"Snuff" by Terry Pratchett

I got this book through a series of happenstances.  I found out at the last minute that Sir Terry Pratchett was doing his "final book tour" and would be in DC at the end of the week.  Days later I was at the booktalk and had dug up the funds to get a signed copy of the book from, and picture with, the author.  I treasure that photo, when Mr. Pratchett said I must be a librarian, as I had the Orangutan hair!  Unfortunately life intervened and the book sat on a shelf for nearly a decade.  I finally had time to read it this summer but I have struggled with it.  I have read none of the "Men At Arms" series of the Discworld novels and haven't, in fact, read any Discworld novels in nearly 20 years.  Jumping in at the middle as it were, I tried to catch up with the many characters and histories, including a version of Ankh-Morpork which seemed to be more Steam Punk than the mythical world I remember.  That being said, the character of Sam Vines was perfect for me in this place and time.  Sam Vines is a strong but flawed leader who is forced to take a vacation with his much smarter wife and inquisitive son.  I literally picked this book up on the first day of retirement when I was feeling a little lost.  Vimes' struggles matched my own.  Sir Terry's prose also remains excellent.  Take this line:  "Vimes also indulged in a rare cigar because, well, what good is a snooker room without smoke twisting among the lights and turning the air a desolate blue, the color of dead  hopes and lost chances?"  It is that prose, and his biting social commentary (this book features a group of creatures considered to be somehow "lesser" in the society, a perfect lesson for America in 2018) which made Sir Terry Pratchett a brilliant literary addition to the modern canon of fiction.  Bravo and RIP.  You are missed.