SusieJ's Advent Calendar December 2, 2012

Terry Pratchett: Hogfather

The idea of the Grim Reaper filling the Hogswatch stockings of the world didn't fit well in her head, no matter which way she twisted it. It was like trying to imagine Old Man Trouble as the Tooth Fairy. Oh, yes. Old Man Trouble… now there was a nasty one for you…
But honestly, what kind of sick person went round creeping into little children's bedrooms all night?

Pratchett is the author of the Discworld novels, which started as a parody of the tropes of fantasy (the troupe on a quest, the guild for every occupation, the gender bias) and became a parody of modern life (big vs. small swindlers, technology, gender bias). Always, each book has a really good story, with lots of really good (bad) puns, and at least one recurring character, if that character is only Death.

In Hogfather, Death tries to save Father Christmas, er, the Hogfather, on, um, Hogswatch Eve, from the Auditors (who think of humanity and Hogswatch as rather messy and inconvenient) with the help of his butler and granddaughter.

[Philadelphia City Hall decorated for Christmas]Pratchett keeps two main plots (Death tries to maintain the traditions of Hogswatch; granddaughter Susan attempts to find out where Death has gone), and a handful of minor plots including new gods popping into existence, the merry band of beggars, a thinking machine and the hapless but evil human agents of the auditors. The plot doesn't twist and turn so much as take the scenic route, and stop in at a local diner for a good breakfast and later into a bar for a pint, pie and discourse on the nature of man. He despairs for humanity, but not of humanity.