Jingo

Discworld, Book 21

By: Terry Pratchett

Narrated by: Jon Culshaw, Peter Serafinowicz, Bill Nighy

Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

The audiobook of Jingo is narrated by impressionist and actor Jon Culshaw, best known for BBC Radio 4’s Dead Ringers, and for the Doctor Who audiobooks and dramas. BAFTA and Golden Globe award-winning actor Bill Nighy (Love Actually; Pirates of the Caribbean; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) reads the footnotes, and Peter Serafinowicz (Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace; Shaun of the Dead) stars as the voice of Death. Featuring a new theme tune composed by James Hannigan.

'IT WAS SO MUCH EASIER TO BLAME IT ON THEM. IT WAS BLEAKLY DEPRESSING TO THINK THAT THEY WERE US.'

War is brewing on the Discworld.

An island has appeared from the ocean depths, right in the middle of the sea which separates the proud empires of Klatch and Ankh-Morpork. Of course, no one would dream of starting a war with the neighbours without a perfectly good reason… such as a 'strategic' piece of old rock, for instance.

But when a Klatchian Prince is almost assassinated, peace talks break down and violent nationalism begins to spread. Ankh-Morpork prepares to fight. Only thing is, they don't have an army. Or much in the way of weapons.

Commander Sam Vimes and the 'officially disbanded' City Watch get caught up in a deadly political game where the enemy appears to be on both sides and no one will listen to reason.

And if they don't stop this absurd war, no one will…

Jingo is the fourth book in the City Watch series, but you can listen to the Discworld novels in any order.

The first book in the Discworld series - The Colour of Magic - was published in 1983. Some elements of the Discworld universe may reflect this.

©1997 Dunmanifestin Ltd (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Generous, amusing and the ideal boarding point for those who have never visited Discworld." (Sunday Telegraph)

Worst, narration, ever!

It is difficult to tell whether this would be a good book because their narration was so terrible. We have listen to several dozen Pratchett bucks, and the narrator makes all the difference. this one could not capture the comedic sense of the text at all. It was very flat. please do not let him narrate anymore.

Different take on narration, still great

Narrator emphasizes the gruff and gritty nature of the books, which in some cases adds interesting dynamics. Maybe missing a little silliness and charm of the older versions, but still a wonderful audio experience. Pratchett’s unique insight and humor still shine through in this captivating action novel. Nobby nobs and Fred colon will always be an incredible vehicle for comedy. Can’t recommend the night watch series of discworld enough.

It was great, narration could be better

I don’t know if it was actually written in the book this way but the book was interrupted by footnotes that took away from the experience

relevance

surprises, yet characters stay true to form. " random words to fill up the 15 word minimum"

Hilarious

Fantastic book with a fantastic performance. A great entry point for disc world and Terry Pratchett 

I miss Stephen Briggs

story is not as good as some Pratchett, and this narrator is just not as good as the older Stephen Briggs ones.

Missing Stephen Briggs

Another great Discworld story, and the narration is fine. But much like other things, comparison is everything. Briggs is the voice of Discworld to me, and I miss him terribly on a story like this. Would have added so much to the title.

The Story Is Good, The Narration Misses The Mark

I've been a fan of Pratchett's Discworld books for a long time, and I've heard all of the Stephen Briggs and Nigel Planer readings. Jingo, unfortunately, misses the point of the Discworld series. Humor. Oh, the story is fine, and it is somewhat dark in tone, but Pratchett always injected humor, often in the form of wordplay, that's just missed here. Overall, I'd probably have to steer fans away from this version and toward the print book as the humor will be much more obvious there.

Narration seems to strip all the humor

I feel so disappointed, and after waiting all this time! I don’t understand how anyone could read the words of Terry Pratchett and make them so unfunny. This narrator’s voice is fabulous, and he is probably a talented actor. But whoever directed and produced this performance did not create an audio experience captured the author’s wonderful humor. I wish I could get a refund. *sad face*

Very entertaining

I read several negative reviews about the performance so I came in with low expectations. I am happy to say that I don’t see why there have been so many comments about the tone and pacing. While it is not a perfect performance, it is a good one. I will definitely be listening to this one again.