The Fifth Elephant: Terry Pratchett

The Discworld is very much like our own - if our own were to consist of a flat planet balanced on the back of four elephants which stand on the back of a giant turtle, that is . . .

`Well, he thought, so this is diplomacy. It`s lying, only for a better class of people.

They say that diplomacy is a gentle art. That mastering it is a lifetime`s work. But you do need a certain inclination in that direction. It`s not something you can just pick up on the job.

A few days ago Sam Vimes was a copper - an important copper, true - chief of police - but still, at his core, a policeman. But today he is an ambassador - to the mysterious, fat-rich country of Uberwald. Today, Sam Vimes is also a man on the run.

At some point during his ambassadorship, things went very wrong. It`s snowing. It`s freezing. And if Vimes can`t make it through the forest, with only his wits and the gloomy trousers of Uncle Vanya (don`t ask), there`s going to be a terrible war.

There are monsters on his trail. They`re bright. They`re fast. They`re werewolves - and they`re catching up.