Hogfather (1996)
Hogfather is a 1996 fiction book written by Terry Pratchett.
On Hogswatchnight, Discworld's equivalent of Christmas Eve, the Hogfather has gone missing. In his place, Death has donned the red suit and taken up the sleigh, delivering gifts with unsettling literal-mindedness while his level-headed granddaughter Susan investigates who would want to erase a myth. The trail runs back to the Assassins' Guild and something far stranger and colder. Pratchett uses the vanished gift-giver to ask what belief is actually for, why people need to practice believing small lies so they can grasp the large ones. Wry and genuinely moving, it is the Discworld book many readers reach for every winter.
Quick answers
What is Hogfather about?
On Hogswatchnight, Discworld's equivalent of Christmas Eve, the Hogfather has gone missing. In his place, Death has donned the red suit and taken up the sleigh, delivering gifts with unsettling literal-mindedness while his level-headed granddaughter Susan investigates who would want to erase a myth. The trail runs back to the Assassins' Guild and something far stranger and colder. Pratchett uses the vanished gift-giver to ask what belief is actually for, why people need to practice believing small lies so they can grasp the large ones. Wry and genuinely moving, it is the Discworld book many readers reach for every winter.
When was Hogfather published?
Hogfather was published in 1996.
Who made Hogfather?
Hogfather was written by Terry Pratchett.
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Hogfather in our writing
- Companion guide: Discworld: The Complete Guide to Terry Pratchett's Flat Planet
A few thoughts on Hogfather
For more subverted holiday myth, The Nightmare Before Christmas shares the affection-for-the-macabre and the question of what a season really means. The 2006 two-part adaptation Terry Pratchett's Hogfather brings Death, Susan, and the assassin Mr Teatime to screen with the book's melancholy fully intact, a faithful place to begin.