Book:Pyramids

Pyramids
Cover art by Josh Kirby
Co-author(s)
Illustrator(s)
Publisher	Victor Gollancz
Publication date	June 1989
ISBN	0575044632
Pages	288
RRP
Main characters	Teppic, Dios, Ptraci
Series	Discworld Series
Annotations	View
Notes	Book #07
All data relates to the first UK edition.

Blurb

Being trained by the Assassins' Guild in Ankh-Morpork did not fit Teppic for the task assigned to him by fate. He inherited the throne of the desert kingdom of Djelibeybi rather earlier than he expected (his father wasn't too happy about it either), but that was only the beginning of his problems ...

Books

Divided into four books:

Book I: The Book of Going Forth

Book II: The Book of the Dead

Book III: The Book of the New Son

Book IV: The Book of 101 Things A Boy Can Do

Major Characters

Minor Characters

Mericet
King Pteppicymon XXVII, Teppic's father and king of Djelibeybi
Death
Fliemoe
Arthur Ludorum, son of Johan Ludorum
Cheesewright
Dil, the embalmer (puns on "dill pickle", since "pickle" is slang for "embalm")
Gern, Dil's apprentice
Ptaclusp, architect
Ptaclusp IIa, son of Ptaclusp
Ptaclusp IIb, son of Ptaclusp
Grinjer, model maker
You Bastard, camel, disc's greatest mathematician
Ephebian philosophers
- Xeno, parodying Zeno
- Ibid, a philosopher, perhaps repetitive
- Pthagonal, parodies Pythagoras
- Copolymer, greatest storyteller in the history of the world
- Iesope, greatest fable teller in the world, parodying Aesop
- Antiphon, greatest comic play writer in the world, a parody of Aristophanes - "Antiphon" is loosely translatable as "jarring"
- Endos, the Listener

Cameos and Mentions

Blind Io (mentioned)
Uncle Vyrt, Teppic's assassin uncle
Lady Nooni, Djelibeybi noblewoman
Artela, Teppic's mother
Lord Fhem-pta-hem, Djelibeybi nobleman
Khuft, founder of Djelibeybi
Orm, a god with only two worshipers
Offler (mentioned)
Snoxall, student assassin
Mother Goddess (mentioned)
Dr Cruces, head tutor of the Assassins' Guild
Jahmet, servant who discovers King Teppicymon's body
Hoot Koomi, high priest of Khefin
Mrs Collar, Teppic's bedder in sixth form
Glwenda, garlic farmer's daughter that Gern is pursuing
Mrs Ptaclusp (mentioned)
Former rulers of Djelibeybi
- Queen Khaput
- King Pta-ka-ba
- Queen Khat-leon-ra-pta
- King Kheneth XIV (note resemblance to English name "Kenneth")
- Queen Far-re-ptah aka "Grandma Pooney"
- King Ashk-ur-men-tep
- King Psam-nut-kha ("some nut case"?)
Gods of Djelibeybi
- Sun Gods
  - Yay, who has lost his toenails (or perhaps his hot-air paint stripper)
  - Nesh, goddess
  - Cephnet
  - Scrab, Pusher of the Ball of the Sun, a dung beetle
  - Thrrp, Charioteer of the Sun
  - Jeht, Boatman of the Solar Orb
  - Gil
- Supreme Gods
  - Net
  - Fon
  - Hast
  - Set
  - Bin
  - Sot
  - Ic
  - Dhek
  - Ptooie
- World of Dead rulers
  - Herpetine Triskeles
  - Syncope
  - Silur, the Catfish-Headed God
  - Orexis-Nupt
- Other gods
  - Hat, the Vulture-Headed God of Unexpected Guests
  - Eater of Souls
  - Bast, the Cat-Headed God
  - Nept, sky goddess
  - Vut, the Dog-Headed God of the Evening
  - Ket, God of Justice
  - Cephut, God of Cutlery
  - Sessifet, Goddess of the Afternoon
  - Sarduk, Goddess of Caves
  - Bunu, Goat-headed God of Goats
  - Tzut, Snake-Headed God of the Upper Djel
  - Fhez, Crocodile-Headed God of the Lower Djel
  - Teg, the Horse-Headed God of Agriculture
  - Juf, the Cobra-Headed God of Papyrus
  - Chefet, Dog-Headed God of Metalwork
Rhumusphut and Ktoffle, disputing farmers
Ptorne, farmer with dispute against his landlord Prince Imtebos
Rthur, fresco painter
Evil-Smelling-Bugger, greatest camel mathematician of all time (and thus probably no longer alive, since You Bastard now holds the title?) (mentioned)
Bloody Stupid, camel
You Vicious Brute, camel who came up with the Theory of Transient Integrals
Elenor, from the Tsortean Wars
Melycanus, confused with Lavaelous
Seriph of Al-Khali (mentioned)
Alfonz, pirate working for Chidder
Heme Krona, a used camel salesman, owner of Camels-R-Us
Autocue, Ephebian soldier
Patricio, former despot of Quirm, client of Assassins' Guild
Ice Giants (mentioned)
Cleph-ptah-re, briefly heir apparent to the throne of Djelibeybi

Things and Concepts

Assassins' Guild classes
- Strategy and Poison Theory, taught by Mericet
- Traps and Deadfalls, taught by Grunworth Nivor, a fat and jolly assassin, who is also the housemaster
- Modern Languages and Music, taught by Kompt de Yoyo, who is also a keen edificeer. This class emphasizes how the Assassins' Guild offers a good all around education.
- Political Expediency, taught by Lady T'malia
Cordati, assassin manual
Tlingas, assassin weapon
Poisons and antidotes
- wasp agaric (poison administered by ear)
- Achorion purple (poison administered by ear)
- Mustick (poison administered by ear)
- spime (antidote to some snake venoms)
- bloat, poison extracted from the deep sea blowfish (singularis minutia gigantica)
Wallgame, game played by assassins, involving edificing
Dr Mooner's Travelling Take Your Breath Away Emporium, a fun house / hall of mirrors
The Shuttered Palace, a guide to sexual positions (similar to the Kama Sutra)
A Wizard's Staff Has A Knob On The End, song
Year of the Engaging Sloth, Ankh-Morpork name for a given year
Smugglers' Guild (mentioned)
Assassins' Ball (mentioned)
Guild of Embalmers and Allied Trades (mentioned)
Vanglemesht and Laotation, languages Teppic learned
Seedtime, Inundation, and Sog, seasons observed by river valley cultures
The Book of Staying in The Pit, which says the sun is the eye of Yay
Guild of Plumbers and Dunnikindivers (mentioned)
Little Pieces for Tiny Fingers, book of dulcimer music
Catharti Death Grip, assassin technique
Goblins Picnic, song
.303 bookworm, fastest insect in the world
Ambiguous Puzuma, fastest animal in the world
Principles of Ideal Government, book written by Ibid
Discourse on Historical Inevitability, book written by Ibid
Tsortean Wars (mentioned)
130 Days of Pseudopolis, a book similar to The Shuttered Palace
Century of the Cobra, current century in Djelibeybi
Century of the Fruitbat (mentioned)

Locations

Circle Sea
- Ankh-Morpork
Djel (river)
Djelibeybi
- Knot (mentioned)
- Hort, town that receives unexpected visit from Scrab
Tsort
Ephebe
Nether Hells, where Orm is normally found (because he has too few worshipers to live at Dunmanifestin?)
Ramtop Mountains (mentioned)
Netherworld, where dead Djelibeybi royalty presumably goes
Rim Ocean (mentioned)
Howandaland (mentioned)
Khali (mentioned)
- Rhoxie (mentioned)
Elharib (mentioned)
Papylos, island (mentioned)
Crinix, island (mentioned)
Great Nef (mentioned)
- Ee

Sentient Species

Supernatural Entities

Roundworld Mentions

Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram, a chart comparing stellar brightness to color

Marie Celeste

Annotations

The Ephebian god turning himself into a "golden shower" parodies Zeus turning himself into a "shower of gold" to impregnate Danae. "Golden shower", on the other hand, is slang for urinating on someone for mutual sexual pleasure. This is why the expression "raised interesting questions about everyday night life in sophisticated Ephebe" in Teppic's mind.

"THIS? IT'S A SCYTHE." - Death reaps King Teppicymon's soul with a scythe, even though he normally uses a sword for kings.

Corgi pb p116: note the typo of a very minor character's name: Prince Imtebos becomes Imbetos in the same line. Doesn't matter too much, as the prince never appears again. This error may appear only in the first few print runs of the novel (1989-90) as good authority advises me it's been corrected in later editions.

A real devious link between Mort and Pyramids that never made the APF:

Mort, Corgi pb P247: "[the elephant] sniffed the distant dark continent of Klatch on the night breeze and, tail raised, followed the ancient call of home."

Pyramids, Corgi pb P147: "But the stables now held ... an elderly elephant whose presence was a bit of a mystery"

Actually confirmed by Terry