The Last Continent

By Terry Pratchett

Rincewind is off on another of his involuntary adventures, this time on XXXX aka Fourecks, the Discworld equivalent of Australia. Or not, as the author explains in the front of the book, "This is not a book about Australia. No, it's about somewhere entirely different which just happens to be, here and there, a bit . . . australian. Still . . . no worries, right?"
Rincewind's arrival was predicted and he is expected to save Fourecks, helped out by his usual weird lucky bad luck. And by a disappearing kangaroo who calls himself Scrappy.
Meanwhile, back in Ankh-Morpork, the Librarian is quite ill. He keeps changing shape, involuntarily. The wizards want to work a spell on him but in order to do so, they need to know his true name. But the Librarian refuses to reveal his name because he likes being an orangutan and he is afraid the wizards will make him human again. But none of the wizards know the Librarian's name. In fact, the only one, other than the actual Librarian, who might know his name is Rincewind, who used to be the Librarian's assistant.
The wizards are not sure how to get Rincewind back to the Unseen University. Before they figure it out, they discover a passageway in a bathroom that leads to a tropical island. Of course, they all have to go there. And of course, they all get stuck there when the housekeeper shuts the passageway unknowingly and trapping them all, including herself, on a tiny island in the distant past, inhabited by a strange little god who is trying to invent evolution and failing massively.
So what does it all have to do with Rincewind? Quite a lot. But first Rincewind has to survive living in XXXX.

This was a good story. There is a dwarf who is based on the Mad Max movie character. There is a bartender who a crocodile, called Crocodile Crocodile and the scene from the Crocodile Dundee movie, "you call that a knife" appears in the story. There is a nod to the movie, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and the song Waltzing Matilda. And that Australian criminal that faced down the police in a suit of homemade armor, Ned Kelly, gets in the story, sort of. I suppose there are even more references that I didn't catch.
I think Mr. Pratchett had a lot of fun writing this story.

Breed To Come

By Andre Norton

Humankind long ago abandoned their home planet after they managed to imperial their very existence on it. Left behind were the animals who were subject to their cruel experiments, dogs, cats, rats and swine.
Left to their own devices, the animal clans increased in intelligence, creating their own societies and gleaning knowledge from the empty cities left behind by humankind.
Furtig, a young catman, has left his home and gone off to the human city in search of knowledge and in search of his relative, the wise cat Gammage. Gammage has spent much time in the city trying to understand the human technology and use it to better the lives of his fellow cat people. But, as a result of his studies, he has come to fear that the humans will soon be returning to their world. And he fears they will once again cruelly rule those they left behind, the dogs, the cats, the rats and the pigs. Who are no longer mere animals. And who just may have a plan to fight back.

This was an OK read. Just how Gammage is so certain the humans are due to shortly return is never clearly explained. And when they humans do return, it is only four people who are searching for a cure to another human-created blight that is once again threatening human existence. They just can't manage to do anything right, the poor stupid unworthy humans.

Review by Kirkus Reviews.

The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax

By Dorothy Gilman

The first Mrs. Pollifax novel.

Mrs. Pollifax is depressed, so much so that she briefly contemplated jumping off the roof of the apartment building where she lives. But a visit to her doctor recalls to mind that when she was a youngster, she wanted to be a spy.
Having nothing to lose, she pays a visit to CIA headquarters and, in a case of mistaken identity, finds herself assigned to be a courier in Mexico City.
Naturally, Mrs P. disobeys her instructions and visits her contact at a bookstore before the appointed time, just to take a look around, don't you know. She has a pleasant visit with the bookstore clerk. She returns to the store on the assigned day, only to find someone else manning the store. This man kindly invites her to join him in a cup of tea and she ends up drugged and tied up and hauled off along with another person to Albania.
The other person, Farrell, is one of the CIA's agents in Central America. But Mrs. P maintains her cover as an innocent tourist who is being mistaken for someone she is not. Farrell is cruelly interrogated by their communist captors and manages to briefly escape, only to be recaptured, having been shot and with a broken leg from a fall down a cliff. Mrs. P and Farrell know that their days are numbered. Their only hope is to escape. But Farrell is too injured to travel and Mrs Pollifax refuses to even think of going without him.

I read this book decades ago and I didn't really remember anything about it. So rereading it was like reading it for the first time. It's an improbable story and everyone's failure to realize that Mrs. Pollifax unknowingly had the sought-after  documents was more than a little unbelievable. But it was an interesting read and I understand how it lead me to read more of the Mrs. Pollifax books at the time. Although I don't think it would have had the same effect on me now, being a lot older and lot less easily impressed.

Review by Kirkus Reviews.

Interesting Times

By Terry Pratchett

Rincewind is off on another adventure when he finds himself magically transported to the land of Twoflower, the innocent tourist from The Color of Magic.
When Twoflower arrived back home, he wrote a travel book describing the wonders of Ankh-Morpork and incidentally creating much dissatisfaction in the denizens of the Agatean Empire. A revolution is in the making, helped along surreptitiously by Lord Hong, the Grand Vizier to the elderly emperor. Lord Hong has grand ambitions and envious eyes on Ankh-Morpork.
The wizards of the Unseen University have been instructed to send the "great wizzard" to the Agatean Empire. The only wizard who spells it "wizzard" is Rincewind and so Rincewind is summarily snatched and instantaneously sent thence, only to end up in prison next to his old traveling companion, Twoflower. Together the two of them and a few young, idealistic followers will overthrow an empire and reanimate an ancient, long buried army.

This is one of the better Rincewind stories. The plot is more solid and a less chaotic than most Rincewind stories. The social commentary manages to stay amusing while being quite pointed. It has a very intriguing ending, with Rincewind finding himself transported to the continent of XXXX, the Discworld equivalent to Australia where he has an immediate encounter with a boomerang.

Review by Publishers Weekly.