Soul Music by Terry Pratchett

Review by The Mole

Imp Y Celyn is a strolling musician who finds himself in Ankh-Morpork but when he tries to earn a crust the Musicians Guild steps in and stops him performing. He meets C.M.O.T. Dibbler who decides that Imp Y Celyn, along with a dwarf and a troll, should form a rock band called "The Band With Rocks In" and tour the Discworld. After a performance Imp Y Celyn (who adopts the name Buddy) decides that something is missing from their sound and invites the librarian from the Unseen University to join them on keyboards. Meanwhile it appears that Buddy's name has come to Death's list but Death has taken a holiday and left Susan holding the list. Things never seem to go well for Susan, and what is one more messed up time line?

Presenting a very cynical view of music management Pratchett places Dibbler in a perfect role. And in Buddy he casts the extreme, the artist who sees money as dirty and just wants to eat, sleep, perform, repeat.

Many of the names and songs reference real historic artists and tracks and done in a subtle way that you have to be careful not to miss. Imp Y Celyn for example is Welsh and translates as something close to "bud of the holly".

At first this plot felt so un-Discworld that I seriously thought Pratchett was running out of ideas but he amazed me by crafting into it our favourite characters and staying true to Discworld so well that I loved yet another of the series.