Talk:Book:The Truth/Annotations

Timeline issues?

In terms of publication order,The Truth immediately follows The Fifth Elephant in which Vimes definitively resolves any unsettled situations in Überwald in favour of Low King Rhys, and by extention in the interests of Ankh-Morpork. (Other contenders for the Kingship, supported by the werewolves, would have gone so far as to excommunicate A-M's dwarves from Dwarfhood. And they certainly wouldn't have offered the favourable rates for fat and tallow which were negotiated by Lady Sybil). But here we have Vetinari expressing concern over a situation which, no the face of it, was definitively resolved by Vimes in the preceding book and which should no longer be an active concern.

The politics of dwarfs is very complicated. Vimes manages to stop one plot and the coronation goes forward but does NOT mean they all "lived happily ever after" Iron Hippo 13:42, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

Yes- the impression I get is that the situation in Uberwald is 'always' more or less unsettled, to a greater or lesser degree. After all, the ur-political situation of the former Evil Empire is calqued on that of the former USSR, where there's a degree of unsettlement to this day. Solicitr 00:10, 7 March 2010 (UTC)

Could it follow on that while The Truth immediately follows The Fifth Elephant in terms of publication order, and that the events of both books are very clearly close in chronological order, The Truth may in fact precede The Fifth Elephant in the timeline? Otherwise, Vetinari would not be expressing concern at events in Überwald which if they went the wrong way would be detrimental to A-M's interests. At this point, he may not have decided to send Vimes to sort it out and this is still in the future. After all, once Vimes goes to Überwald and sorts it out, it is very definitively sorted out, and leaves no room for future doubt or concern.

Interestingly, Vetinari follows this seeming gaffe with a reference to the unsettled situation in Überwald.

Demarcation

Why is there all that Discussion on the Main Page? --Old Dickens (talk) 22:37, 12 November 2013 (GMT)

a sort of truth

"And Ye Shall Know The Truth And The Truth Shall Make You Free." —John 8:32,

Also the motto of the CIA. Not sure how this fits, but Vetinari is interested in the idea of using a newspaper as a means of publishing selective truths of the sort which are good for government... and several US papers have been suspected of being used as a conduit for favourable news stories, or news which has been passed through the CIA first to make it fit for the public to know... AgProv (talk) 21:14, 15 August 2017 (UTC)