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Book:The Fifth Elephant
Co-author(s) {{{coauthors}}}
Illustrator(s) {{{illustrator}}}
Publisher Doubleday
Publication date
ISBN 0385409958
Pages 289
RRP {{{rrp}}}
Main characters Sam Vimes, Sybil Ramkin, Inigo Skimmer, Angua von Überwald, Lady Margolotta, Carrot Ironfoundersson, Wolfgang von Überwald, the Low King
Series Watch Series
Annotations View
Notes
All data relates to the first UK edition.

Blurb

A Discworld novel of dwarfs, diplomacy, intrigue and big lumps of fat.

Sam Vimes is a man on the run. Yesterday he was a duke, a chief of police and the ambassador to the mysterious, fat-rich country of Überwald. Now he has nothing but his native wit and the gloomy trousers of Uncle Vanya (don't ask). It's snowing. It's freezing. And if he can't make it through the forest to civilization there's going to be a terrible war. But there are monsters on his trail. They're bright. They're fast. They're werewolves – and they're catching up. Sam Vimes is out of time, out of luck and already out of breath...

The story also contains a locked room mystery. Almost every fictional detective used to get lumbered with one of these in his or her career, some, like Ellery Queen seemed to trip over them almost weekly. This time it's Vimes' turn. The situation isn't helped by the fact that this is, as Sam works out almost at once, "A locked room where they left the bloody door open!"

Plot

This is the first Discworld novel to feature the Clacks, a network of semaphore towers used both for long-distance telegraph messages and short-distance communication in the city. The book begins with Fred Colon, having installed a Gasto on the Brass Bridge, demonstrating the system to All Jolson. Meanwhile, Samuel Vimes and Carrot Ironfoundersson arrive before Lord Vetinari. As the dwarfs are due to crown a new Low King of Überwald, Ankh-Morpork must send an ambassador, with the hope of receiving the King's favour and bargain prices for the country's wealth of fat and metal.

Carrot explains that tensions amongst dwarfs have been high, as King Rhys is a modern thinker amongst dwarfs, and for the first time the dwarf community (50,000 strong) in Ankh-Morpork has affected the selection process. Vimes prepares to depart, taking Sybil, Cheery Littlebottom, Detritus and a clerk Inigo Skimmer. Before he leaves, he learns of that someone has stolen a plaster replica of the Scone of Stone - the only legal throne of the Low King, and rubber manufacturer Wallace Sonky has been murdered, and both crime appear to be related. Meanwhile, Angua disappears, causing Carrot to resign his post and set out with Gaspode - the Disc's only talking dog - to find her.

On the way through the Wilinus Pass, the coaches are attacked by bandits but the group succeed in escaping the ambush, leaving behind Skimmer and seven dead bandits. At an inn, Skimmer arrives and confronts Vimes, who reveals the clerk to be an Assassin, although he is not on a contract to kill. Vimes and the delegation arrive in Bonk to learn that the real Scone of Stone has apparently been stolen and the man at the embassy, Wando Sleeps has disappeared. They meet an Igor, a faithful servant and talented surgeon.

The next day, Vimes travels underground to meet Dee, the King's Ideas Taster and the new King himself. The dwarfs deny that the Scone has been stolen. He then visits Lady Margolotta, of the vampire nobility, and the werewolfs Guye von Überwald and his wife Serafine, Angua's parents (both have Igors as servants). Back at the embassy, he discovers that their Igor has been attacked while unloading the coach, but nothing appears to have been taken. Sybil also discovers one of the walls is strangely thick and Vimes soon discovers Sleeps' hidden workshop, as he was a spy for Vetinari.

In the evening before a celebration ball, Vimes and Sybil discover the nearest Clacks Tower has been broken an the two operators are missing with no sign of a struggle. They meet Skimmer, who offers to send up a flare signal to call for the tower to be repaired. At the ball, Dee agrees to let Vimes and Cheery investigate the stolen Scone, and tells him that the Scone is being ransomed and can only be given back if Rhys steps aside for Albrecht Albrechtson, the runner-up. He discovers the security is not nearly as strong as the dwarfs hoped but in the end concludes that the Scone was not stolen, but destroyed and mixed up with the sand in the cave while a replica was made in Ankh-Morpork, with help from Sonky. Back upstairs, he sees a performance of the dwarf opera Bloodaxe and Ironhammer, and meets Angua's brother Wolfgang von Überwald, a werewolf demagogue. Suddenly, a chandelier is dislodged from the ceiling directly above the King, and Vimes rushes to pull the King out of the way and passes out, while Detritus catches several tons of candlestick.

Vimes wakes up to find himself in a cell. Dee explains that this is because he is suspected of being involved in a plot to assassinate the King, especially as Skimmer has been found dead above the chandelier (in actual fact, Skimmer was killed by werewolves back in the clacks tower, after he set off the flare). Vimes escapes, tries to climb up a shaft and is brought to beneath the sky by Margolotta. After resting and bathing in a pool, he is surrounded by a group of werewolves led by Wolfgang. Wolfgang forces the Commander to take part in The Game, in which he must make his way back to civilisation without being eaten (almost certain death). Before they begin, Wolfgang confirms Vimes' theory that while Dee destroyed the real Scone, the fake dwarf-bread Scone was made in Ankh-Morpork, smuggled in through their coaches and stolen when Igor was attacked.

After running for half an hour, Vimes acquires an axe and a pair of trousers. He manages to trap the werewolves in a burning barn but they escape and chase him to the river. He escapes in a boat surrounded by werewolves and manages to paddle away and fall over a waterfall into an icy lake. After a near-death experience, he fights and kills two werewolves with his bare hands, then swims ashore and climbs up a tree, where he fights another werewolf, but makes the mistake of hesitating with the final blow. He is saved by the timely arrival of Carrot, Angua, and pack of wolves led by Angua's old friend Gavin. While the wolves chase the werewolves away, Carrot and Vimes return to the embassy, to discover that Captain Tantony and the guard around the building have allowed Sybil to go off with Serafine.

Bringing Detritus and the wolves with them, they confront the castle. After he is reunited with Sybil, they turn to leave, only to discover that the guards have arrived since Tantony has taken Vimes' complaints too seriously. He tries to confront the werewolves and is attacked by Wolfgang, but first Carrot, then Gavin and finally Gaspode come to bring down the werewolf. Wolfgang, Gavin and Gaspode fall over the bridge down a waterfall, where Gavin dies but Gaspode escapes to return to Ankh-Morpork. Serafine finally hands him the dwarf-bread replica.

Vimes arrives at the embassy and surrenders himself to the dwarfs, just as the Clacks tower is reactivated. They bring him to the King, who gets Albrechtson to test the Scone. Although Dee tries to convince him it is a fake, Albrechtson confirms it to be the true Scone, but Vimes is still unconvinced. King Rhys explains that dwarf bread cannot last more than a few centuries, and the Scone that was destroyed is the fifth in a line of replicas, so now the dwarf-bread replica is in fact the true throne of the King. Dee is exposed as a traitor, and Vimes is just about able to mention that Ankh-Morpork wants Fat, before he falls asleep while Sybil leads the negotiation.

The next morning, Vimes is worried that Wolfgang will return. Sure enough, the werewolf kills Igor and proceeds to attack the convalescent Carrot then flees after being confronted by Angua. Since the embassy is legally Ankh-Morpork territory, Vimes reasons that he can legally follow the werewolf (the "rule of hot persuit" allows watchman to chase and apprehend criminals outside of the city territory) and chases the rampaging werewolf through the streets of Bonk. He confronts Wolfgang by a statue of the Fifth Elephant and throws him a "a silly firework", but with the propellant cut down. Wolfgang makes the mistake of catching the flare like a dog, and dies when it detonates. Margolotta later explains to Vimes that she rescued Wolfgang from the bottom of the waterfall just as she did him, as "he would have come back in the end" so therefore it would have been better to finish him off quickly.

At the coronation, and the newly crowned Low King rewards Cheery and Detritus with gold and a handshake, Sybil with a ring of Silver (which was illegal up until now), and Vimes with a dwarf axe. On the way home, they a joined by a young Igor who is "too modern for Überwald" due to his interest in genetic modification. While Vimes and Sybil take a long journey home, Carrot and Angua bring Igor to Ankh-Morpork to join the Watch, only to find it in disarray due to Acting-Captain Colon's completely incompetent management. Carrot blames himself and starts to repair the Watch.

Subplots

  • After Carrot leaves Fred Colon in charge as Acting Captain, Fred Colon manages to single-handedly reduce the Watch from sixty to five members with his antics, which include:
    • Being paranoid over the decreasing number of sugar cubes
    • Sacking a number of officers and demoting some others
    • Jumping out on Visit
    • Fussing over the mug he uses for tea
    • Burning all the paperwork on Vimes' desk
    • Ignoring the murder of Sonky
    • Insulting the dwarfs and trolls

Most of the watchmen go on strike and join Nobby Nobbs's Guild of Watchmen (completely legalised by Vetinari). Meanwhile, the crime in the city stops entirely, as the entire criminal population fears the anger of the Commander when he returns.

  • Carrot and Gaspode's pursuit of Angua, armed only with Gaspode's ability to communicate with both humans and wolves and with Carrot's intimidating "faint smile". After discovering a farmer who has had his chickens attacked and paid for, they rescue a rather stupid wolf from being baited by dogs. Gaspode persuades the wolf to stage himself being killed by a single dog's bark, then scarper with the wolf. After journeying through the foothills with hardly any food, they are surrounded by wolves, who turn out to be led by Angua and Gavin.

Characters

Main characters

Minor Characters

Cameos and Mentions

Locations

Things and Concepts

External links

The Fifth Elephant Annotations - The Annotated Pratchett File


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Carpe Jugulum

Discworld Series Next book

The Truth

Previous book

Jingo

Watch Series Next book

Night Watch

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