In the eighth part of\u00c2\u00a0Feet of Clay<\/i>, the Watch makes some progress on the mystery. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Discworld<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
I feel close to something, but damn it, the golem meeting makes no sense to me.\u00c2\u00a0Yet.\u00c2\u00a0<\/i>I wrongly assumed that the meeting was of the unnamed group of people plotting to dispose of the Patrician, but this is something entirely different. This section was a lot of fun to read regardless, though, because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so much more like a crime novel than I expected. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one clue after another, one revelation after another, ONE BRAIN MELT AFTER ANOTHER.<\/p>\n
Mostly, though, I love that this section deliberately addresses the complication of golems. While they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not popular in Ankh-Morpork as they once used to be, there are places where they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still in use, namely in dangerous or gross jobs that no one wants. And they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re perfectly suited to that, since they just work and work without hesitation or concern until they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re done. Yet everyone believes the golems lack any intelligence or self-awareness; thus, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a\u00c2\u00a0huge<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0fan of Carrot\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s theory that they often refuse to think about their orders as a rebellion against their masters:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You know\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 someone shouts at it \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcGo and make teapots,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d so it does. Can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be blamed for obeying orders, sir. No one told them how many. No one wants them to think, so they get their own back by\u00c2\u00a0not<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0working.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153They rebel by\u00c2\u00a0working<\/i>?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just a thought, sir. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d make more sense to a golem, I expect.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n YES. I LOVE THIS. Why?<\/p>\n A voice inside, a voice which generally came to him only in the quiet hours of the night or, in the old days, half-way down a whiskey bottle, added:\u00c2\u00a0Given how we use them, maybe we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re scared because we know we deserve it\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an important part of their characterization. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy for everyone to assume the worst of the golems because they have a creepy reputation that is factually untrue. Has a golem ever killed a human? If not, then why does everyone project that kind of narrative on them?\u00c2\u00a0Because it<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy<\/i>. If humans assume golems are unthinking drones who deserve to do nothing but difficult, dangerous jobs, then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy to imagine that one day, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll get back at humans for that.<\/p>\n So what does that mean for the meeting that Angua discovered? Granted, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only the remnants of a meeting, but twelve golems who all work in different industries gathered in an underground warehouse. There, she discovers that the golems had a discussion by writing on the walls, and the messages are\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, a confusing mess. Some seem like the sort of things that would be written on their chems, while others are more proactive statements. (Is BRING US TO FRE the start of BRING US TO FREEDOM?) It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s almost as if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re comparing notes of what they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been ordered to do, and then talking about\u00c2\u00a0that<\/i>. So why draw lots??? What decision did they come to that meant that one of them would go to the Watch and turn themselves in? At this point, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t doubt that they know\u00c2\u00a0exactly<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0who killed Hopkinson and Tubelcek, but why protect them? What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so important?<\/p>\n I admit that this part of this section was the most interesting to me. Aside from these scenes, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got Nobby\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s extended existential crisis. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lovely surprise because\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, who else reacts to finding out they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got noble heritage by drinking themselves into unconsciousness? Nobby does. This occurs alongside a long bit in the Bucket, the Watch bar, where the three thieves from the beginning of the book try to rob the worst bar imaginable for them. I wonder if this is part of a running gag for the book or if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re part of something greater. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell right now, and it might be like the Henry Slugg scenes from\u00c2\u00a0Maskerade<\/i>, where they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just funny to me at first, but then part of a punch line later on. Regardless, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have much to say about the humor, though I did like that there were a few small moments that showed us what sort of discriminatory shit Angua has to put up with. Oh gods, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re werewolf microaggressions, aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t they??? THEY ARE.<\/p>\n Diane Duane is still offering a massive discount on the first 9 books in the\u00c2\u00a0Young Wizards<\/i>\u00c2\u00a0series just to this community, so please take advantage of this deal while you still can:<\/b><\/p>\n http:\/\/bit.ly\/markreadsYW<\/a><\/p>\n https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=r9nGBoEgHqc<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards.<\/b> In the eighth part of\u00c2\u00a0Feet of Clay, the Watch makes some progress on the mystery. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read\u00c2\u00a0Discworld.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[451],"tags":[517,463,248],"class_list":["post-3876","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-feet-of-clay","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-terry-pratchett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3876","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3876"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3876\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3876"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3876"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3876"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– I\u00c2\u00a0will be at numerous conventions in 2016! Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"