 Popsugar Reading Challenge category: An author's 24th book
The Fifth Elephant, by Terry Pratchett This category caused much rending of garments and gnashing of teeth on the Goodreads message boards; it's surprisingly hard to nail down the exact order of an author's books, figure out if all of them "count" (what about novellas, collaborations, translations?), and hope you know all their pen names. But as near as I can tell, this is Terry Pratchett's 24th book. I love the Discworld series, and the ones about the City Watch are particular favorites. The elephant itself is a bit of a red herring; it's a reference to a Dwarven myth. This book brings Commander Sam Vimes to the underground community where the Dwarfs are choosing a new Low King. Naturally, there are complications, including the possible theft of the Scone of Stone, which is needed for the coronation. The City Watch is a truly diverse organization, including two Dwarfs, Cheery Littlebottom and Captain Carrot. Technically, Carrot is a six-foot-tall human, but he was adopted by Dwarfs. Cheery is a biological Dwarf, but she finds less acceptance among traditional Dwarfs than Carrot does, because she uses female pronouns and sometimes wears dresses. Dwarven tradition requires that both men and women be called "he" and dress accordingly. The clash between tradition and change is at the heart of this book. Other City Watch members include a zombie, a vampire, a werewolf, a rather endearing troll, and...whatever Nobby Nobbs is. Favorite moment is when Nobby and a female colleague are doing a sting which requires Nobby to wear a dress. "...you know what people call men who wear wigs and gowns, don't you?" "Yes, miss." "You do?" "Lawyers, miss."
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