What book was this: time traveling monk edition
August 2, 2023 7:45 PM Subscribe
I've suddenly recalled a character from a book, or possibly other media, but I cannot for the life of me figure out what book the character comes from. Perhaps you recognize this extremely fragmented description? A Buddhist monk, has a Tibetan or Nepalese name but has very western mannerisms/speech; part of an order that knows how to time travel; smokes; is an advisor or sidekick to a confused protagonist.
That's most of what I remember, but here are a few other details that may or may not be accurate. I think the book had a slightly satiric or comedic bent, but I'm not sure it was a full-on parody or satire. I don't think time travel was the main gist of the book, but a means to an end, maybe. The monastic order might have had a name like "the dancing monks of such-and-such", and I think preventing or correcting time-travel shenanigans was their main purpose. I think there was a scene where the monk (and the protagonist?) had a conversation with another monk who was working on preventing some other temporal disaster, and who was having a tedious time of it.
Adult (not YA) SF, probably written this century, though it could have been from the 90s. Does any of this ring a bell for anyone?
That's most of what I remember, but here are a few other details that may or may not be accurate. I think the book had a slightly satiric or comedic bent, but I'm not sure it was a full-on parody or satire. I don't think time travel was the main gist of the book, but a means to an end, maybe. The monastic order might have had a name like "the dancing monks of such-and-such", and I think preventing or correcting time-travel shenanigans was their main purpose. I think there was a scene where the monk (and the protagonist?) had a conversation with another monk who was working on preventing some other temporal disaster, and who was having a tedious time of it.
Adult (not YA) SF, probably written this century, though it could have been from the 90s. Does any of this ring a bell for anyone?
Best answer: Almost certainly The Thief Of Time by Terry Pratchett.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:58 PM on August 2, 2023 [12 favorites]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 7:58 PM on August 2, 2023 [12 favorites]
Best answer: I was just reading The Thief of Time not long ago.
posted by ovvl at 8:10 PM on August 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by ovvl at 8:10 PM on August 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
Best answer: yea, if you're not thinking of lu-tze from discworld, I'll eat my metaphorical hat. such great books
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 9:18 PM on August 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 9:18 PM on August 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I also re-read this recently and went to FanFare to see if there had been a discussion about it. There hasn't been yet, but linking the Discworld posts here.
posted by paduasoy at 1:27 AM on August 3, 2023
posted by paduasoy at 1:27 AM on August 3, 2023
Response by poster: GDI I was >< thisclose to mentioning that this had a Pratchett vibe in my original question! Of course it's the History Monks. Thanks, all -- I'd spent my evening googling every permutation of my description I could come up with to no avail.
Two minutes to the right answer. AskMe does it again.
posted by Janta at 5:22 AM on August 3, 2023 [5 favorites]
Two minutes to the right answer. AskMe does it again.
posted by Janta at 5:22 AM on August 3, 2023 [5 favorites]
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posted by Atrahasis at 7:47 PM on August 2, 2023 [9 favorites]