Night Watch - Terry Pratchett

Self-Taught Copper

Having enjoyed Going Postal, my first Terry Pratchett, I jumped on "Night Watch" with a Christmas gift certificate and started reading it right away. Somewhat inexplicably, the book took me nearly a month to finish. Pratchett parodies modern societal infrastructure in his books (communications in "Going Postal"; law enforcement in "Night Watch"). Perhaps I'm just not clued in enough to police work to get all the jokes.

The story blends elements of "The Time Machine" (as protagonist Sam Vimes is accidentally thrown about 30 years into then past), Les Misérables (Signet Classics) (a citizens' revolt involving heavy use of barricades makes up much of the action) and The Streets of San Francisco - Season 1, Vol. 2, but with a time-twist as the veteran Vimes (the Karl Malden character) trains a young Vimes (the Michael Douglas character) thirty years in the past. I expect that there's a British TV version of this old cop/young cop story (without the time-shifting, of course).

But it doesn't work out as wackily as it sounds. Slowing down the fun, Pratchett devotes many pages to the drudgery of night policing (the "night watch" of the title) and to the inner workings of a precinct house. Sectioning the book into more chapters might have also helped the story flow better. I will say that the ending came together well, if a little on the sentimental side.

Though I didn't enjoy "Night Watch" (3 stars) as much as "Going Postal" (4 stars), I still plan to read more Pratchett. I'm told that some of the earliest books in the Discworld series have more of the jocularity that charmed me in "Postal".

One of the best books on the mindset of cops. Really.

I'll tell you this - when I wanted to explain to my parents what I thought of my career in policing, what it meant to me and how best to understand it - I bought them this book.

Pratchett continually amazes me. If I didn't know any better I would swear he was a cop, or was one in a previous life (that one I don't know any better about at all, but still....). He captures the mindset perfectly. He KNOWS. I don't know how he does, but he does.

Wrap up Pratchett's absolute precision in capturing the essence of a cop in a tale whose prose does nothing less than make me think of Jonathan Swift at his best, transport this perfectly captured and beautifully told tale to the imaginary Discworld, and you have, in my eyes, another Instant Classic - my favorite Discworld tale of all, and that's tough competition.

In this book the esteemed Duke Vimes (don't call him Duke!), Commander of the City Watch of Ankh-Morpork, has been transported back in time. He's chasing a stone killer, all the while trying to show his younger self The Ropes, shape up the old Watch into some sort of passable force, stay alive, stay sane and, if he has time, keep the threads of time from unraveling. All while impersonating a lowly Sergeant.

Oh, and try and make it back to his own time in time to witness the birth of his child, while fighting through one of Ankh-Morpork's less glorious but no less dangerous Revolutions. It's enough to make your head hurt, so you can imagine how Vimes feels. Consider it a full day's work.

Will he keep the Trousers of Time from tearing? Will he make it back in time, in one piece, with his man, and see the birth of his child? Get the book and meet the Night Watch as you've not met them before.

Funny, sad, irreverent, reverent, violent, peaceful, tragic and glorious - yep, Pratchett summed it all up pretty well.

One of the Best Introductions to Discworld for Non-Pratchett Fans

This is one of my favourite Discworld novels, and I have read every one in the series at least three times back to back, so that's saying a lot!

Pratchett's style has evolved to become more readable compared to the early novels like The Light Fantastic or The Color of Magic. Those were vintage Pratchett with a charm of their own, but which I feel are difficult for readers not familiar with his work to get into. While I feel nostalgia for those early works, I am glad a wider audience will find his later novels more accessible, and he will finally get the popular acclaim he so deserves!

For fans of the City Watch novels in the Discworld series, Night Watch is what we have been waiting for, and is basically a vehicle for Sam Vimes, our favourite anti-hero who turned out to be a true-blue hero after all.

This is one of the more sentimental Discworld novels, where characters show their softer and more endearing sides, even the formidable Vetineri who suffers a little teenage angst while on his way to becoming a "cool" Assassin! The strength in Pratchett's characterisations is his ability to evoke empathy for every character, even if they are assigned the "villain" or "side-kick" roles. Even as he makes fun of Nobby and gleefully disgusts readers with lurid descriptions of Nobby (who carries a notarized note declaring that he is probably human), he shows his soft spot for the little rascal and readers will even find young Nobby endearing nonwithstanding his questionable personal hygiene and ethics!

The plot is also a bit more "heavy" and sentimental than we are used to in the madcap Discworld, but I do enjoy the "risk" Pratchett takes to focus the whole story on one character. The only other characters he regularly does this for are arguably Rincewind and Death, who are very different from Vimes in terms of personality and the context they exist in. Being a human Regular Joe, as opposed to a bumbling wizard and a personification, Vimes is very easy to relate to and brings this novel just a little bit closer to the real world we live in (or Roundworld for fans who are familiar with The Science of Discworld). Discworld is a parallel/parody of our world for sure, but this book just hits too close!

Night Watch is a combination of humor, heroism and thought-provoking issues in a writing style that is reader-friendly yet retains its integrity. Second another reviewer who feels the urge to read passages out from Terry Pratchett's novels! His style is so personable and bright you actually enjoy it more when reading it aloud and you just wanna share it with everyone!

Night Watch

What I had exspected was another wonder of Pratchett's work!! What I got was a PLAY adapted for the stage. USE CAUTION when ordering!!!

Back to the Front

As Sam heads into yet another adventure we soon see one of the main people he is fighting against is himself. The constant pull of Sam's concious is at times overpowering in this installment of the Discworld universe. However Terry Prachett once again pulls off a beautifully written story. Sam travels back in time. We see the watch as it once was. Find out how Reg Shoe became a zombie. See the "real" Vetinari in action as an assasin. The story is rich and very fulfilling.
This may be a good starting place for readers unfamiliar with the Guards books. It answers alot of back story questions going on in the previous books. You can compare this book with Star Wars prequels, filling in details of other stories. Overall it is a great book and worth a read.