The Last Hero : A Discworld Fable

Cohen the Barbarian conquered the entire Agatean Empire, settled down and became immensely rich and powerful. He had everything, but everything wasn't enough. Now he is getting old and, frankly, is not very happy about it. So with his ancient sword, new walking stick and old friends he is taking the Silver Horde on one final quest - to climb Cori Celesti, highest mountain on Discworld and meet their Gods. The First Hero stole fire from the Gods tens of thousands of years ago, so as the Last Hero Cohen is going to return it. Namely in the form of a 50-pound keg of Agatean Thunder Clay that will blow the top of the mountain off. What he doesn't know is that this will collapse the Discworld's magic field and bring the world to an end. If no one stops him. So of course someone has to try and of course that someone will be the long-suffering Rincewind, now the unpaid Professor of Cruel and Unusual Geography at the Unseen University. So he figures he may as well cut through the whole tedious business and just volunteer for the mission, along with the insufferably enthusiastic Captain Carrot and genius Leonard of Quirm. This is a sumptuous book, big thick glossy pages richly populated with vivid illustrations by Paul Kidby. The attention to detail is wonderful and really brings the story to life. The plot is a classic Discworld fable of the usual laugh-out-loud standard, packed with the wonderful parodies, ironies and truths that Terry Pratchett delivers so well. A wonderful book to own and a delight to read. (Kirkus UK)