The Orient. Land of mystery and eastern intrigue.

Well, it was until Pratchett gave it a good going over.

As a person living in China since September 2003, it gave me great pleasure to read a novel that examined this part of the world. Pratchett melds together the cultures of Japan and China into the “oldest and most inscrutable empire on the Discworld” - the Agatean Empire on the Counterweight Continent.

He’s done his homework on the culture and makes quite a few acerbic digs at the Far East. Language, poetry, flattery, politics and plenty of other aspects are torn apart with Pratchett’s typical humour and trenchant analysis.

He’s clearly unimpressed by what they have to offer, but any reader of Interesting Times can relax, they’ll be impressed by his adept storytelling and comedic talents.

The Gods decide to act out a game on the Counterweight Continent, and the Agatean Empire comes under threat from war and turmoil.

They in turn call on a “wizzard” to help.

Enter Rincewind, our hapless anti-hero, and as Pratchett observes:

“Luck is my middle name,” said Rincewind, indistinctly. “Mind you, my first name is Bad.”

He meets up with Cohen the barbarian, “five foot tall in his surgical sandals”, and his horde of elderly warriors and a teacher by the name of Ronald Saveloy. The results are hilarious as they seek to help in their own inimitable style, as evinced by a Cohen and Saveloy discussion:

“There’s a lot of waiting in warfare.”
“Ah, yes. I’ve heard people say that. They say there’s long periods of boredom followed by short periods of excitement.”
“Not really. It’s more like short periods of waiting followed by long periods of being dead.”

After much machination and mayhem the book moves to a satisfying conclusion. The Far East may be a world of extreme complication, but Interesting Times is simply brilliant.