Thief of Time

Thief of Time

infobox Discworld|id=26th novel – 5th Death story
characters=Susan, Lu-Tze, Jeremy Clockson, Lobsang Ludd
locations=Ankh-Morpork, Ramtops
motifs=Wuxia and Martial arts films, Apocalypse, Momo, Matrix
year=2001
publisher=Doubleday
ISBNH=ISBN 0-385-60102-6
ISBNP=ISBN 0-552-14840-7
awards=
notes=Came 152nd in the Big Read.

"Thief of Time" is the 26th "Discworld" novel written by Terry Pratchett. The title comes from the traditional saying "Procrastination is the thief of time."

Plot summary

The Auditors convince a young clock maker, Jeremy Clockson, in Ankh-Morpork to build a perfect glass clock. They do not reveal that this will imprison Time (the anthropomorphic personification) and thereby freeze time (the physical quantity) on the Discworld. By freezing time, the Auditors intend to eliminate the unpredictability that humans cause through their everyday actions. Death discovers their plans, but is unable to act directly because of previous agreements with the Auditors. Death sends his granddaughter Susan to stop them.

Meanwhile, in a distant valley, a young apprentice of the History Monks, Lobsang Ludd, and his old teacher, Lu-Tze, called 'The Sweeper', hear that a glass clock is being built. Lu-Tze knows of such a clock's side-effects, since he was sent, but failed, to prevent a previous clock from being built. He and Lobsang head for Ankh-Morpork to stop Jeremy from building it.

The Auditors were using one of their own as an agent when contacting Jeremy. Myria LeJean took a human form and became quite disturbed by "her" experiences as "she" became more human and individual, as opposed to the collective Auditors. As she begins to understand more about humans, she opposes the activation of the clock and she eventually joins with Lobsang and Susan to defeat the other Auditors who have also made themselves human.

Notable aspects

*"Thief of Time" features the neologism 'substition' (first used by Pratchett in "Jingo"), a term denoting the opposite of superstition.

'No, they're a 'substition', said Susan. 'I mean they're real, but hardly anyone really believes in them. Mostly everyone believes in things that aren't real.'

*A number of the oddities noted by Susan as evidence that the timeline was fractured had previously been commented on by fans. These include the variable dating of Koom Valley; the fact that an Elizabethan theatre was "a new "type" of building" in "Wyrd Sisters", but there was a venerable Victorian Opera House by "Maskerade" and the uncertainty as to the setting of "Small Gods".

Translations

*"Крадец на време" (Bulgarian)
*"Zloděj času" (Czech)
*"De dief van tijd" (Dutch) The Thief of Time
*"Ajavaras" (Estonian) The Timethief
*"Procrastination" (French) see Procrastination, the meaning is the same in French and English
*"Der Zeitdieb" (German) The Timethief
*"Lleidr Amser" (Welsh)
*"Вор времени" (Russian)
*"Złodziej czasu" (Polish)

External links

* [http://www.lspace.org/books/apf/thief-of-time.html Annotations for Thief of Time]
* [http://www.lspace.org/books/pqf/thief-of-time.html Quotes from Thief of Time]

! colspan="3" | Reading order guide
###@@@KEYEND@@@###


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Thief of Time — Ladrón del Tiempo Autor Terry Pratchett Género Fantástico, épico Idioma Lengua inglesa …   Wikipedia Español

  • procrastination is the thief of time — 1742 E. YOUNG Night Thoughts I. 18 Procrastination is the Thief of Time; Year after year it steals, till all are fled. 1850 DICKENS David Copperfield xii. Never do to morrow what you can do to day. Procrastination is the thief of time. 1935 O.… …   Proverbs new dictionary

  • A Thief of Time — is the eighth novel by author Tony Hillerman.The plot involves the Anasazi, a missing archeologist, a stolen backhoe, and people who are termed pot hunters .Characters include Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee.In 2004 it was adapted into a TV film. It… …   Wikipedia

  • Time travel in fiction — Time travel is a common theme in science fiction and is depicted in a variety of media. Literature Time travel can form the central theme of a book, or it can be simply a plot device. Time travel in fiction can ignore the possible effects of the… …   Wikipedia

  • thief — see set a thief to catch a thief hang a thief when he’s young, and he’ll no’ steal when he’s old there is honour among thieves the more laws, the more thieves and bandits little thieves are hanged, but great ones escape …   Proverbs new dictionary

  • thief — 01. A [thief] broke into the museum, and stole a painting worth almost one million dollars. 02. Two young high school students have been arrested for car [theft] after being found in possession of a stolen mini van. 03. You have to be careful of… …   Grammatical examples in English

  • time — see there is a time and place for everything time and tide wait for no man time flies there is a time for everything time is a great healer time is money man fears …   Proverbs new dictionary

  • Thief: Deadly Shadows — Developer(s) Ion Storm Inc. Publisher(s) …   Wikipedia

  • Thief — ist eine Computerspielreihe, die das Genre der Schleich Shooter, einer Untergruppe der Ego Shooter, begründet hat. Die Serie besteht insgesamt aus drei Teilen: Thief: The Dark Project (1998), Thief II: The Metal Age (2000) und Thief: Deadly… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Thief: Deadly Shadows — Thief ist eine Computerspielreihe, die das Genre der Schleich Shooter, einer Untergruppe der Ego Shooter, begründet hat. Die Serie besteht insgesamt aus drei Teilen: Thief: The Dark Project (1998), Thief II: The Metal Age (2000) und Thief: Deadly …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”