Guards! Guards!
By: Terry Pratchett
Website: http://www.terrypratchett.co.uk/
Release Date: 1990
Publisher: Random House
Series: Discworld Book #8, City Watch #1
Rating:

Happy Throwback Thursday!

Here’s an embarrassing admittance for a self-dubbed fantasy aficionado. I’ve never read Discworld. (Which probably means my dream of being the foremost knowledgeable human on fantasy novels is just a fleeting dream I’ll never really achieve. Not with this kind of performance). Not one of the forty some odd books. I’ve read Good Omens, Terry Pratchett’s collaborative work with Neil Gaiman. But I’ve never picked up a single Discworld novel.

So, what did think of my first foray into Discworld?

Guards! Guards! was my first foray into Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. It is the eighth book in the series overall, but the first novel in the Line. I figured it was as good a place as any to start, picked up the book, and immediately wondered what was wrong with me and why hadn’t I picked this up sooner.

There is a reason Terry Pratchett is a giant in fantasy. It became immediately clear why.

Pratchett is a master of words. Never have I seen so much action, so much description conveyed through dialogue alone. Every character was memorable. Every character was chock full of personality and quirks. Vimes, the captain of the watch. Carrot’s unwavering bravery and naiveté. The Patrician, who I only really fully appreciated near the end. And, perhaps my favorite, the Librarian who met with an unfortunate accident and is now an orangutan forever more.

The book is funny, at times. It’s insightful, too. It has some really beautiful lines, the sort that make you smile. And it has some lines that make you give a funny sigh and say ‘ain’t that the truth’.

And I am very happy that I read it.

If you’re looking for a good place to start with Discworld, this is it. It didn’t feel like the eighth book in a series. There weren’t characters that everyone but you seemed to know. There weren’t plot threads solved before you were aware of their existence. In fact, Guards! Guards! is the beginning of one of Discworld’s sub-cycles. It’s a great place to start if you’re looking to delve into the admittedly massive Discworld series.

This is a very good book by a very good author. I would highly recommend that anyone who hasn’t already read Guards! Guards! to grab a copy and read it immediately.

Happy Throwback Thursday! Here’s an embarrassing admittance for a self-dubbed fantasy aficionado. I’ve never read Discworld. (Which probably means my dream of being the foremost knowledgeable human on fantasy novels is just a fleeting dream I’ll never really achieve. Not with this kind of performance). Not one of the forty some odd books. I’ve read Good Omens, Terry Pratchett’s collaborative work with Neil Gaiman. But I’ve never picked up a single Discworld novel.

Guards! Guards! was my first foray into Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. It is the eighth book in the series overall, but the first novel in the first novel in the City Guards line. I figured it was as good a place as any to start, picked up the book, and immediately wondered what was wrong with me and why hadn’t I picked this up sooner.

There is a reason Terry Pratchett is a giant in fantasy, and it was immediatley clear why.

Pratchett is a master of words. Never have I seen so much action, so much description conveyed through dialogue alone. What in other hands would take a paragraph of description for proper worldbuilding only takes a single humorous line or a sentence or two of dialogue.

Every character was memorable, which is really saying something in a book with some many character that weave in and out of the story. Every character was chock full of personality and quirks. Vimes, the captain of the watch. Carrot’s unwavering bravery and naiveté. The Patrician, who I only really fully appreciated near the end. And, perhaps my favorite, the Librarian who met with an unfortunate accident and is now an orangutan forever more (and completely fine with his new hairy, orange visage).

In this story, the Night Watch have to train up a new recruit, a young man who, while human, was raised by dwarves. On top of that, there seems to be a dragon attacking the city, the giant fire breathing sort that are found in old stories and not the real world. Because everyone knows dragons are small swamp lizards that are internal chemical disasters just waiting to explode.

Pratchett has humor down to a fine art. But humor isn’t the only thing it has going. It’s insightful. There are utterly beautiful lines, the sort that make you smile. There are lines that make you give a funny sigh and say ‘ain’t that the truth.’

If you’re looking for a good place to start with Discworld, this is it. It didn’t feel like the eighth book in a series. There weren’t characters that everyone but you seemed to know. There weren’t plot threads solved before you were aware of their existence. In fact, Guards! Guards! is the beginning of one of Discworld’s sub-cycles. It’s a great place to start if you’re looking to delve into the admittedly massive Discworld series.

This is a very good book by a very good author. I would highly recommend that anyone who hasn’t already read Guards! Guards! to grab a copy and read it immediately.