There’s a werewolf with pre-lunar tension in Ankh-Morpork. And a dwarf with attitude, and a Golem who’s begun to think for itself. But ...
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Jul 07, 2010
Joan
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What interests me most about Terry Pratchett is that he explores (with great subtlety and wit) issues that other fantasy and speculative writers only pay lip service to -- racism, sexism, identity politics. Pratchett's hero, Sam Vimes, dislikes everyone: Dwarves, trolls, werewolves, gnomes, and, most especially, vampires. He is an equal opportunity curmudgeon, but his dislikes (with the exception of vampires) are not based on the identity of "the other" as much as they are on the iden
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Dec 17, 2009
Silvercharmer
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There's not a whole lot you can say about Discworld other than it's hard to go wrong. Of Pratchett's usual suspects, this book focuses on the Watch and San Vimes, with a brief cameo from Death and none from the infamous Rincewind.
I always feel that the Watch books operate differently than the others, because Sam Vimes comes across as a more well-rounded character who doesn't follow the same mold as someone like Rincewind. He's easier to take seriously, and therefore the Watch books More...
I always feel that the Watch books operate differently than the others, because Sam Vimes comes across as a more well-rounded character who doesn't follow the same mold as someone like Rincewind. He's easier to take seriously, and therefore the Watch books More...
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May 01, 2011
Kurtbg
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What did I learn in this 19th book in the discworld series by Terry Pratchett? I'm not so sure. Maybe some political stuff - but the main reason is to be entertained by the absurd characters and their absurb problems. There's the Dwarf-troll historical enmity, a vampire with a passion for heraldry, a straight-arrow heir to the throne hidden within the citywatch with a lycan girlfriend, the ruler of Ankh-morpork is being poisioned, and there's a problem with golems committing suicide.
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Nov 09, 2007
Sarah
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I started reading through the Night Watch series of Discworld books for the Beach Blanket Bonanza challenge I ran. I enjoyed the books I read then enough to keep reading more of the series. I recently finished Feet of Clay and am now starting Jingo.
Feet of Clay is another straight up mystery. There have been a handful of murders and someone is trying to kill the Patrician again. Vimes, Carrot and the rest of the Watch must figure out who is behind the murders, the assassination atte More...
Feet of Clay is another straight up mystery. There have been a handful of murders and someone is trying to kill the Patrician again. Vimes, Carrot and the rest of the Watch must figure out who is behind the murders, the assassination atte More...
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Nov 16, 2011
Ian
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Not really too much different than the two Watch books that come before it, but man if this one didn't feel like a bit more of a slog. Granted, all of Pratchett's books feel a bit sloggish to me, which makes it sound like I should just quit reading his books but I DO LIKE THEM! I think they are very funny and incisive where they need to be it's just his writing style is a bit EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE NON STOP BECAUSE THERE ARE NO CHAPTERS. Once I finally finished it (reading off and on for god, wh
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Mar 24, 2010
Maria705
rated it:
In many books, there are conflicts with sexism. In this book, Cheery Littlebottom is a dwarf, and female dwarves aren't allowed to show their gender. Meaning, most dwarves find it unacceptable for female dwarves to wear feminine clothing or makeup in public. Since all dwarves, regardless of gender, grow beards, this gives the outsider the impression that all dwarves are male. Humans recognize gender by clothing and facial features, so if a human saw a dwarf with a beard wearing the chain mail th
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May 19, 2011
Sally
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After reading Men at Arms, I didn't think stories of the Night Watch of Discworld's Ank-Morpork could get any better, but it does in this one. There is a great mystery to unravel involving unexplained murders and the poisoning of Lord Vetenari. It rather continues the idea of a possible king ( Corporal Carrot of the Night Watch MIGHT be from a long-lost royal line), but focuses on two factors. One is the ideas of class, politics and how society works, and the other is about the freedom and re
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Dec 21, 2010
Stuart
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I wouldn't say I'm a huge Terry Pratchett fan, and I've never read any other Discworld books, but this was a pretty delightful read and I would recommend it to someone looking for a smarter than average but still relatively lightweight entertainment. The characters are fun and well drawn, the situations they find themselves in funny and poignant at the same time, particularly in regards to their relationships and the self-discoveries of the golem at the center of the story. Left me wanting more
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Jun 15, 2011
Hoani
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Why did i decide to read this book?
I read this book because I listened to an interview he did on the radio about a month ago and decided to read one of his books. This was the only book of his available at the library written by him at that time.
which category on the bingo board this completes?
I would put this book under the category of 'a book written before I was born.'
what did i like about this book and why?
I like the way that this book has been More...
I read this book because I listened to an interview he did on the radio about a month ago and decided to read one of his books. This was the only book of his available at the library written by him at that time.
which category on the bingo board this completes?
I would put this book under the category of 'a book written before I was born.'
what did i like about this book and why?
I like the way that this book has been More...
Dec 26, 2010
Maria
rated it:
The city watch series is my favorite in Terry Pratchett's disc world, and this entry holds up nicely to its companions. The watch series always contains the most acute political and social satire in the Pratchett universe, since it follows the work of policemen in a corrupt and festering city.
The reason the watch books work so well is that Pratchett manages to make every person likable -- from the scheming Lord Vetinari to the petty, unhygienic Nobby Nobbs. That keeps both the books a More...
The reason the watch books work so well is that Pratchett manages to make every person likable -- from the scheming Lord Vetinari to the petty, unhygienic Nobby Nobbs. That keeps both the books a More...
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May 31, 2009
Ann
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I really enjoyed Pratchett's Death series, but the Night Watch series is even better. These are real police procedurals which follow all the conventions of the genre, except that some of the characters are human, some dwarf, some troll, some werewolf, some vampire, and each and every one is a fully realized and believable character. There's danger, happiness, sadness, intrigue, and throughout all, Pratchett's own brand of humor. Witness this passage: "He shook his head sadly. 'The trouble i
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Sep 27, 2009
Ali
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Plot description: Someone is killing old men while someone else is poisoning the Patrician, Lord Vetinari.
I keep returning to the Discworld books over and over – this has to be the fifth or sixth time I’ve read Feet of Clay, at least. Sometimes I take it off the self to read the story of Vimes against the vampire Dragon King of Arms of the Ankh-Morpork Royal College of Heralds. I always seem to forget that the Dragon is in this one because he’s really not the point.
Other More...
I keep returning to the Discworld books over and over – this has to be the fifth or sixth time I’ve read Feet of Clay, at least. Sometimes I take it off the self to read the story of Vimes against the vampire Dragon King of Arms of the Ankh-Morpork Royal College of Heralds. I always seem to forget that the Dragon is in this one because he’s really not the point.
Other More...
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Sep 05, 2009
Ruka
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Not quite on the level of the mind-bending and genre-twisting shenanigans of The Colo(u)r Of Magic, but then again, there's very little you can possibly screw up with sword-and-sorcery satire. Also, since this is technically the nineteenth of the Discworld books, it's almost expected that an author like Pratchett would want to branch out into other subgenres instead of sticking to the same hack-and-slash formula. To wit, Feet Of Clay is a capable murder mystery that stays within the confines o
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Nov 29, 2011
Rachel
rated it:
I keep telling myself I'm going to write a better review of this thing, and I keep not doing it. Why? The book deserves a more thorough review. My difficulty seems to be that my reaction is just so damn personal.
We all know I consider Terry Pratchett my long-lost, time-travelling twin, right? So maybe it shouldn't come as a surprise when his books make me feel like he has been rattling around in MY skull, turning over stones and digging for buried metaphors. Leave me a few, old man! More...
We all know I consider Terry Pratchett my long-lost, time-travelling twin, right? So maybe it shouldn't come as a surprise when his books make me feel like he has been rattling around in MY skull, turning over stones and digging for buried metaphors. Leave me a few, old man! More...
Aug 27, 2011
Sho
rated it:
The watch again - yaay - this time with the addition of dwarves, female, as well as the usual crowd.
Feet of Clay is the usual mixture of chaos and lovely writing, phrases that can really make you stop. This bit, for instance when Sergeant Colon is running away from... something
So, what is More...
Feet of Clay is the usual mixture of chaos and lovely writing, phrases that can really make you stop. This bit, for instance when Sergeant Colon is running away from... something
The street was full of animals, milling around uncertiainly. When animals are in a state of uncertainty they get nervous, and the street was already, as it were, paved with anxiety.
So, what is More...
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Jul 06, 2011
Matthew
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Can I just tell you how much I am enjoying the The Watch series of Discworld books by Terry Pratchett? I am reading them as I find them, which is out-of-sequence, but that is in no way diminishing my enjoyment of this awesomeness. I haven't read any of his other Discworld novels, but eventually, I may work my way over to them. He had a short story in the Legends Anthology that is now a legend in its own right, and I read that shortly after the anthology came out, and that was a story involving t
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Mar 02, 2009
John
rated it:
This has everything you've come to expect from a Terry Pratchett Discworld book: great plot and character development, humor and world play. This story centers around murder mystery, a plot to kill Lord Vetinari and golems, whether they are just mindless machines or sentient beings. Sir Sam Vimes, Commander of the Watch, is in charge of the investigation. Like all of the Discworld books, this one is enjoyable on so many levels and you can read it as simply a humorous murder mystery or a deep pol
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Jan 07, 2012
Sherri
rated it:
Feet of Clay surprised me, being a mystery and a decent one at that. It has golems, werewolves, dwarves and trolls and besides the business of murder there's species (racial?) tension and questions why some people are considered superior.
I'm always glad to see Death, in Pratchett's books, and he gets some good lines in this one. The recurring characters are one of the things I love about these books, so much that new characters may seem redundant and I wonder if they are going to be More...
I'm always glad to see Death, in Pratchett's books, and he gets some good lines in this one. The recurring characters are one of the things I love about these books, so much that new characters may seem redundant and I wonder if they are going to be More...
Aug 19, 2009
Mel
rated it:
In Feet of Clay, Vimes has satisfactorily resolved his questions about career and home, Carrot has risen to the post of Captain himself, and most of his fellow guards seem to have settled in. Then the head of the Dwarf Bread Museum (one of Carrot's favorite places in the city) is found beaten to death by one of his own loaves and that's just the first in a series of mysterious murders. Even the Patrician finds himself poisoned-though with the Patrician, you never can tell if he did it himself
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Dec 30, 2010
Iain
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A Discworld City watch novel, this is about a rogue golem which has been manufactured by Ankh-Morpork's other golems in attempt to build themselves a king, enabling them to leavfe their current masters. However, the king golem is driven mad by the many conflicting good intentions they try to build into him, and he starts killing people across the city.
Meanwhile, the Patrician is being slowly poisoned, but no-the watch can't work out who's doing it, or how the poison is being administer More...
Meanwhile, the Patrician is being slowly poisoned, but no-the watch can't work out who's doing it, or how the poison is being administer More...
Aug 23, 2011
Just what the doctor ordered, another Discworld book. I have read Terry Pratchett's most recent 10 or so books and now am catching up on the old ones I haven't read.
This one is back in Ankh-Morpork with The Watch and all its colorful characters. Apparently someone wants to incapacitate Lord Vetinari by poisoning him. Not enough to kill him, just make him a bit ill. Commander Vimes and The Watch go on the hunt and have a devil of a time with the city's Golem's (which is where the title comes More...
This one is back in Ankh-Morpork with The Watch and all its colorful characters. Apparently someone wants to incapacitate Lord Vetinari by poisoning him. Not enough to kill him, just make him a bit ill. Commander Vimes and The Watch go on the hunt and have a devil of a time with the city's Golem's (which is where the title comes More...
Aug 12, 2009
Melanie
rated it:
In Feet of Clay Vimes has satisfactorily resolved his questions about career and home, Carrot has risen to the post of Captain himself, and most of his fellow guards seem to have settled in. Then the head of the Dwarf Bread Museum (one of Carrot's favorite places in the city) is found beaten to death by one of his own loaves and that's just the first in a series of mysterious murders. Even the Patrician finds himself poisoned—though with the Patrician, you never can tell if he did it himself j
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Apr 01, 2010
Malquiviades
rated it: 
As any Pratchett book, it is not bad and you may always count on enjoying a good part of it, if not all.
This one continues on the Ankh-Morpork's Night Watch characters introduced on the great Guards Guards. However, they are now more like a Police service, respected and even feared than the bunch of incompetents and misfits from the former book. And so this takes away the charming it had.
The plot now goes close to an almost standard Christie's novel following two intertwi More...
This one continues on the Ankh-Morpork's Night Watch characters introduced on the great Guards Guards. However, they are now more like a Police service, respected and even feared than the bunch of incompetents and misfits from the former book. And so this takes away the charming it had.
The plot now goes close to an almost standard Christie's novel following two intertwi More...
Dec 02, 2011
Acturi
rated it:
Discworld books are generally my pallet cleanser books. I think of them as Mental Floss; sort of light, easy to read books that clear my head out after I've read something really dense and heavy that I need some time to process.
That having been said, his books often have rather sharper teeth than you might otherwise expect, especially in books that involve The Watch. This book is a good example of that, building off of Pratchett's relatively formulaic plots to look at the nature of i More...
That having been said, his books often have rather sharper teeth than you might otherwise expect, especially in books that involve The Watch. This book is a good example of that, building off of Pratchett's relatively formulaic plots to look at the nature of i More...
Oct 25, 2010
Zack
rated it:
What happens when you get feminist dwarfs? How about slaves who figure out they're slaves and just what they're capable of. Vegetarian lycanthropes? Adopted dwarf?! Poison! Puns! Murder! Just another day with the master storyteller: Terry Pratchett. Feet of clay is one of my more favorite Discworld novels. Its full of laughs gags on the surface. Look a little deeper and one begins to notice the cold dark truths of the universe that should be no laughing matter. Terry takes the darkest most unfat
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Aug 15, 2011
Steve
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The nineteenth Discworld novel sees the men of the Watch have their work cut out; the curator of the Dwarf Bread Museum and a priest a priest have been murdered and somebody has managed to poison the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, which is a pretty neat trick considering that neither of his food tasters have been effected. The golems are getting the blame for all this on the flimsy grounds that one of them has confessed and the rest are mysteriously taking their own lives; or would if they weren’t a
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Aug 23, 2009
Cory
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I really liked this book. The mystery/whodunit books from Pratchett's Discworld are great reads. He gives you enough clues to figure it out, but doesn't make it completely obvious. As is the case with most Pratchett books, he manages to effectively skewer different segments of society pretty effectively, with this one taking aim at nobility and also hitting organized religion with a few good shots, too. There's a few dull parts, but overall the story is very well-paced (as usual). I tend to
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Oct 26, 2011
Tkulvete
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Not sure why but this clipping here cracked me up A LOT. -- When he'd been little he'd had a pink stuffed pig called Mr. Dreadful, and he'd got up to Chapter Six in Animal Husbandry. There was not mention of hot smelly breath and great clomping feet like soup plates on a stick. Cows, in Sergeant Colon's book, should go "MOO". Every child knew that. They shouldn't go "mur-r-r-r-r-m!" like some kind of undersea monster and spray you with spit.
He tried to get up, skidded o More...
He tried to get up, skidded o More...
Jul 27, 2010
Danny
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Commander Sir Samuel Vimes must find out who is slowly poisoning Lord Vetinari, Ankh-Morpork's patrician. But first, he must find out how they're doing it.
Feet of Clay is the third book in Discworld's City Watch series. It also features the so-complex-he's-simple Captain Carrot, his werewolf girlfriend and collegue Lance-constable Angua and some great new characters including a dwarf who's slowly coming out as a woman.
It is, like the other City Watch books, a cop novel. More...
Feet of Clay is the third book in Discworld's City Watch series. It also features the so-complex-he's-simple Captain Carrot, his werewolf girlfriend and collegue Lance-constable Angua and some great new characters including a dwarf who's slowly coming out as a woman.
It is, like the other City Watch books, a cop novel. More...
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Nov 16, 2011
Michael
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Sir Terry at his best! One of my favorite books in the Watch series, by this point Vimes and Co have grown into a multi-dimensional cast of crime-fighters, ready to deal with wayward clues and seriously Prod Buttock. Which is good, because two harmless old men are dead, someone is trying to kill the Patrician, and something abominable stalks the night. The action is paired with some of the best Discworld philosophizing on power, politics, and the conflicting desires between the Void of Freedom
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