The Dark Side of the Sun

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This article is about the Terry Pratchett novel. For the BBC television serial, see The Dark Side of the Sun (TV serial). For the Space: Above and Beyond episode, The Dark Side of the Sun (Space: Above and Beyond episode)

The Dark Side of the Sun is a comic science fiction novel by Terry Pratchett, first published in 1976. It has very little connection with Strata and with the Discworld series, featuring much less comedy and parody than these. The Dark Side of the Sun makes many light-hearted references to famous science fiction works, such as those of Isaac Asimov. Terminology from the novel, including "Hogswatchnight" and "Small Gods," reappears with different significance in the Discworld novels.

The plot concerns the search for the homeworld of a mysterious alien race (the Jokers) that apparently disappeared millions of years ago, leaving behind a variety of astounding feats of engineering (such as a pair of stars shaped into rings and joined together like links in a chain), but no hints about their form or day-to-day life. Specifically, it follows the picaresque adventures of Dom Sabalos, destined to discover the homeworld, beginning with the first assassination attempt by an organisation determined to prevent the discovery (and which has already dealt with a number of earlier destined discoverers, including Dom's father).