It was nice to read another Pratchett, but I kept thinking, this might have been a better book if he'd jettisoned the historicity of it and made it a Discworld book. I could certainly see a whole new subseries spring up around the character Dodger, and I would especially have loved to see him moving around the sewers of Ankh-Morpork and bumping into the many existing and new characters we might otherwise have met.

That is not, however, the book I was given, and there was still certainly plenty to enjoy here. It was fun to hear Charles Dickens, "Charley" as a character here, as well as Disraeli and Mayhew (whose book London Labour and the London Poor) I read in grad school. We even meet Queen Vic and Prince Albert, briefly. He creates a very interesting milieu as always, and we even get to hear 'mudlarking' referred to as being adjacent to 'toshing' which is apparently 'sewer lurking' of some sort.

I as less impressed with the handling of the story. From the start our praise is heaped upon our hero, and it only grows through the action of the plot, such that he's a demi-god by the end. Would have been nice to see him struggle a lot more at the start trying to earn his reputation rather than everyone immediately crowning him a hero. I did enjoy the subplot with Sweeney Todd being a misunderstood killer who deserved out pity, surviving the war with PTSD.

Overall a good read. Always interesting to see what happens in the canon outside of Discworld. ( )

An enjoyable romp with a combination of fictionalized real people (Dickens, Disraeli, etc)
And appropriated fictional characters Dodger and Fagin, both considerably improved in general empathy. Fun with some accurate slang and bits of history thrown in for good measure ( )

Terry Pratchett described Dodger, his 2012 coming-of-age story set in Victorian London, as a historical fantasy. The fantasy element is more muted than in most of Pratchett’s work. The novel’s world is peppered with historical figures such as Charles Dickens, Robert Peel, Benjamin Disraeli, and even Sweeney Todd, the barber. Verisimilitude is enhanced by facts drawn from Henry Mayhew’s London Labour and the London Poor (1851). Pratchett has fun with Victorian slang and his Dickensian characters. He rehabilitates Fagan in the character of Solomon, a jeweler who is more than he seems. His Dodger is artful, but he is not a pickpocket. He is a "tosher," who searches the London sewers for money, jewelry, and other valuables. The plot involves a maiden in distress pursued by appropriately Victorian villains. I would love to know whether Pratchett intended to write sequels to Dodger. He certainly leaves the door open for one, but too many other projects and his final illness made any such plans moot. I note that Dodger has received quite a few lackluster reviews. I think that is because readers set the bar higher for him than they might for anyone else. Indeed, I prefer the Tiffany Achings YA stories to Dodger. That said, it is a readable and inventive book with much to enjoy. 4 stars. ( )

Did this on audiobook. It's not my favorite by this author, but I don't think I could ever bring myself to rate him lower than 3 stars. It's a neat idea—shortly after rescuing a woman in distress, a young man who calls himself Dodger meets a journalist named Charlie Dickens, and they join forces to protect the woman from the many forces working against her.

After listening to Pratchett's historical notes at the end of the book, I realized this was a love letter of sorts to the movers and shakers of social change in Victorian England. That made me like it more.

As a story, I didn't enjoy it as much as the Discworld novels, but history buffs might have more fun with it. ( )

Wonderful style and voice. Fascinating characters. Great fun! ( )