#21 in Humour
The Fifth Elephant
- 415
- Pages
- about 8 h
- Reading time
- The Big Read
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Our view
“The Fifth Elephant” breaks from the pattern of the earlier City Watch novels and is the better for it. A detective plot runs through politics, dwarf custom, werewolves and vampires; Vimes is in top form, and characters who had stood at the edge of previous books, Sybil above all, get room and a will of their own. Coming twenty-three books into Discworld, it is funniest for readers who already know the Watch.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
The Fifth Elephant is a 1999 fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the 24th book in the Discworld series. It introduces the clacks, a long-distance semaphore system.
Reading order · Discworld
Full order & progress →- The Colour of Magic
7.77.7 / 10 - The Light Fantastic
7.87.8 / 10 - Equal Rites
8.08.0 / 10 - Mort
8.38.3 / 10 - Sourcery
7.77.7 / 10 - Wyrd Sisters
8.08.0 / 10 - Pyramids
7.67.6 / 10 - Guards! Guards!Start here
8.58.5 / 10 - Eric
7.47.4 / 10 - Moving Pictures
7.87.8 / 10 - Reaper Man
8.38.3 / 10 - Witches Abroad
8.28.2 / 10 - Small Gods
8.58.5 / 10 - Lords and Ladies
8.28.2 / 10 - Men at Arms
8.68.6 / 10 - Soul Music
7.97.9 / 10 - Interesting Times
8.18.1 / 10 - Maskerade
8.08.0 / 10 - Feet of Clay
8.58.5 / 10 - Hogfather
8.38.3 / 10 - Jingo
8.28.2 / 10 - The Last Continent
7.97.9 / 10 - Carpe Jugulum
8.08.0 / 10 - The Fifth ElephantThis book
8.48.4 / 10 - The Truth
8.48.4 / 10 - Thief of Time
8.38.3 / 10 - The Last Hero
8.18.1 / 10 - The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents
8.08.0 / 10 - Night Watch
8.88.8 / 10 - The Wee Free Men
8.48.4 / 10 - Monstrous Regiment
8.38.3 / 10 - A Hat Full of Sky
8.48.4 / 10 - Going Postal
8.78.7 / 10 - Thud!
8.48.4 / 10 - Wintersmith
8.28.2 / 10 - Making Money
8.48.4 / 10 - Unseen Academicals
8.08.0 / 10 - I Shall Wear Midnight
8.58.5 / 10 - Snuff
8.08.0 / 10 - Raising Steam
7.87.8 / 10 - The Shepherd's Crown
8.38.3 / 10
Where the score comes from
The sources average 8.5 across 508 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 78% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Humour average of 7.8. That is how 8.4 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 8.5 | 19 | 4% |
| Hardcover | 8.5 | 489 | 96% |
Frequently asked
How long is The Fifth Elephant?
It has 415 pages — shorter than 73% of the ranked books in Humour.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Humour — with scores between 8.3 and 8.4, closest to this book.
