Interesting Times is the seventeenth novel in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. Terence David John Pratchett OBE (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England[1]) is an English fantasy author, best known for his Discworld series. ... Cover of an early edition of The Colour of Magic; art by Josh Kirby Discworld is a comedic fantasy book series by the British author Terry Pratchett set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which are in turn standing on the back of... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (474x800, 309 KB)Interesting Times cover, from http://www. ... Rincewind the Wizzard is a fictional character appearing in the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, several of which feature him as the central character. ... Twoflower is a fictional character featuring in some of Terry Pratchetts Discworld novels. ... The Luggage is a fictional object that appears in some of the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Agatean Empire is a fictitous country that occupies the Counterweight Continent of Terry Pratchetts Discworld. ... China is the worlds oldest continuous major civilization, with written records dating back about 3,500 years and with 5,000 years being commonly used by Chinese as the age of their civilization. ... Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ... Year 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar). ... Victor Gollancz (April 9, 1893–February 8, 1967) was a British publisher, socialist, and humanitarian. ... The Big Read was a 2003 survey carried out by the BBC, with the goal of finding the Nations Best-loved Book by way of a viewer vote via the Web, SMS and telephone. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... Cover of an early edition of The Colour of Magic; art by Josh Kirby Discworld is a comedic fantasy book series by the British author Terry Pratchett set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which are in turn standing on the back of... Terence David John Pratchett OBE (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England[1]) is an English fantasy author, best known for his Discworld series. ...

The title of this book was inspired by the phrase "may you live in interesting times". May you live in interesting times is a phrase that is often quoted as being the English translation of an ancient Chinese proverb and curse. ...

Plot summary

The events of the novel are a "game" between the Discworld gods Fate and The Lady (Luck) with the Discworld as their game board. Cover of an early edition of The Colour of Magic; art by Josh Kirby Discworld is a comedic fantasy book series by the British author Terry Pratchett set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which are in turn standing on the back of... The Discworld is the fictional setting for all of Terry Pratchetts Discworld fantasy novels. ...

This novel marks Rincewind's reappearance on the Discworld after the events of Faust Eric. The Patrician of Ankh-Morpork is sent a letter from the Agatean Empire on the Counterweight Continent (by albatross mail) commanding him to "send us the Great Wizzard". The wizards of Unseen University, after some discussion, eventually realise the spelling of Wizzard can refer to only one man - Rincewind. Rincewind the Wizzard is a fictional character appearing in the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, several of which feature him as the central character. ... The Discworld is the fictional setting for all of Terry Pratchetts Discworld fantasy novels. ... Eric (commonly abbreviated F^HE – see backspace) is the ninth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett. ... Lord Havelock Vetinari is the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, the head of the fictional city state of Ankh-Morpork in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ... The Agatean Empire is a fictitous country that occupies the Counterweight Continent of Terry Pratchetts Discworld. ... The Counterweight Continent is a landmass on the Discworld, the fantasy world that is the setting of Terry Pratchetts fantasy novels. ... Rincewind the Wizzard is a fictional character appearing in the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, several of which feature him as the central character. ... Unseen University (UU) is a school of wizardry in the fictional Discworld city of Ankh-Morpork, staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards. ...

After using Hex to assist in performing a spell to summon Rincewind to UU, Archchancellor Ridcully convinces him to go to the Agatean Empire and speak to whoever sent the message. A second summoning spell is used, which exchanges the position of Rincewind with that of a live cannon. Hex is an elaborate, Heath Robinson/Rube Goldberg-esque, magic-powered computer housed at Unseen University (UU) in the city of Ankh-Morpork, in author Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ...

As usual, The Luggage is not far behind Rincewind, following him across the continents to its homeland. However, once there it gets the impression that Rincewind has relinquished ownership, and therefore the two are separated for a large portion of the book as The Luggage explores the land (and eventually finds love). The Luggage is a fictional object that appears in some of the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. ...

Upon his arrival on the Counterweight Continent, Rincewind is reunited with a companion of his previous adventures - Cohen the Barbarian. Cohen has brought a group of aging heroes (The Silver Horde) with him, in order to usurp the Emperor and "steal" the country. Rincewind also learns that the Empire is in a great state of turmoil - all thanks to a revolutionary document entitled "What I did on My Holidays". Later, Rincewind discovers that this book was written by none other than his travelling companion from his first two novels - Twoflower the Tourist - about Ankh-Morpork. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Silver Horde is a group of barbarian heroes in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of novels. ... Twoflower is a fictional character featuring in some of Terry Pratchetts Discworld novels. ...

Rincewind travels to the capital city, Hunghung, where he meets Twoflower's daughters (members of the Red Army, the revolutionary group who wish to overthrow the Emperor). The city is under "siege" from the five most powerful lords - Hong, Tang, Fang, Sung, and McSweeney. The most powerful of these is Lord Hong, who is in fact manipulating the other four families and the Red Army to further his own political gains. At the same time, Cohen and his Silver Horde infiltrate the city, and penetrate the Forbidden City, home of the Emperor. Lord Hong's plan is for the Red Army to take over and then for him to mount a counter-revolution and conquer Ankh-Morpork. However, the Agatean culture is not the revolutionary type and the Red Army doesn't go much farther than shouting slogans like Mildly Unpleasant Conditions to the Forces of Oppression. For other organizations known as the Red Army, see Red Army (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Forbidden City (disambiguation). ... Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which prominently features in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of fantasy novels. ...

Whilst attempting to free revolutionary prisoners from the very same Forbidden City, Rincewind and the Hunghung cadre of the Red Army are captured and thrown into the dungeons - where Twoflower is also being held. With some incidental and anonymous assistance from Lord Hong, Rincewind escapes, and eventually finds his way to the Throne Room, where Cohen has installed himself as Emperor, having discovered the real emperor murdered by Lord Hong's soldiers. However, the city remains under siege from five armies, and the Silver Horde are called out to meet their challenge.

After deciding upon his usual course of action - i.e. running away - Rincewind, trying to avoid the battle which is about to start, finds his way up an ancient hill outside Hunghung. As the battle is about to commence, a massive thunderstorm appears, and Rincewind finds himself dropped into a mysterious cave, filled with terracotta statues - the original, legendary Red Army. After locating some magic armour that allows him to control the army, Rincewind leads them out into the middle of the battlefield and begins destroying the five attacking armies, mostly by accident. Cohen is returned to Hunghung victorious, and re-proclaims himself Emperor. Terra cotta is a hard semifired waterproof ceramic clay used in pottery and building construction. ... The Terracotta Army (Traditional Chinese: ; Simplified Chinese: ; Pinyin: ; literally soldier and horse funerary statues) or Terracotta Warriors and Horses is a collection of 8,099 life-size Chinese terra cotta figures of warriors and horses located near the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ). The figures were discovered...

Lord Hong escapes the battlefield, and returns to Hunghung for a final showdown. Twoflower challenges him to a duel, blaming Lord Hong for the death of his wife. Just as Hong is about to kill Twoflower, the Unseen University wizards attempt to resummon Rincewind, returning the cannon (with the fuse lit). Hong is killed, along with one of the members of Cohen's horde; Ronald Saveloy the civilization instructor, who had given up civilization as a waste of time and thinks heroes get a better class of afterlife. The rest of the Silver Horde is unharmed, due to many years of practice at not dying.

Due to a slight error in calculation by Hex caused by Luck's interference, Rincewind is not returned to the University - instead a large kangaroo appears at high speed and splats into a wall. The wizards determine that Rincewind has in fact been transported to "####" (Fourecks), an unexplored continent, which is later revealed in The Last Continent. At the end, it appears that Rincewind is about to be pulled into another adventure despite his best efforts. This is a list of fictional locations in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ... The Last Continent is the twenty-second Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, first published in 1998, that parodies Australian people and culture, as well as the famous Crocodile Dundee and Mad Max movies and the popular Australian song Waltzing Matilda. ...

Characters Introduced

• The Silver Horde

Translations

• Интересни времена (Bulgarian)
• Zajímavé časy (Czech)
• Interessante Tijden (Dutch)
• Huvitav aeg (Estonian)
• Kiintoisia aikoja (Finnish)
• Les Tribulations d'un mage en Aurient (French)
• Echt Zauberhaft (German)
• Ciekawe czasy (Polish)
• Интересные времена (Russian)
• Zanimljiva vremena (Serbian)
• Tiempos Interesantes (Spanish)
• Spännande tider (Swedish)

External links

• Annotations for Interesting Times
• Quotes from Interesting Times
• Synopsis for Interesting Times