The Barnes & Noble ReviewA New DiscworldHumorous fantasist Terry Pratchett returns to his beloved and bestselling Discworld, a flat land of untamed imagination where all manner of oddities and absurdities take place. Jingo, the previous novel in the series, Pratchett made full use of his dry wit to take a ludicrous look at the topic of war. Now, in his own inimitable fashion, the author turns his mighty talents to satirizing the Santa Claus myth in Hogfather, where he shows us the ridiculous extent that some will go to in order to destroy, and preserve, the season of giving. When a bizarre race known only as the Auditors (of reality) decide they want the Hogfather -- Discworld's version of Santa Claus -- rubbed out, they approach the Assassin's Guild, who soon put one of their strangest agents on the task of killing what has always been believed to be a myth. Mr. Teatime is extremely adept at his profession, and the fact that he's completely out of his mind seems only to enhance his already formidable capabilities. Although we soon learn that the Hogfather is only an "anthropomorphic personality," he, like the Tooth Fairy and Death itself, is indeed quite real.Death, who's still highly intrigued with humanity, decides to replace the Hogfather, doing his best to spread a little cheer. With a fake beard on his fleshless skull, he takes to the sleigh and the four giant hogs on Hogwatch night to hand out toys to all the good Discworld boys and girls. Soon his granddaughter, Susan Sto-Helit, becomes enmeshed in Death's attempt to take over this job, so different from the one he's used todoing. As a governess who's tried her very best to turn her back on the exploits of her grandpa Death, she's constantly at war with the bogeymen that creep into the children's dreams, and eventually she realizes that only she can help put the Hogfather back in his rightful