Terry Pratchett The Discworld series 27th novel – 7th Rincewind story
Outline
Characters:	Cohen the Barbarian Lord Vetinari Rincewind Leonard of Quirm Carrot Ironfoundersson
Locations:	Cori Celesti, Ankh-Morpork
Motifs:	Fantasy clichés, Gods, Prometheus, Spaceflight, Apocalypse
Publication details
Year of release:	2001
Original publisher:	Victor Gollancz
Hardback ISBN:	ISBN 0-575-06885-X
Paperback ISBN:	ISBN 0-575-07377-2
Other details
Awards:
Notes:	Illustrated by Paul Kidby

This article is about the fantasy novel. For the adventure novel by Leslie Charteris and featuring Simon Templar, see The Last Hero (The Saint). There is also The Last Hero (TV series).

The Last Hero is a short novel, the twenty-seventh of the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. It was published in 2001 in a larger format than the other Discworld novels and illustrated on every page by Paul Kidby. 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 The-last-hero. ... Ghenghiz Cohen, known as Cohen the Barbarian is a fictional character in Terry Pratchetts Discworld novels. ... Lord Havelock Vetinari is the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, the head of the fictional city state of Ankh-Morpork in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ... Rincewind the Wizzard is a fictional character appearing in the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, several of which feature him as the central character. ... Leonard of Quirm is a fictional character in the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. ...  Carrot Ironfoundersson is a fictional character in Terry Pratchetts Discworld novels. ... Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which prominently features in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of fantasy novels. ... For other uses, see Fantasy (disambiguation). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Look up deity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Prometheus (disambiguation). ... ISS in earth orbit. ... Look up Apocalypse in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Victor Gollancz (April 9, 1893–February 8, 1967) was a British publisher, socialist, and humanitarian. ... Paul Kidby is an English artist. ... Leslie Charteris (May 12, 1907, Singapore–April 15, 1993), born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, was a half-Chinese, half English author of primarily mystery fiction, as well as a screenwriter. ... An artists conception of Simon Templar as seen on the cover of a 1983 omnibus edition collecting several early Saint books. ... The Last Hero is the title of a mystery novel by Leslie Charteris that was first published in the United Kingdom in 1930 by Hodder and Stoughton and in the United States in 1931 by The Crime Club. ... The Last Hero (Russian: Последний герой) is a Russian reality television series consisted of five seasons, aired on the First Channel. ... 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. ... Paul Kidby is an English artist. ...

Plot summary

The Silver Horde, a group of aged barbarians introduced in Interesting Times, led by Cohen the Barbarian, set out on a quest. The first hero of the Discworld stole fire from the gods. As the last heroes remaining on the Disc the Silver Horde seek to return fire to the gods with interest, in the form of a large sled packed with explosives. With them is a bard, kidnapped so he can write the saga of their quest, and Evil Harry Dread, the last Dark Lord. Interesting Times is the seventeenth novel in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. ... Ghenghiz Cohen, known as Cohen the Barbarian is a fictional character in Terry Pratchetts Discworld novels. ... The Discworld is the fictional setting for all of Terry Pratchetts Discworld fantasy novels. ...

The heroes are disillusioned with the way their lives have turned out, and angry for having been allowed to grow old. Evil Harry is just as angry; despite his efforts to give his opponents the sporting chance as an Evil Overlord should, they won't follow the Code. Dark Lord (also known as an Evil Overlord) is a name often used in fiction to talk about a villain with evil henchmen, especially when the real name is thought to bring bad luck. ...

Since blowing up the gods will destroy the Discworld, Lord Vetinari organises the Wizards in a quest to stop them. Since the Horde is already near the centre of the Discworld and the home of the gods, speed is of the essence. Leonard of Quirm designs the Discworld's second known spacecraft to slingshot under the Discworld and back around top to land on Cori Celesti, the mountain home of the gods. The vessel can carry only three people: Leonard of Quirm, Captain Carrot Ironfoundersson, and Rincewind (although the Librarian somehow stumbles aboard). After a few mishaps including landing on the moon and nearly having their swamp dragon powered spaceship (named "The Kite") explode on them, they crash in a spectacular fashion at Cori Celesti. Lord Havelock Vetinari is the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, the head of the fictional city state of Ankh-Morpork in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ... Leonard of Quirm is a fictional character in the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. ...  Carrot Ironfoundersson is a fictional character in Terry Pratchetts Discworld 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. ... The Librarian of Unseen University is one of the most popular characters in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series of fantasy novels, to the extent where pin badges bearing the legend Librarians rule Ook are now available. ... Swamp dragons (draco vulgaris) are fictitious creatures from Terry Pratchetts Discworld novels. ...

Carrot jumps out and on account of being a single brave man (and a king in disguise) the horde assumes he is a Hero and therefore unbeatable. After some explanation by Rincewind the horde takes the already live explosives and more or less jumps off the mountain. They die, in some way, steal the horses of a few Valkyries and set of to find other worlds to "...Do heroic stuff in." This article is about the Valkyries, figures of Norse mythology. ...

Meanwhile Leonard is commanded by the gods to paint the entire roof of the Temple of Small Gods in 10 years (he finishes it in a few weeks), Carrot asks for a boon (to allow for the repairs of the Kite), Rincewind asks for a blue balloon and the Librarian asks for some library supplies (and avoids bouncing Blind Io's head on the ground after he calls him a monkey).

Translations

• Последният герой (Bulgarian)
• Poslední hrdina (Czech)
• De laatste held (Dutch)
• Le Dernier Héros (French)
• Wahre Helden (German)
• Ostatni bohater (Polish)
• Den sista hjälten (Swedish)
• Последний герой (Russian)

Trivia

• The discussions about the dangers of technology between the Patrician and Leonard echo Ray Bradbury's classic short story, "The Flying Machine". Leonard's words (“look at the birds, look at the birds!”) are also a reference to the story's last words.

• There are a number of references to real world history in The Last Hero, among these are the survivor of the only ship to go over the rim and reappear; he says "my God, it's full of Elephants!", a reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey.

• The character of Leonard of Quirm is based on Leonardo da Vinci, who also produced hundreds of inventions, including various flying machines.

• A conversation between Rincewind and Lord Vetinari is based on the book Catch 22. Rincewind doesn't want to go with the other two crew members, so he tries to get out of it on the grounds of insanity. Lord Vetinari explains that only an insane person would embark on such a dangerous journey. Rincewind then asks what would happen if he wasn't insane, and Vetinari explains that he would only send the keenest, coolest minds on such a vital errand. Rincewind notices that there's a catch somewhere, and Vetinari refers to it as "the best kind there is".

• The minstrel travelling with the Silver Horde likens Cohen to Emperor Carelinus, whose empire spanned the entire Discworld except Fourecks and the The Counterweight Continent. Cohen says that the reason he didn't conquer The Counterweight Continent is because you can't get a good beer there.

Ray Douglas Bradbury (born August 22, 1920) is an American literary, fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer best known for The Martian Chronicles, a 1950 book which has been described both as a short story collection and a novel, and his 1953 dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451. ... This article deals with the short story by Ray Bradbury. ... A movie poster from the original release of 2001 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is an immensely popular and influential science fiction film and book; the film directed by Stanley Kubrick and the book written by Arthur C. Clarke. ... “Da Vinci” redirects here. ... Rincewind the Wizzard is a fictional character appearing in the Discworld novels of Terry Pratchett, several of which feature him as the central character. ... Lord Havelock Vetinari is the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, the head of the fictional city state of Ankh-Morpork in Terry Pratchetts Discworld series. ... Catch-22 is a satirical, historical fiction novel by the American author Joseph Heller, first published in 1961. ... ‹ The template below (Expand) is being considered for deletion. ... For the 18th century American form of music and performance known as minstrelsy, see minstrel show. ... // Cohen (Hebrew: kōhēn, means: A Priest) is a Jewish surname of biblical origins (see: Kohen). ... 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... XXXX or FourEcks (previously known as Terror Incognita) is the name of the Australia-like continent seen in the Discworld novel The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett. ... See also: Discworld (world) This article concerns the fictional geography of Terry Pratchetts Discworld, featured in the long running series of novels of the same name. ...

External links

• Annotations for The Last Hero
• Quotes from The Last Hero

Notes

1. ^ Rincewind has a cameo in The Science of Discworld