Guards! Guards!: (Discworld Novel 8) (Discworld Novels)

Product Information

This striking paperback edition of the first book in Terry Pratchett’s City Watch series features artwork by Leo Nickolls with elements of Paul Kidby’s iconic cover artwork.

His books have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, as well as being awarded a knighthood for services to literature. When you’re a 15 year old overweight bullied dreamer, having books that speak to you and make you smile are your lifeblood. On this re-read, what I remember to be a less funny book than the Watch novels that came after it suddenly becomes a rich and nostalgic ride including dwarf bread, or in this case, CAKE.One reason I only read Terry Pratchett occasionally is that I personally prefer books where humour is a minor element of the story rather than placed at the front and centre. The first book where Captain Vimes and I met back in 2011, though I did not know then that I would take him as my literary husband later on. They thought the Library was a dangerous place because of all the magical books, which was true enough, but what made it really one of the most dangerous places there could ever be was the simple fact that it was a library. p. 257] The scene where Errol's supersonic boom smashes the dragon out of the air is possibly based on another Clint Eastwood movie, the 1982 Firefox.

It is the task of the Night Watch – Captain Vimes, Sergeant Colon, Corporal Nobbs, and new volunteer Carrot Ironfoundersson – to stop them, with some help from the Librarian of the Unseen University, an orangutan trying to get the stolen book back. His acclaimed novels have sold more than 55 million copies (give or take a few million) and have been translated into 36 languages. Meanwhile Ankh-Morpork’s broken and ineffective City Watch has grown by a quarter with the arrival of Carrot, a six foot six inch Dwarf whose world has been turned upside down at the revelation of his heritage (he’s not really a dwarf.I’m lucky as I haven’t read every Discworld yet, but I know a day will come when I’ve read everything new to me. He, it seems, has an excellent ability of seeing the less-than-pleasant things that make people tick - and still manages to make these sad realizations both side-splittingly and laugh-through-tears funny. Pratchett is at the peak of his powers; it's hard to think of any humorist writing in Britain today who can match him.

Excepto para la Guardia Nocturna, que se ha visto reducida a tres hombres: el capitán Sam Vimes, el sargento Colon y el cabo Nobby Nobbs. Vimes is introduced here, with even some foreshadowing about the kind of hero he will be throughout the series, but also so is Lady Sybil Ramkin.Maybe between one laugh and another you also have time to reflect on the great irony with which the good Pratchett seasons his dish.

I LOVED all the twists on stories about the-one-true-King, the comments about libraries and librarians as well as Pratchett's depiction of dragons. The Night Watch once was the pride of the city - with "was" being the important bit in that sentence. The humour takes centre stage but underneath – not even far underneath – Pratchett was using Discworld as a mirror to explore, lampoon and critique our world with its many ills and injustice.

Vimes confronts his old schoolmate, the Patrician's Secretary Lupine Wonse, having figured out that he is the Supreme Grand Master, and responsible for the dragon's appearance. Note that Soul Cake Thursday in later Discworld novels becomes Soul Cake Tuesday, after previously having been Soul Cake Friday in The Dark Side of the Sun. Especially since he is a good fighter, honourable and knows all the (forgotten) rules and laws - and will enforce them.