This is part of the Pratchett Project.
The blurb:
Rincewind, inept wizard and reluctant hero, has found himself magically stranded on the Discworld's last continent.
It's hot. It's dry. There was this thing once called The Wet, which no one believes in any more. Practically everything that's not poisonous is venomous. But it's the best bloody place in the world, all right?
And in a few days, it will die. The only thing standing between the last continent and wind-blown doom is Rincewind, and he can't even spell wizard. Still... no worries, eh?
Interesting Times was an improvement over the previous Wizards novels; The Last Continent is an improvement over Interesting Times.
In the forematter of the book, Pratchett writes a little note clarifying that EcksEcksEcksEcks is not Australia. I am not sure why he did that—he didn't feel the need to note that the Agatean Empire is not China, Ephebe is not Greece and the like; are we that venomous? :D
Either way, I enjoyed this one. Rincewind has been flung into Peril again, except this time Peril is full of red dust and people who don't believe in rain any more, plus a rather mischievous kangaroo (well, mostly. Sometimes sheep); he's landed on EcksEcksEcksEcks, the Discworld's last continent. That is, it was the one most recently created, but it was created to be ancient. Wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff. While Rincewind is blundering through the outback, the rest of the senior staff at UU have accidentally teleported themselves through space and time to somewhere in the far past and quite some distance away (there was a magic window involved, no more explanation given or needed). The island, it turns out, is the god of evolution, only he hasn't quite gotten the hang of the whole thing, and he is really not ready for the wizards.
The resolution of the plot doesn't really matter, which is just as well, because explanations are a bit thin on the ground; the wizards' being flung back in time has broken something in EcksEcksEcksEcks, and it no longer rains there. Rincewind needs to be the mighty wizard again and fix it. There's a bullroarer involved. But it's okay that it's a bit light on exlanations, because this one works much better as a travelogue-slash-parody than earlier books in the series. It's focused on being funny and parodying the various things that other people know about Australia—Mad Max, Crocodile Dundee, The Man From Snowy River and Waltzing Matilda all figure, as does Skippy the Bush Kangaroo—but still manages to be a decent story.
I think what I've missed in all the Wizards books is the more that's present in the Guards books, or standalones like Small Gods or Monstrous Regiment where being funny is just the scenery—the story is about something broader and deeper, and told with passion and, often, anger. Funny is just the veneer over the top—that bite is what makes Night Watch and Thud! into classics.
Started: 8 January 2026
Finished: 14 January 2026
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