternally Surprised"—a.k.a. the History Monks—is Buddhism with a dash of Taoism thrown in for taste. Wen is even the name of the mythological author of the I Ching, an important Taoist/Buddhist book. (In this case, Wen falling in love with {{spoiler|Time}} is probably a subtle pun.)

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* [[Everything's Better with Chocolate]]: After {{spoiler|killing many of the Auditors}} with chocolate, Lady Lejean {{spoiler|drowns herself in chocolate.}}

** Also works as a [[Stealth Pun]] {{spoiler|"Death By Chocolate" is the name of an actual dish.}}

** {{spoiler|Killing the Auditors also works as a [[Shout-Out]]: [[~~Discworld/~~Soul Music|an earlier book]] had noted that Susan's mother's favorite dish was Genocide By Chocolate.}}

** {{spoiler|Killing the Auditors also works as a [[Shout-Out]]: [[Soul Music (novel)|an earlier book]] had noted that Susan's mother's favorite dish was Genocide By Chocolate.}}

** Both women are shocked that Lu Tze can just have one and lose interest.

* [[Fantastic Time Management]]: The title character can make time flow faster or slower for himself relative to the world around him. He regularly uses this ability for mundane everyday schedule management.

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* [[Theme Naming]]: The Auditors with colours, so much so that they run out of colours and start calling themselves Mr. Taupe, for example.

* [[Tuckerization]]: While the book was being written, a chance to appear in the book as a character was offered as a prize in a charity auction. The winner, Marcus Soto, appears as a history monk (the one with the Hair).

* [[Unusual Euphemism]]: One of the Auditors starts spouting absolutely [[~~Discworld/~~The Truth|---ing]] '' {{spoiler|organ}}ic'' modifiers and interjections after discovering how unpleasant it is to have a body and failing to express her frustration through normal human expletives.

* [[Unusual Euphemism]]: One of the Auditors starts spouting absolutely [[The Truth|---ing]] '' {{spoiler|organ}}ic'' modifiers and interjections after discovering how unpleasant it is to have a body and failing to express her frustration through normal human expletives.

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: {{spoiler|1=Susan, Lobsang and LeJean using ''chocolate'' as ammunition. Justified, sort of, as the Auditors die of over-stimulation from taste.}}

* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]? The Angel of the Iron Book seemed pretty indignant, then vanished.

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[[Category:Literature of the 2000s]]

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[[Category:Literature of the 2000s]]