The Fifth Elephant

maybe i'm biased because i always enjoy vampires and werewolves but this is my favourite discworld book to date. it has everything! vampires! werewolves! igors! politics! and most importantly! SYBIL!!!

i just loved how characters who hadn't gotten much of the spotlight so far got a lot of attention in this book, sybil especially. she's never relegated to being vimes' damsel in distress, she's always very much her own person with a lot of agency.

carrot also isn't as much the unfailing hero he is in the other city watch books, so we get to focus more on angua (who i am in love with on account of me loving fictional women with issues<3) and her origins/character. i love her relationship with carrot by the way... they're so sweet.

i also love cheery/cheri as a character, and for how long ago this was written (1999!) i think the dwarf gender stuff is done pretty well.

lastly... the action scenes are engrossing, the darker moments hit just as hard as they need to while still feeling consistent with the usual lightheartedness of discworld, and the setting, though it's not Ankh-Morpork, is fun and fresh... just an all around good book. Night watch is next!! i'm excited for this one!!!