Book:The Last Continent

The Last Continent
Cover art by Josh Kirby
Co-author(s)
Illustrator(s)
Publisher	Doubleday
Publication date	May 1998
ISBN	0552146145
Pages	416
RRP
Main characters	Rincewind, Mrs. Whitlow
Series	Rincewind Series
Annotations	View
Notes
All data relates to the first UK edition.

Blurb

This is the Discworld's last continent, a completely separate creation.

It's hot. It's dry... very dry. There was this thing once called The Wet, which no one now believes in. Practically everything that's not poisonous is venomous. But it's the best bloody place in the world, all right?

And it'll die in a few days. Except...

Who is this hero striding across the red desert? Champion sheep shearer, horse rider, road warrior, beer drinker, bush ranger and someone who'll even eat a Meat Pie Floater when he's sober? A man in a hat, whose Luggage follows him on little legs, who's about to change history by preventing a swagman stealing a jumbuck by a billabong?

Yes... all this place has between itself and wind-blown doom is Rincewind, the inept wizard who can't even spell wizard. He's the only hero left.

Still... no worries, eh?

Characters

Main Characters

Rincewind
Mustrum Ridcully
The Librarian
The Senior Wrangler
The Dean
The Bursar
The Chair of Indefinite Studies
The Lecturer in Recent Runes
Ponder Stibbons
Mrs. Whitlow
Creator of XXXX
God of Evolution
Trickster, also known as Scrappy and Snowy

Minor Characters

Strewth, a miner whose name is the Australian expression for "God's truth"
Hex
Death
Mad, a dwarf
Crocodile Crocodile, a barman aka Dongo
The Luggage
Petunia the Desert Princess, transvestite group, consisting of:
- Letitia
- Darleen, who sings Prancing Queen, a parody of ABBA's Dancing Queen
- Neilette, an actual woman
- Noelene, Neilette's brother, who dropped out after trying to surf in a ball gown
Bill Rincewind, Archchancellor of Bugarup University
B. Smoth, Dean of Bugarup University

Cameos and People Mentioned

McAbre, the head bledlow
Doughnut Jimmy (mentioned)
Swallett, wizard who led expedition to find Lost Reading Room
Professor of Recondite Architecture and Origami Map Folding
Egregious Professor of Cruel and Unusual Geography (mentioned), a title later held by Rincewind
Wally Sluvver, a wizard who gave lectures post-mortem (no one noticed)
Lecturer in Creative Uncertainty, the Discworld equivalent of quantum mechanics
Sir Roderick Purdeigh, explorer who searched for XXXX and claimed it didn't exist (but also once got lost in his own bedroom...)
Death of Rats
Albert
Bewdley, former Archchancellor with a magic hole in his boots
Medley, a medical kleptomaniac (mentioned)
Hoki, god (mentioned)
Creator of the Disc (mentioned)
Ossory (mentioned in an expression)
Hollowlog Joe, drinker in bar
Queen Zazumba of Sumtri (mentioned)
Daggy, sheep shearer
Remorse, a man who owns a fast colt and purchases Snowy
Clancy, a stock man who works for Remorse and helps invent XXXX-ian slang
Tinhead Ned (mentioned), famous escape artist, parodying Ned Kelly
Fair Go Dibbler
Duncan, friend of Fair Go's, who explains "Duncan's me mate", from the Slim Dusty song Duncan
Greg and Vince, troll-like gaolers
Larrikin Larry, criminal whose head flew off like a cork when he was hanged
"Dicky" Bird (mentioned), wizard particularly sensitive to high magical fields
Dibblers around the Disc (mentioned; most of these do not appear in any other book)
- Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler (several books)
- Disembowel-Meself-Honourably Dibhala (from Interesting Times)
- Al-Jiblah
- May-I-Never-Achieve-Enlightenment Dhiblang
- Dib Diblossonson
- May-I-Be-Kicked-In-My-Own-Ice-Hole Dibooki
- Swallow-Me-Own-Blowdart Dlang-Dlang
Ly Tin Wheedle (mentioned)
Charley, a cook depressed at the concept of naming a dessert after famed opera singer Dame Nellie Butt, especially since his father created the Orange Ormulu in honor of Dame Janine Ormulu
Nunco, who invented the Strawberry Sackville for Dame Wendy Sackville
Imposo, who created the Apple Glazier for Dame Margyreen Glazier
Lisa Delight, retired opera singer
Ron and Sid, opera house chefs
Ronald Pants aka "Really" Pants (mentioned)
Farter Carter (mentioned; probably not his real name)
Trusset, a wizard with good hair, contemporary of Ponder Stibbons
"Rubber" Houser, wizard who invented the Graphical Device
Cartwright, an XXXX-ian wizard
Salid, an artist (possibly a wizard artist?)
Clive, Shirl, and Gerleen, XXXX-ers who wish to emigrate to Ankh-Morpork
Germaine Trifle, opera singer
Bluey, XXXX-ian watchman

Locations

Ankh-Morpork
- The Unseen University
- Museum of Quite Unusual Things (mentioned)
- High Energy Magic Building (mentioned)
- Library
- Lost Reading Room (mentioned)
- Room 5b (mentioned)
- Moon Pond Lane (mentioned), Librarian's birth street
- Opera House (mentioned; when stranded on a deserted island, the Dean wishes to listen to the music there), not to be confused with the Bugarup Opera House mentioned below
XXXX
- Dijabringabeeralong
- Semaphore Hill (mentioned)
- Bugarup
- Bugarup Gaol
- Berk Street (mentioned)
- Bludgeree (mentioned), area of town(?) where Fair Go Dibbler was born
- Treacle Street (mentioned), Fair Go Dibbler's birth street
- Opera House
- Grurt Street (mentioned)
- Bugarup University
- Pastoral Hotel (mentioned)
- Cangoolie (mentioned), parodies Kalgoorlie
- Worralorrasurfa, Neilette's home town
Mono Island, an island near XXXX similar to New Zealand
Slakki and Purdee Island, nudist islands
Quirm (mentioned)
- Kiddling Street (mentioned)
Klatch (mentioned)
Omnia (mentioned)
NoThingfjord (mentioned), Mad's home town
Sumtri (mentioned)
Bhangbhangduc (mentioned), a place whose name parodies "bang! bang! duck" (ie, telling someone to duck after bullets have been shot)
Quint, city destroyed by God of Evolution

Concepts, Items, Events

slood (mentioned)
Ceremony of the Keys, parodying the Roundworld events with the same name.
L-Space
Weezencake's Unreliable Algorithm
How to Dynamically Manage People for Dynamic Results in a Caring Empowering Way in Quite a Short Time Dynamically, a truly hideous book from another universe
droit de mortis, killing senior wizards to speed promotion
Old Tom, university's tongueless clock
Wasport's Lives of the Very Dull People, a book
Wrencher's Snakes of All Nations, a book
Dangerous Mammals, Reptiles, Amphibians, Birds, Fish, Jellyfish, Insects, Spiders, Crustaceans, Grasses, Trees, Mosses, and Lichens of Terror Incognita, an encyclopedia with at least 29 volumes (probably many more, as the volumes are further broken down by letter and number, eg, "29c, part 3")
drop-bears
Principles of Thaumic Propagation, a studious book that turns into The Omega Conspiracy, a frivolous book
Theoretical frivolous books working along the same general lines:-
- The Gamma Imperative
- The Delta Season
- The Alpha Project
- The Mu Kappa Pi Caper
dwarf bread
the Triangle, a constellation
The Small Boring Group of Faint Stars, a constellation
The Thunder Lizard, an animal that killed the original Egregious Professor of Cruel and Unusual Geography, but later turned into a chicken. A literal translation into Greek of the term "Thunder Lizard" is Brontosaurus. And it is thought birds evolved from dinosaurs.
Roo Beer, a light sparkly (but still quite alcoholic) beer
the Sapu Tree, a carnivorous plant
Sledgehammer Plant of Bhangbhangduc, a carnivorous plant
Pyramid Strangler Vine, a normally vegetarian plant
Two Up, game, parodying the Roundworld game of the same name
Tie My Kangaroo Up, a song parodying Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport
squid, unit of currency (probably parodies 'quid', slang term for British pound) The pound (£AUS) was the unit of currency in Australia until supplanted by the dollar ($AUS) in the 1950's.
Mugroop's Syndrome, symptom of high magical field
meat pie floater, XXXX specialty cuisine
Peach Nellie, a dessert
The Galah, a Fourecksian celebration of human diversity.
Funnelweb, a type of beer, parodying Redback Beer (both named after spiders)
Maxwell's Impressive Separator and Bonza Charlie's Beaut Sieve, two similar spells that can separate two things (eg, salt and water from saltwater)
HW chromosome, something wizards lack (HW = housework?)