Four Misfits, One Dragon , No Hope!
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In Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett places Ankh-Morpork in danger by releasing a dragon. And producing the most unlikely heroes in the world: Captain Sam Vimes, a worthless drunk, Fred Colon a overweight sergeant, Nobby Nobbs chain smoking thief and allround good guy and Carrot the Discworlds tallest dwarf.
Together they are the Night Watch the city's last line of defence. Pratchett parodies the cop genre in fine style by making Vimes a mix of Sherlock Holmes and Dirty Harry. The plot is full of comedy, drama and romance (of sorts) with loveable characters like Cut-Me-Own Throat Dibbler, snobbish clerks like Wonse and deadly serious Vetinari who is annoying but likeable.
With these elements Guards! Guards! is a great read and should be classed as one of Pratchetts greats.
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FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC !
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"Guards ! Guards !" is the eighth book in Terry Pratchett's hugely popular Discworld series and is the first to focus on Sam Vimes and Ankh-Morpork's City Guard. Although the City Guard was once a fine and noble profession, it has fallen by the wayside in recent years. Once, there had been hundreds of members : as the book opens, the City's Night Watch is staffed only by Sam, Sergeant Fred Colon and Corporal Nobby Nobbs. Like the Night Watch itself, Sam has also fallen on hard times. Having started drinking to forget (it was possibly something to do with a woman), he now drinks to forget the drinking. Despite his faults, though, he's a likeable cynic who has a well-developed sense of fair play and identifies with the underdog.
Things start turning around for Sam and the Watch in "Guards ! Guards !". The force sees a dramatic rise in numbers with the arrival of Carrot Ironfoundersson. Orphaned as a baby, Carrot had been taken in by the dwarfs and raised in a gold mine. Until shortly before he left home, he didn't realise he was human - he'd always thought he was just tall for his species. His adoptive father decides it's best for Carrot to spend some time with other humans and 'manages' to secure a position for him in the Ankh-Morpork City Guard. Carrot, on his arrival, is viewed with some amazement : an actual, honest volunteer. He takes things very literally (as dwarfs tend to do), is very innocent (he wouldn't know what to do with a seamstress if one fell into his lap) and a lot of the humour comes from his utter confusion.
The problem for Sam and the Night Watch is presented by the Unique and Supreme Lodge of the Elucidated Brethren. Well, actually, the problem is its mysterious (and big-headed) Supreme Grand Master, an ambitious and manipulative individual. (The remaining members are bitter, vitriolic, small-minded, jealous, resentful and a bit stupid. As a result, they're very easy to manipulate). He's devised a Machiavellian plan that will involve the removal of the Patrician (Ankh-Morpork's tyrant) and lead to the restoration of the monarchy. Unfortunately, his plan involves the controlling of a very dangerous dragon - to that end, Brother Fingers has managed to 'acquire' De Malachite's book on summoning dragons from the Unseen University's library. For some reason, it doesn't seem to bother him that the book is badly burnt.
This is the first of the Discworld books to feature Sam and the City Guard. As a result, it's a pretty good starting point if you've never read any of the other Discworld books before and want to see what you're missing. Pratchett's books are always very funny and this one gets better as it goes along. Definitely recommended.
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Don't Stop the World, I Don't Want to Get Off
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Terry Pratchett has become one of the most popular authors alive today and his popularity is richly deserved. But not even with his fertile mind could ever have envisaged the heights to which his Discworld series would rise. This book was first published in 1989 the same year as Pyramids and is number eight in the Discworld novels.
You would think that a fantasy world full of trolls, zombies, witches, vampires would be an alien concept to most readers. Werewolves and dwarves in the Ank Morpork city watch. Wizards running a university. All this born in the mind of one of the funniest author's writing today. Surely this style of writing would have a limited readership? But no the books are loved by anybody and everybody and are read by people who would not normally allow fantasy fiction anywhere near their book shelves. This is the Discworld of Terry Pratchett.
Guards! Guards! features some of my favourite Discworld characters. The books transports the reader into the world of the Ankh-Morpork Night Watch. The Watch contains lots of characters new to the Discworld series of books and what characters they are. Captain Sam Vimes, leader of the Watch, Corporal Nobby Nobbs, Sergeant Colon and Corporal Carrot, the tallest dwarf in history at 6 foot in his stocking feet. These are just a few of the new characters that grace the pages of this book. They are so well written that they all seem like old friends long before the book has finished.
The loose, very loose storyline to this plot is the fact that a book called The Summoning of Dragons has mysteriously gone missing from Unseen University. This coincides with the fact that a fire breathing dragon has been causing mayhem in the city. Dragons are the speciality of Sybil Ramkin, who keeps a number of swamp dragons as pets. "Just be firm with them," is her best advice.
Any books that can make me laugh out loud have got to be good and these books certainly do that. It is virtually impossible to describe them to people who have never read any of them. So if you need cheering up, or just enjoy a good laugh, buy one now. This one is one of my favourites but they are all terrific.
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A major performance by the Great Master of Comic Fantasy !
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This is one of the three best books by Terry Pratchett, at least according to my personal taste (the other two being "Small Gods" and "Hogfather"). It is very unfrequent to find so many qualities in one book. All Discworld novels are funny, but this is purely irresistible. The gallery of exceptionally funny characters is simply unbelievable. This is the first of books about the Night Watch in Ankh Morpork so be prepared to meet many new characters - Sam Vimes, hard drinking police veteran, very low on his luck but destined to a great future; sergeant Colon, possibly the best caricature of the typical Bobby I ever saw; corporal Nobby Nobbs, who, as we now all know, was "disqualified from human race for shoving"; and especially constable Carrot, the biggest dwarf who ever lived and possibly the ONLY honest person in all Ankh Morpork. This four guys form one of the most likeable cop teams I ever saw - and they have a really big problem to deal with... the kind of problem that sleeps on golden hoard, breaths fire and eat maidens. Then there is also the secret society - possibly the most hilarious secret society I ever saw in a book, plotting to take power and never paying for pizza.... And of course the Patrician or Lord Havelock Vetinari, the smartest, the most devious and most dangerous (although not TOTALLY evil or tyranical..) ruler in the Discworld history.
This book is a delight. There is not one weak spot, not one failed dialogue, not one weakness in the plot - only a continous, smart, totally comical story about a political plot gone horribly wrong, a small police squad desperately trying not to get eaten, a city that gets a new king and a GREAT (or maybe it is small) love story which will need an old copper tea kettle to find a satisfactory conclusion (the item being eaten in the processus)..... Read it! You will not regret it and you will be then able to enjoy other Night Watch stories in Discoworld novels - they are worth it.
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Okish
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I just finished this book durin lunch time+found(iv read all of david Gemmell's book,some lee child+some James Barcaly) it all a bit strange.Some of it just went over my head.But the characters were developed enough2 enjoy the book.Captain Vimes+the rank are the only ting really pullin in right direction in this book(they are the main characters).And there are some very funny moments with the sickly draggon errol(he will eat anything..kettles,coal even broken glass.haha).
But at the same time over a week is the longest its taken me2 finish a 320pg book.So its only got 3stars from me.
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