Hogfather
by Terry Pratchett,
Harper-Prism, 292 pages, $24.00
rating: Gosh-a-rooty!

This is the best Discworld novel since the last Discworld novel.  No,  I tell a lie, the last Discworld novel, Jingo, despite being about some of my favorite characters (Samuel Vimes and the Watch) wasn't quite up to snuff.  So let's call it the best Discworld novel since the last-but-one, which was Interesting Times.
    One of the recurring Discworld themes is "Death Takes a Holiday," only this time it's quite literal, as our favorite anthropic personification takes over for the missing Hogfather (Discworld's version of Kris Kringle) and tries to teach the world the real meaning of Chris--Hogswatch.  As with the best of the Discworld books, the ensuing chaos manages to be both sidesplittingly funny and profoundly moving, sometimes at one and the same time, which is no mean feat.