[1] The title refers to the English expression, "may you live in interesting times", which is typically presented as a translation from a traditional Chinese curse.

The Patrician of Ankh-Morpork receives a demand that the "Great Wizzard" be sent to the distant Agatean Empire, and he orders Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully of Unseen University to comply.

Now, a new "Red Army" movement of young people, dedicated mainly to the promulgation of mildly worded slogans, has been inspired by a supposed revolutionary tract, which turns out to be a travelogue of Ankh-Morpork written by Rincewind's former traveling companion Twoflower, whom Rincewind frees from a dungeon and whose two daughters are leaders of the Red Army.

When Hong murders the Emperor with the intention of framing the Red Army, it creates the opportunity needed by the Silver Horde to infiltrate the palace.

Since this belief is officially endorsed by the imperial authorities to maintain domestic order, dispelling the rumour proves difficult.

As the battle begins, Rincewind inadvertently discovers the actual Red Army, a multitude of terra cotta warriors that can be controlled by magical armor that he accidentally dons.

"It'd be easier for people to read Interesting Times, than to sum it up, but I would say that one of the things I wanted to develop in the story was the strange way in which revolutions can turn into tyrannies.

A review at AV Club,[5] meanwhile, called it "a surprisingly thoughtful parable about oppressive government, East-West cultural relations, and revolutionary theory"