In this tale of Ankh-Morpork, William de Worde, estranged and independent son of Lord de Worde, stumbles upon dwarves with a printing press and transforms his petty newsletter into the first major newspaper for the largest city in Discworld. In the midst of an investigation of the alleged attempt of murder by Lord Vetinari of his clerk, The Ankh-Morpork Times in its newest stages is carving a niche for itself, setting precedents for a free press, and learning to balance the ideas of justice and openness with the realities of what people are actually willing to read and the danger of stepping on the wrong people's toes.

The story is full of quirky characters and Pratchett's satirical asides. In fact, the beginning was so full of tangential commentary that I had difficulty getting into the story. It disrupted the flow at the beginning, although enjoyable in itself. For the satire alone, Pratchett is worth a read. After getting used to some of the odd characters (like his vampire photographer with a terrible reaction to flashes and the criminal with -ing liberally spicing his dialogue), the story picked up. The plot itself is one of the better ones in the series.

His co-worker Sacharissa Cripslock also appears in later books, Going Postal and Making Money. These two books are similar to The Truth in their introduction of new technology and production for the city.

related-newspapers, news vs entertaining stories, free press, detective stories, equal opportunity, politics
RL=YA-adult