Pratchett's Women: Unauthorised Essays on Female Characters of the Discworld by Tansy Rayner Roberts

Author:Tansy Rayner Roberts [Roberts, Tansy Rayner]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780648174158
Published: 2018-01-08T16:00:00+00:00

7

Has Scythe, Will Teach School

Soul Music (1994)

Hogfather (1996)

Thief of Time (2001)

Rereading all three of the Susan Sto Helit (or Susan Death) books was something I had been greatly looking forward to. I’ve always enjoyed Susan as a character even when I don’t especially love the books she featured in—Soul Music, for instance, is not a favourite of mine, though the animated version of it is dear to my heart (funnily enough it DOES work better as a musical with a genuine soundtrack), Hogfather is one I’ve often found bewildering with moments of occasional joy, and before this reread I didn’t remember anything about Thief of Time.

This time around, I enjoyed all three, but thanks to the theme of these essays, I couldn’t help noticing that, well.

Considering what a popular and memorable character Susan is, it’s interesting how small a space she takes up in each of ‘her’ books.

Discworld novels are always ensemble productions; this is part of their charm. But it was a shock to discover that while Susan grows up and develops into an awesome adult from book to book, the books are never actually about her—she’s not a protagonist, but fills the role of mentor/helper.

In each book, Susan starts out with a vivid and interesting introduction, then wanders in and out of the rest of the book being cross at people, exchanging banter with the minor supporting cast and not getting in the way of the plot; finally at the end she is generally unleashed as part of an epic showdown which is keyed to her talents, allows for character development, and shows how awesome she is.

I don’t want to fall into the trap of reviewing books negatively for not meeting my own (possibly unrealistic) expectations, but this is so interesting to me in the light of how iconic Susan has become. She is, for instance, the young female character most often cited to me as an example of ‘strong women in the Discworld’.

We first meet Susan in Soul Music, where she is a schoolgirl with mysterious abilities and a sharp tongue. She’s immediately fantastic on the page—sarcastic and intelligent but guarded, all her secret hurts piled up inside where no one, even the reader, can get access to them.

Soul Music is a sequel to Mort, one of the most narratively satisfying and well plotted of the early Discworld novels; it’s generally regarded as the one where the series ‘got good’. Mort is about Death’s apprentice, who fails at the job, but succeeds awkwardly in hooking up with Death’s adopted daughter Ysabell (this potential marriage is the reason he is hired in the first place). A key plot point revolves around Mort’s inability to accept the needs of the Duty, and how he wrongly saves the life of an assassinated princess, throwing reality into a tailspin because of a pretty face. At the end of his book, he dies and Death turns the hourglass over to give him more time, but mathematics are a bitch, and that means

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