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| Terry Pratchett The Discworld series 27th novel – 7th Rincewind story  |
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|---|---|
| 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 | |
| Notes | Illustrated by Paul Kidby |
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.
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 along the way, they are joined by Evil Harry Dread (the last Dark Lord), and Vena (an elderly heroine).
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.
Since blowing up the gods will destroy the Discworld by disrupting the Disc's magical field – the only thing holding the Disc together – 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 – in the hope that it will have sufficient oxygen to replenish their supplies after the Librarian's presence threw off their calculations – and nearly having their swamp dragon powered spaceship (named "The Kite") explode on them, they crash in a spectacular fashion at Cori Celesti.
When the horde reach the gods (sneaking in disguised as gods themselves, though the gods have been manipulating their entire quest), Fate challenges Cohen to a game where he must roll higher than what Fate rolls on a standard 6-sided die. After Fate rolls a 6, Cohen cheats Fate by slicing the die in half with his sword. Cohen also notes that even if he doesn't succeed in killing the gods, someone will have tried, so someone will eventually try harder.
Carrot attempts to arrest the horde, but while initially intending to attack him, the horde realize that being a single brave man outnumbered by his foes (and probably a king in disguise), he is a Hero and their defeat is certain. After some explanation by Rincewind the horde takes the already live explosives and more or less jumps off the mountain. It is not explicitly stated that they die (Death does not appear to them as he sometimes does when Discworld characters die, although he subsequently appears to Vena, and is evasive about whether he is "collecting"), but Valkyries do come to take them to the Halls of the Slain, where a feast has been prepared for them. The Silver Horde instead steal a few of their horses, refusing to accept their death, and set off to find other worlds to "do heroic stuff in."
Meanwhile Leonard is commanded by the gods to paint the entire roof of the Temple of Small Gods within 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).
As the Horde leave with the Valkyries' horses, they stop to see the First Hero, cut off his chains, and hand him a sword that he may deal with his punisher. The bard, hardened by his experience, composes a new style of saga about it and invents the metal ballad.
External links
| Reading order guide | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thief of Time |
27th Discworld Novel | Succeeded by The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents |
| Preceded by The Last Continent |
7th Rincewind Story Published in 2001 |
Succeeded by None[1] |
Notes
- ^ Rincewind has camoes in The Science of Discworld and Unseen Academicals.
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