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An introduction to the bizarre and entertaining Discworld (a world that is actually shaped like a flat disc, carried by four elephants who stand on the back of the great turtle A'Tuin). We follow the hapless (but lucky) tourist Twoflower, his semi-unwilling guide, the wizard (of sorts) Rincewind, and Twoflower's luggage made of sapient pear-tree wood, as they traipse about and see various parts of this strange world - from the seedy, greedy inhabitants of Ankh-Mopork, to a forest with dryads and a temple for an ancient, unspeakable evil, through the dry seas to the Rim of the great disk, where the waters spill off the edge of the world into space, and finally they become the unwilling guests of the Krull, who have constructed a metal fish to fly off the edge of the world and take a closer look at the great turtle.

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While going about his usual business, Death notices that something is wrong - that the Hogfather (the Discworld equivalent to our Santa Claus, with a sleigh drawn by huge pigs or boar named Tusker, Snouter, Gouger, and Rooter) is in danger, in fact very near to whatever the equivalent of death is for an immortal being. At the same time, a group of the Auditors has come to the Assassin's guild in Ankh-Morpork with an unusual request: end the Hogfather. But they offer enough money, and there happens to be an unusual member of the Assassin's guild who as a hobby has considered how one might end the Hogfather, the Tooth Fairy, or even Death-- so Mr. Teatime undertakes this request. In the meantime, Death decides to fill in for the Hogfather-- leaving footprints and presents and removing the treats left for the Hogfather (his assistant, Albert, is along with him eating the goodies and helping Death to be more jolly), in order to help instill belief in the Hogfather to help him survive. As he's doing his rounds (dressed in a red suit with a pillow and a fake beard), Death stops by the house where his granddaughter Susan works as a governness-- and warns her very carefully that she shouldn't get involved, of course knowing full well that this will result in her doing exactly that.

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