Book:Pyramids

Pyramids
Cover art by Josh Kirby
Co-author(s)
Illustrator(s)
Publisher	Victor Gollancz
Publication date	June 1989
ISBN	0575044632
Pages	288
RRP
Main characters	Teppic, Dios, Ptraci
Series	Discworld Series
Annotations	View
Notes	Book #07
All data relates to the first UK edition.

Blurb

Being trained by the Assassins' Guild in Ankh-Morpork did not fit Teppic for the task assigned to him by fate. He inherited the throne of the desert kingdom of Djelibeybi rather earlier than he expected (his father wasn't too happy about it either), but that was only the beginning of his problems ...

Books

Divided into four books:

Book I: The Book of Going Forth

Book II: The Book of the Dead

Book III: The Book of the New Son

Book IV: The Book of 101 Things A Boy Can Do

Major Characters

• Dios
• Teppic
• Chidder
• Ptraci

Minor Characters

• Mericet
• King Pteppicymon XXVII, Teppic's father and king of Djelibeybi
• Death
• Fliemoe
• Arthur Ludorum, son of Johan Ludorum
• Cheesewright
• Dil, the embalmer (puns on "dill pickle", since "pickle" is slang for "embalm")
• Gern, Dil's apprentice
• Ptaclusp, architect
• Ptaclusp IIa, son of Ptaclusp
• Ptaclusp IIb, son of Ptaclusp
• Grinjer, model maker
• You Bastard, camel, disc's greatest mathematician
• Ephebian philosophers
  • Xeno, parodying Zeno
  • Ibid, a philosopher, perhaps repetitive
  • Pthagonal, parodies Pythagoras
  • Copolymer, greatest storyteller in the history of the world
  • Iesope, greatest fable teller in the world, parodying Aesop
  • Antiphon, greatest comic play writer in the world, a parody of Aristophanes - "Antiphon" is loosely translatable as "jarring"
  • Endos, the Listener

Cameos and Mentions

• Blind Io (mentioned)
• Uncle Vyrt, Teppic's assassin uncle
• Lady Nooni, Djelibeybi noblewoman
• Artela, Teppic's mother
• Lord Fhem-pta-hem, Djelibeybi nobleman
• Khuft, founder of Djelibeybi
• Orm, a god with only two worshipers
• Offler (mentioned)
• Snoxall, student assassin
• Mother Goddess (mentioned)
• Dr Cruces, head tutor of the Assassins' Guild
• Jahmet, servant who discovers King Teppicymon's body
• Hoot Koomi, high priest of Khefin
• Mrs Collar, Teppic's bedder in sixth form
• Glwenda, garlic farmer's daughter that Gern is pursuing
• Mrs Ptaclusp (mentioned)
• Former rulers of Djelibeybi
  • Queen Khaput
  • King Pta-ka-ba
  • Queen Khat-leon-ra-pta
  • King Kheneth XIV (note resemblance to English name "Kenneth")
  • Queen Far-re-ptah aka "Grandma Pooney"
  • King Ashk-ur-men-tep
  • King Psam-nut-kha ("some nut case"?)
• Gods of Djelibeybi
  • Sun Gods
    • Yay, who has lost his toenails (or perhaps his hot-air paint stripper)
    • Nesh, goddess
    • Cephnet
    • Scrab, Pusher of the Ball of the Sun, a dung beetle
    • Thrrp, Charioteer of the Sun
    • Jeht, Boatman of the Solar Orb
    • Gil
  • Supreme Gods
    • Net
    • Fon
    • Hast
    • Set
    • Bin
    • Sot
    • Ic
    • Dhek
    • Ptooie
  • World of Dead rulers
    • Herpetine Triskeles
    • Syncope
    • Silur, the Catfish-Headed God
    • Orexis-Nupt
  • Other gods
    • Hat, the Vulture-Headed God of Unexpected Guests
    • Eater of Souls
    • Bast, the Cat-Headed God
    • Nept, sky goddess
    • Vut, the Dog-Headed God of the Evening
    • Ket, God of Justice
    • Cephut, God of Cutlery
    • Sessifet, Goddess of the Afternoon
    • Sarduk, Goddess of Caves
    • Bunu, Goat-headed God of Goats
    • Tzut, Snake-Headed God of the Upper Djel
    • Fhez, Crocodile-Headed God of the Lower Djel
    • Teg, the Horse-Headed God of Agriculture
    • Juf, the Cobra-Headed God of Papyrus
    • Chefet, Dog-Headed God of Metalwork
• Rhumusphut and Ktoffle, disputing farmers
• Ptorne, farmer with dispute against his landlord Prince Imtebos
• Rthur, fresco painter
• Evil-Smelling-Bugger, greatest camel mathematician of all time (and thus probably no longer alive, since You Bastard now holds the title?) (mentioned)
• Bloody Stupid, camel
• You Vicious Brute, camel who came up with the Theory of Transient Integrals
• Elenor, from the Tsortean Wars
• Melycanus, confused with Lavaelous
• Seriph of Al-Khali (mentioned)
• Alfonz, pirate working for Chidder
• Heme Krona, a used camel salesman, owner of Camels-R-Us
• Autocue, Ephebian soldier
• Patricio, former despot of Quirm, client of Assassins' Guild
• Ice Giants (mentioned)
• Cleph-ptah-re, briefly heir apparent to the throne of Djelibeybi

Things and Concepts

• Assassins' Guild classes
  • Strategy and Poison Theory, taught by Mericet
  • Traps and Deadfalls, taught by Grunworth Nivor, a fat and jolly assassin, who is also the housemaster
  • Modern Languages and Music, taught by Kompt de Yoyo, who is also a keen edificeer. This class emphasizes how the Assassins' Guild offers a good all around education.
  • Political Expediency, taught by Lady T'malia
• Cordati, assassin manual
• Tlingas, assassin weapon
• Poisons and antidotes
  • wasp agaric (poison administered by ear)
  • Achorion purple (poison administered by ear)
  • Mustick (poison administered by ear)
  • spime (antidote to some snake venoms)
  • bloat, poison extracted from the deep sea blowfish (singularis minutia gigantica)
• Wallgame, game played by assassins, involving edificing
• Dr Mooner's Travelling Take Your Breath Away Emporium, a fun house / hall of mirrors
• The Shuttered Palace, a guide to sexual positions (similar to the Kama Sutra)
• A Wizard's Staff Has A Knob On The End, song
• Year of the Engaging Sloth, Ankh-Morpork name for a given year
• Smugglers' Guild (mentioned)
• Assassins' Ball (mentioned)
• Guild of Embalmers and Allied Trades (mentioned)
• Vanglemesht and Laotation, languages Teppic learned
• Seedtime, Inundation, and Sog, seasons observed by river valley cultures
• The Book of Staying in The Pit, which says the sun is the eye of Yay
• Guild of Plumbers and Dunnikindivers (mentioned)
• Little Pieces for Tiny Fingers, book of dulcimer music
• Catharti Death Grip, assassin technique
• Goblins Picnic, song
• .303 bookworm, fastest insect in the world
• Ambiguous Puzuma, fastest animal in the world
• Principles of Ideal Government, book written by Ibid
• Discourse on Historical Inevitability, book written by Ibid
• Tsortean Wars (mentioned)
• 130 Days of Pseudopolis, a book similar to The Shuttered Palace
• Century of the Cobra, current century in Djelibeybi
• Century of the Fruitbat (mentioned)

Locations

• Circle Sea
  • Ankh-Morpork
    • Assassins' Guild
      • Scorpion House
      • Viper House
    • Filigree Street
    • Street of Bookkeepers
    • Audit Alley
    • Young Men's Reformed-Cultists-of-the-Ichor-God-Bel-Shamharoth Association (mentioned)
    • Tinlid Alley
    • Haberdashers' Tower
    • Brass Bridge
• Djel (river)
• Djelibeybi
  • Knot (mentioned)
  • Hort, town that receives unexpected visit from Scrab
• Tsort
• Ephebe
• Nether Hells, where Orm is normally found (because he has too few worshipers to live at Dunmanifestin?)
• Ramtop Mountains (mentioned)
• Netherworld, where dead Djelibeybi royalty presumably goes
• Rim Ocean (mentioned)
• Howandaland (mentioned)
• Khali (mentioned)
  • Rhoxie (mentioned)
• Elharib (mentioned)
• Papylos, island (mentioned)
• Crinix, island (mentioned)
• Great Nef (mentioned)
  • Ee

Sentient Species

• Camels
• Humans

Supernatural Entities

• Death
• Ghosts
• The Gods
• The Sphinx

Roundworld Mentions

• Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram, a chart comparing stellar brightness to color

• Marie Celeste

Annotations

The Ephebian god turning himself into a "golden shower" parodies Zeus turning himself into a "shower of gold" to impregnate Danae. "Golden shower", on the other hand, is slang for urinating on someone for mutual sexual pleasure. This is why the expression "raised interesting questions about everyday night life in sophisticated Ephebe" in Teppic's mind.

"THIS? IT'S A SCYTHE." - Death reaps King Teppicymon's soul with a scythe, even though he normally uses a sword for kings.

Corgi pb p116: note the typo of a very minor character's name: Prince Imtebos becomes Imbetos in the same line. Doesn't matter too much, as the prince never appears again. This error may appear only in the first few print runs of the novel (1989-90) as good authority advises me it's been corrected in later editions.

A real devious link between Mort and Pyramids that never made the APF:

Mort, Corgi pb P247: "[the elephant] sniffed the distant dark continent of Klatch on the night breeze and, tail raised, followed the ancient call of home."

Pyramids, Corgi pb P147: "But the stables now held ... an elderly elephant whose presence was a bit of a mystery"

Actually confirmed by Terry

Gallery

First Edition Cover by Josh Kirby

Book Proof

'Letterbox' Hardback

New American Library, Cover by Daniel K. Sweet

Paperback 2004

Audio Cassette

Audio CD

Paperback ROC Publishing

US Cover 2000, 2013

Paperback 2012

Unseen Library Edition

Collectors Library Edition

Paperback 2023

External Links

Pyramids Annotations - The Annotated Pratchett File

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