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Guards! Guards! (Discworld #8)

4.26 of 5 stars 4.26 · rating details · 46,965 ratings · 901 reviews

Here there be dragons . . . and the denizens of Ankh-Morpork wish one huge firebreather would return from whence it came. Long believed extinct, a superb specimen of draco nobilis ("noble dragon" for those who don't understand italics) has appeared in Discworld's greatest city. Not only does this unwelcome visitor have a nasty habit of charbroiling everything in its path,...more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published July 31st 2001 by HarperTorch (first published 1989)

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Jan 31, 2013 Nataliya rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: pratchett, favorites, first-in-a-series, 2013-reads

What I love most about Pratchett's books is that under a thin layer of funny footnotes-peppered pun-heavy parody lies the core of deep seriousness rooted in the quite sobering understanding of the shallow pettiness of human mundanity fueled by jealousy, bile, spite, and closemindedness.

"There was a thoughtful pause in the conversation as the assembled Brethren mentally divided the universe into the deserving and the undeserving, and put themselves on the appropriate side."

In the end, the only t...more
What I love most about Pratchett's books is that under a thin layer of funny footnotes-peppered pun-heavy parody lies the core of deep seriousness rooted in the quite sobering understanding of the shallow pettiness of human mundanity fueled by jealousy, bile, spite, and closemindedness.

"There was a thoughtful pause in the conversation as the assembled Brethren mentally divided the universe into the deserving and the undeserving, and put themselves on the appropriate side."

In the end, the only thing that makes it possible to wake up in the morning is just a slight deviation from this depressing state of affairs that leads to the understanding and a bit of dignity and doing what's right - even when that's not quite expected. Because someone has to uphold what's right. Because someone needs to swim against the current.

He shrugged. "They're just people," he said. "They're just doing what people do. Sir."

This is one of my favorite Discworld books and one of the best starting points for the Discworld newbies. It is the first book in the subcycle focusing on the City Watch of Ankh Morpork (the Pearl of Cities¹ on the Disc); the book that really takes a look into the inner workings of this crowded, dirty and despicable and yet lovably tenacious urban metropolis:

¹ "Ankh-Morpork! Pearl of cities! This is not a completely accurate description, of course — it was not round and shiny — but even its worst enemies would agree that if you had to liken Ankh-Morpork to anything, then it might as well be a piece of rubbish covered with the diseased secretions of a dying mollusc."

In Pratchett's tradition of deconstructing the tropes this one has its kings and tyrants and secret societies and dragons and maidens and heroes and heirs with birthmarks and magical swords, as well as million-to-one chances - except that things tend to not work out as planned. And all of it is woven into a neat tight plot that carries us through the dry humor and slapstick and sad seriousness to the unexpected depth as you allow the cogs and wheels of your brain turn contemplating Pratchett's intentions.
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"If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life."

I am a Sam Vimes girl through and through. And this book is our introduction to our cynical (anti)hero, uncompromising, grumpy and terrifyingly sober/knurd ('knurd' as in complete and utter opposite to drunk, beyond simple sobriety) Ankh-Morpork copper with the unsettling tendency to ask uncomfortable questions when others would much rather he didn't.

This is the beginning of the Vimes we all know and love, the evolution from the down-in-the-gutter pessimistic drunk "brung low by a woman"¹ (the city itself, that is) to the equally pessimistic servant not of the King or the Patrician but the law, a thorn in the side of so many not-so-uncorrupt but quite respectably upstanding Ankh citizens.

¹ "The city wasa, wasa, wasa wossname. Thing. Woman. That's what it was. Woman. Roaring, ancient, centuries old. Strung you along, let you fall in thingy, love, then kicked you inna, inna, thingy. Thingy, in your mouth. Tongue. Tonsils. Teeth. That's what it, she, did. She wasa ... thing, you know, lady dog. Puppy. Hen. Bitch. And then you hated her and, and just when you thought you'd got her, it, out of your whatever, then she opened her great booming rotten heart to you, caught you off bal, bal, bal, thing. Ance. Yeah. Thassit. Never knew where where you stood. Lay. Only one thing you were sure of, you couldn't let her go. Because, because she was yours, all you had, even in her gutters..."

Reduced to almost-nothingness by the corruption in the city, spending his time in the gutter (literally), laughed at by everyone except his two colleagues - the thick but amiable Fred Colon and a disgrace to human race a.k.a. Nobby Nobbs - Vimes gets a bit of a wake-up call when the Watch gets its newest recruit: Lance Constable Carrot Ironfoundersson, a not-too-bright but earnest 6 foot 6 inches dwarf¹ (he's adopted, okay?) armed with a Book of Laws and Ordinances of Ankh-Morpork and a decidedly non-magical sword.

¹People who are rather more than six feet tall and nearly as broad across the shoulders often have uneventful journeys. People jump out at them from behind rocks then say things like, "Oh. Sorry. I thought you were someone else."

And when the city is facing danger, Vimes bit by bit begins to think about it as HIS city. After all, 'Things like that weren't supposed to happen', he thought. 'Not in *my* city.'

And once Vimes sets his single-minded nature to accomplish something (occasionally aided by the Librarian¹, who is a peanut-loving orangutan, and the imposing figure of Lady Sybil Ramkin, who breeds swamp dragons in her spare time) there is little that can stop him.

¹ "The three rules of the Librarians of Time and Space are: 1) Silence; 2) Books must be returned no later than the date last shown; and 3) Do not interfere with the nature of causality."

The threat to Ankh-Morpork is real and quite substantial ((view spoiler)), but ultimately it's brought along and fueled by the simple human greed, shallow-mindedness and jealousy, little pathetic mundanity of human existence that Pratchett so nonchalantly and non-preachily lets showcase itself. 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. And I adore that.

"Down there - he said - are people who will follow any dragon, worship any god, ignore any inequity. All out of a kind of humdrum, everyday badness. Not the really high, creative loathsomeness of the great sinners, but a sort of mass-produced darkness of the soul. Sin, you might say, without a trace of originality. They accept evil not because they say yes, but because they don't say no."

.....

......

Another prominent figure in this book, in addition to Vimes and Carrot, is, of course, Lord Havelock Vetinari, the enigmatic Patrician, the tyrant who is not quite, well, tyrannical; the man with his finger on the pulse of the city, the man who would not build a dungeon out of which he could not escape; the man resembling a predatory flamingo, who makes Ankh Morpork work and in cynicism can greatly rival Vimes himself. This is the beginning of the fascinating and not always so voluntary cooperation between Vimes and the one in power, and it's lovely to read about.

“You had to hand it to the Patrician, he admitted grudgingly. If you didn't, he sent men to come and take it away.”

And, of course, some place of prominence is given to the Librarian (the aforementioned orangutan) who (no pun intended) will go bananas if you dare to call him the m-word ((view spoiler)). The Librarian who knows how to navigate the L-space, that parallel dimension that exists between every library in the world created because of terrifying power of books.

"Books bend space and time. One reason the owners of those aforesaid little rambling, poky secondhand bookshops always seem slightly unearthly is that many of them really are, having strayed into this world after taking a wrong turning in their own bookshops in worlds where it is considered commendable business practice to wear carpet slippers all the time and open your shop only when you feel like it."

"There are many horrible sights in the multiverse. Somehow, though, to a soul attuned to the subtle rhythms of a library, there are few worse sights than a hole where a book ought to be."

-----------------
I highly recommend this book to anyone as a perfect starting point on their Discworld journey. It is a perfect introduction to the world of intelligent humor peppered with allusions to almost everything you can think of and smart conclusions that make you think and even ask the uncomfortable questions of yourself and the society. It is a lovely way to spend several hours curled up in a chair on a rainy day, mesmerized by Pratchett's wit and wisdom. The audiobook version of it is wonderful, immersing you in the atmosphere of the story incredibly well. For all of it, I give it 5 stars - and, without much further ado embark on the rest on my Ankh Morpork City Watch reread.

.....

.....

"They may be called the Palace Guard, the City Guard, or the Patrol. Whatever the name, their purpose in any work of heroic fantasy is identical: it is, round about Chapter Three (or ten minutes into the film) to rush into the room, attack the hero one at a time, and be slaughtered. No one ever asks them if they want to.

This book is dedicated to those fine men."

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Jun 22, 2009 Ashley rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: bibliophiles, anglophiles, thingy

Shelves: fantasy, humor, satire, anglophilia, favorites

(4.5 stars, really.)

Perfectly structured, from beginning to end. Mean without being nasty, funny without being stupid. Insightful without being preachy. Terry Pratchett has a gift for lovingly pointing out the stupidities of the human condition.

This particular one is quite delightful. It's got dragons, a man named Carrot, and a group of three men who make up the city law enforcement, inept and lovable guardians of the backwards and corrupted joyful logic of the city called Ankh-Morpork.

Let me...more

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Jan 16, 2009 Jared rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, constant-re-readers, funny

Terry Pratchett is a comic genius. In this first installment of the "Watch" series in his Discworld (a world not quite entirely unlike our own), we meet Captain Vimes of the Ankh Morpork Night Watch and a selection of his fine men as they face down a fire-breathing dragon with kingly aspirations.

This book has more one-liners than a joke book ("The people united can never be ignited!"), and is significantly funnier. Terry Pratchett also works his genius with situational irony: Nothing prepares a...more

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Jan 03, 2009 Bill rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone over 15 who needs a good time

Recommended to Bill by: My sister

Shelves: read-and-reviewed, terry-pratchett-books

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. A book about the most important Scientific equation ever devised: K = P = E = M = m. Knowledge = Power = Energy = Matter = Mass...

Before I begin, Terry is my favourite author, and this was the book that got me incurably hooked. This was several years ago (nowadays, my bedside table is not complete without several of his novels and I am always rereading one or another of these gems), well before I had heard of goodreads.com, which is why I have not given a date of reading. I intend to eventually...more A book about the most important Scientific equation ever devised: K = P = E = M = m. Knowledge = Power = Energy = Matter = Mass...

Before I begin, Terry is my favourite author, and this was the book that got me incurably hooked. This was several years ago (nowadays, my bedside table is not complete without several of his novels and I am always rereading one or another of these gems), well before I had heard of goodreads.com, which is why I have not given a date of reading. I intend to eventually review all of the books in the City Watch series (my favourite) and then move on to his other works. Anyway...

For those who don't know, Pratchett's Discworld series is set on the Disc, 'World, and mirror of worlds.' In this series, there are many different character groups, each with their own continuity, with each novel revolving around one or two of them. Guards! Guards! was the first to introduce the City Watch, my personal favourite character group.

So, City Watch 101: These books revolve around the Night Watch arm of the, now defunct, police force of the twin city of Ankh-Morpork. Their bold ranks consist of the alcoholic Capt. Sam Vimes, the cowardly Sgt. Fred Colon and the kleptomaniac Cpl. C. W. St J. 'Nobby' Nobbs. Their duties extend to shouting 'Twelve of the clock, and all's well!' and arresting those to stupid, unconcious or drunk to fight back. However, there a two shocks in store for the Night Watch. The first is the arrival of a new recruit, Carrot Ironfoundersson. Carrot is a human by birth, a Dwarf by raising and the 'secret' heir to the throne of Ankh.

The second is a secret cult bent on citywide domination at the hands of a magically summoned dragon.

With the help of Carrot's enthusiasm, rote learning of the Laws and Ordinances of Ankh-Morpork and entirely unmagical sword, tempered by Vimes' true determination of th alcoholic with nothing to lose, the Night Watch set out to save the city from the dragon's flame.

Pratchett is a true genius of the English language. In any of his books, you would be hard-pressed to not find a Swiftian-esk pun, a lightning quick jibe or a satirical spit in the face of society. With this book, Pratchett created the ultimate parody of all the clichéd cop books and shows with many branches spread that are explored in future books. While this is the 8th Discworld novel, it is the first City Watch novel. As such, I reccomend this as a perfect place to board the Pratchett Express. Believe me, it only gets better.(less)

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Aug 02, 2012 Sakura87 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: autori-inglesi, novecento, fantasy, umorismo, saga-ciclo

Si era straubriacato, ecco. Perché un mondo tutto distorto e sbagliato, come uno specchio deformante, tornava a fuoco soltanto se lo si guardava attraverso il fondo di una bottiglia.

A cosa può servire una Guardia Cittadina in una città in cui le gilde di ladri, mercanti, assassini, mendicanti e maghi rispettivamente rubano, mercanteggiano, uccidono, mendicano e incantano in maniera perfettamente equilibrata, coordinati dal genio logistico del Patrizio? E’ presto detto: assolutamente a nulla. A m...more Si era straubriacato, ecco. Perché un mondo tutto distorto e sbagliato, come uno specchio deformante, tornava a fuoco soltanto se lo si guardava attraverso il fondo di una bottiglia.

A cosa può servire una Guardia Cittadina in una città in cui le gilde di ladri, mercanti, assassini, mendicanti e maghi rispettivamente rubano, mercanteggiano, uccidono, mendicano e incantano in maniera perfettamente equilibrata, coordinati dal genio logistico del Patrizio? E’ presto detto: assolutamente a nulla. A meno che la benevola tirannia di Lord Vetinari non rischi di essere rovesciata a opera di una setta in grado di evocare un drago, e che gli unici in grado di salvare la situazione e la città non siano proprio un manipolo di disilluse e idiosincratiche guardie male in arnese: Vimes, il capitano cinico e alcolizzato; Colon, il grasso e pigro sergente di una certa età; Nobby, il caporale ladruncolo; e il neo appuntato Carota, ragazzone alto più di due metri cresciuto dai nani con una certa deviata idea di quale sia il compito di una guardia, ossia ‘proteggere e servire’.
Con A me le guardie! (titolo originale: Guards! Guards!), cronologicamente ottavo romanzo del Mondo Disco, si apre il cosiddetto Ciclo della Guardia Cittadina, che segue la progressiva riorganizzazione dell'inizialmente inutile polizia di Ankh-Morpork.
Il romanzo può vantare ottimi personaggi, uno splendido senso dell'umorismo (ma queste non sono novità), e, una volta tanto, una trama solida e lineare che non si dirama in sottovicende parallele che rischiano, come spesso accade a Pratchett, di degenerare in un pasticcio irrisolvibile. La narrazione è inoltre pervasa, grazie alla presenza del cinico personaggio Sam Vimes, di un'amarezza di fondo che stempera la consueta demenzialità delle situazioni.
Per il resto troviamo: un Patrizio più intrigante che mai (la sua spiccata personalità ha un ruolo fondamentale in questo primo libro del ciclo), il solito Bibliotecario divenuto guardia cittadina pro tempore alla ricerca di un libro trafugato, una valchiria che alleva adorabili draghetti da salotto, una setta segreta di improvvisati evocatori guidati da un losco Gran Maestro, un asse tematico che fondamentalmente mette in evidenza le contraddizioni e i paradossi del rapporto tra popolo e potere, una serie interminabile di citazioni a tema poliziesco che vengono a perdersi nella traduzione italiana. Pratchett, per farla breve, in questo libro è più in forma che mai, e la lettura è certamente consigliata ai fan del fantasy, ai detrattori del fantasy (in quanto vengono, come al solito, messi a nudo e ridicolizzati tutti i cliché del genere), agli amanti dei romanzi umoristici e in special modo del british humour.
Un ottimo inizio per un ciclo che si preannuncia più che mai divertente e insieme spunto di amare riflessioni su alcuni aspetti della natura umana.(less)

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Dec 07, 2012 Kathleen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed, series-opener, display, fantasy

I've read the entire City Watch series ( 8 books listed below). The series gets 4 solid stars, but this book gets 5. Such fun! Danger, suspense, action, relationship, character-development, humor, and satire. Plus, a little history lesson. Even though the books are set on a fictional planet, the setting is similar to London, circa 1400, before modern institutions were in place, back when guild houses were prevalent. The only difference is that London was ruled by a king, and this city (Ankh-Morp...more

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Feb 17, 2010 Nenia Campbell rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: x-1980s, x-series-bk-8

this book totally made me think of that peasant scene in monty python's holy grail ("help! help! i'm being oppressed!" and "well, you can't expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you"). it's a brilliant satire of how ridiculous the principle of divine right really is, and makes some mostly harmless jabs at things like law enforcement and the foolishness of the bureaucracy. but it was good. great. awesome.

read it. there's a one in a million chance t...more

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Jan 18, 2008 James rated it 4 of 5 stars

ever since i read soul music 12 years ago, i've been a fan of terry pratchett's. up until about a couple of years ago, i had really only read the discworld books as they came (starting with interesting times and then as i felt like it--i still hadn't read them all and i hadn't read them in order. so i started re-reading all of the books, in order, and along the way, i'd also read the ones i had never gotten around to.

the reason i mention this primarily has to do with the "out-of-order" way i rea...more ever since i read soul music 12 years ago, i've been a fan of terry pratchett's. up until about a couple of years ago, i had really only read the discworld books as they came (starting with interesting times and then as i felt like it--i still hadn't read them all and i hadn't read them in order. so i started re-reading all of the books, in order, and along the way, i'd also read the ones i had never gotten around to.

the reason i mention this primarily has to do with the "out-of-order" way i read the books, which means that when i finally got around to reading this one, i had already read at least 4 or 5 others concerning sam vimes and the watch (the main characters in this book) that took place after this one. in other words, i sort of knew what happened in this book if only by virtue of knowing what happened after this book, and i think that may have affected my enjoyment of it, but only slightly.

the watch are definitely some of my favorite characters in pratchett's discworld. the books he writes featuring them have a very, shall we say, hard-boiled-three-stooges-meet-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail feel, and that is definitely something i can get behind. while this one is more introductory (being the first book they appear in, duh) the characters are all still flushed out enough so that you get a good feel for who they are and can get along with them without revealing everything, leaving them open to future adventures. they fit pratchett's m.o. of making characters that appear to be broad caricatures but that make those cliches their own. vimes is the hard-drinking captain with the heart of gold; colon is the older, rotund sergeant, with the barely-functional relationship; carrot is the well-meaning, naive rookie; etc... (the "etcetera" in this case being nobby, for whom "etcetera" is very in line with pratchett's description/treatment of him, in a loving way).

and, as in all of pratchett's books, this one has something to say about the human condition, in this case, man's inhumanity to man, man's desire for power/desire to be lead, and how people can come together and actually be civil to each other in light of/in the wake of disastrous events.

it also parodies, as wikipedia points out, "Cop novels, show dogs, dragons, fraternal organisations, aristocracy."

all in all, a great book, a great entry into the discworld cannon, and a great introduction to the watch, but because it wouldn't necessarily be a great introduction to discworld, not an amazing one. (less)

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Dec 26, 2008 Jesse rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: pratchett, fantasy, humour

This is a fine example of what I call "Middle Pratchett:" Terry has found his idiom, and he is busy exploring this great big world he has created and discovering what kind of folks live within. This book details the origins of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, one of Pratchett's favorite themes to return to. Vimes has to be considered one of the great anti-heroes of literature, and here he has all his flaws on display. We also get a wonderful insight into how Vetinari's mind works. For Pratchett fans...more

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Aug 02, 2011 Alun Williams added it

I've never read a Terry Pratchett book before, and doubt I ever will again if this is the best Discworld has to offer. I read this one to find out if I'd been missing anything, and because it was this month's choice for a book group I am in. This was chosen because it was thought by afficianados to be a good place to start.

I was half afraid I might find I liked Pratchett's writing , as I found I did Jasper Fforde's - the latter being the last "fantasy" author I was introduced to by the book club...more

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Feb 19, 2013 Sarah Pi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I feel like such a curmudgeon rating this three stars. There are times in my life where I think I would have appreciated it a lot more, times when I binged on Douglas Adams and Tom Holt and Robert Aspirin and Piers Anthony. I think I was twelve.
This is actually more sophisticated than I'm giving it credit for, but the human themes are buried under so many layers of pun and goofy character development that they don't get a lot of air. The footnotes! The puns! The wacky anachronisms! And then a ti...more

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Feb 10, 2013 Gavin Felgate rated it 4 of 5 stars

Terry Pratchett's eighth discworld novel once again introduces new characters, this time the ensemble cast that make up the City Watch, heading by Captain Vimes, who went on to star in many other Discworld novels. While the Watch stories aren't among my favourite in the series overall, I rather enjoyed this one.

The main storyline involves a dragon being summoned to Ankh Morpork, resulting in predictable chaos, and it takes a little while before the main story has much significance, since the boo...more

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Feb 09, 2013 Richard rated it 3 of 5 stars

Rating: 3* of five

The Book Description: Here there be dragons . . . and the denizens of Ankh-Morpork wish one huge firebreather would return from whence it came. Long believed extinct, a superb specimen of draco nobilis ("noble dragon" for those who don't understand italics) has appeared in Discworld's greatest city. Not only does this unwelcome visitor have a nasty habit of charbroiling everything in its path, in rather short order it is crowned King (it is a noble dragon, after all . . .).

Mean...more

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Aug 06, 2012 La Stamberga dei Lettori rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sakura87

A cosa può servire una Guardia Cittadina in una città in cui le gilde di ladri, mercanti, assassini, mendicanti e maghi rispettivamente rubano, mercanteggiano, uccidono, mendicano e incantano in maniera perfettamente equilibrata, coordinati dal genio logistico del Patrizio? E’ presto detto: assolutamente a nulla. A meno che la benevola tirannia di Lord Vetinari non rischi di essere rovesciata a opera di una setta in grado di evocare un drago, e che gli unici in grado di salvare la situazione e l...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Dash Gulick rated it 5 of 5 stars

Perhaps my favorite of the Discworld novels, or maybe a tie with Going Postal. But all I can say is WOW. Terry Pratchett is a pinnacle writer, which really means that he never really writes average books. Almost all of his books knock it out of the park. He is most certainly the best satirist going today, going yesterday, Hell, maybe even of all time. But his novels also have heart. Just like the character of Sam Vimes. At the start of the novel, he is but a drunkard. A hater of life in his own...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Silent_count rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pratchett_scale, commented, fiction

If you want a place to start reading the Terry Pratchett books, this is it. The first of the "watch" books. ('Men at Arms' is the next).

It's the tale of a secret society (the kind so incompetent that any other self-respecting secret, grand master wouldn't touch them with his 10-foot scepter of authority) who are trying to summon a dragon. Who is going to save the day? Well... "The watch are a bunch of incompetents commanded by a drunkard".

There's a saying that it's not the destination that matte...more

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Mar 27, 2012 Warsteiner rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-fantascienza

Il primo libro della serie mondo disco incentrato sulle avventure della guardia notturna. Pratchett introduce dei personaggi capisaldi dei prossimi libri, il comandante Vimes cinico e burbero per cui il ruolo di guardia era diventata una mera routine ritroverà un inatteso senso dell'onore. Il soldato Carota, il nano più alto di mondo disco, che porterà all'interno della guardia una ventata di gioventù e senso civico a dir poco fuori dal comune. Nobby Nobs un umano, ma non tutti ne sono convinti...more

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Jan 05, 2012 Shovelmonkey1 rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: all Discworld fans

Recommended to Shovelmonkey1 by: all pratchett's previous books

Shelves: brain-fluff, fantasy-fantastic

"Guards! Guards!"
Based on the original line up and moral background of the guards in question, you would be forgiven for thinking that the shout of "Guards! Guards!" across the rooftops of Ankh Morpork would be shouted in the sense of "Watch out the guards are coming, hide the beer and any other portable victuals and keep that Burleigh and Stronginthearm out of sight lest they nick it". Rather than the more usual "help me please Mr Officer-of-the-law as something untoward is afoot."

This is the f...more "Guards! Guards!"
Based on the original line up and moral background of the guards in question, you would be forgiven for thinking that the shout of "Guards! Guards!" across the rooftops of Ankh Morpork would be shouted in the sense of "Watch out the guards are coming, hide the beer and any other portable victuals and keep that Burleigh and Stronginthearm out of sight lest they nick it". Rather than the more usual "help me please Mr Officer-of-the-law as something untoward is afoot."

This is the first full introduction to what has become my favourite line up of usual Ankh-Morporkian suspects or the City Watch as they are now better known. Looking back now it is clear to see how much the City Watch, formerly the Night Watch, have metamorphosed like a beautiful dragon rising out of an egg...which then accidentally sets half the city on fire and eats many significant members of the ruling classes. Who can forget those first dank, musty incompetent days when the Night Watch consisted of a man who has to drink to bring himself to the normal levels of sobriety, a homunculus of indeterminate species and origin (yes Corporal Nobbs, I mean you) and the enthusiastically, dedicatedly non-professional Sergeant Fred Colon not to mention the confusingly plus-sized dwarf and later possible discworld heart throb (if such a thing were to be possible), Carrot Ironfoundersson? It's always nice to have a bit of nostalgia and hark back to those simpler times when there was less shininess and the uniform of the Night Watch made all its members look like the Tin Man after a particularly vicious mugging.

And simpler it was. Veterinari might get deposed and there's a shadowy group of people conjuring a dragon to strike fear into the hearts of all the simple folks from the Shambles to the Shades. Step, stride and slink forth the four unlikely heroes who will save the day and all for the price of a new kettle and a dart board. That's bargainous hero material if ever I saw it and with the introduction of the Night Watch, law and disorder in Ankh Morpork will never be quite the same again.
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Jan 03, 2012 Don Seipel rated it 4 of 5 stars

In a universe where librarians oversee the secrets of time and space, a million-to-one chance is a virtual guarantee, and dragons ... well, let's leave that bit a surprise ... almost anything can happen. Most of the things that actually do happen, as it turns out, are very silly.

This entry in Pratchett's venerable Discworld series covers the City Guard, a hapless, bumbling and oft-disrespected crew. The real star, though, is the City itself, and the Disc that surrounds it. Brutal logic, slapstic...more

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Oct 18, 2011 Христо Блажев rated it 5 of 5 stars

“Стражите! стражите!” погват дракон с традиционни щения – власт, куп злато за легло и девица за закуска
http://www.knigolandia.info/2011/10/b...

В “Стражите! Стражите!” на Тери Пратчет институцията на закона в Анкх-Морпорк е доста… неглижирана. По-скоро е в тежка зависимост от гилдийноцентрираната престъпност, направлявана от кукловодните машинации на властника Ветинари. В град, в който убийците и крадците имат квоти и публични тарифи за услугите си, както и сами наказват всяка самоволна простъпка...more

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Aug 11, 2011 Josi rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was almost too modernly written for my taste, and the amount of foul language and blatant innuendo might be enough to scare some off, however I did enjoy it. I have not read the rest of the discworld books, my friend who gave me the book said that this one is the best place to start. The next book is about wizards, if you want the sequel to this it's Men at Arms.

May I add that the character depth is incredibly done. These are real people to me. They are slightly predictable (which is a...more

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Apr 02, 2011 Margaret Taylor rated it 5 of 5 stars

The first time I started reading this book, I didn’t get it. I gave up in disgust when I got to the point where the Librarian was an orangutan. Real fantasy wasn’t supposed to be absurd! It was supposed to have magic spells in it!

Only the efforts of many friends singing Terry Pratchett’s praises finally convinced me to pick it up again. Now I realize the guy is freaking brilliant. Discworld still doesn’t make a lot of sense, but the fantasy isn’t the point, it’s the characters.

Guards! Guards! is...more

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Jan 31, 2011 Roruna rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: anyone who has never read anything by Terry Pratchett

Shelves: dearest

It's been years since I read Guards! Guards! for the first time so it's difficult for me to recall my first impressions but this book has become a firm favorite that I've re-read more times than I can count.

It introduced me to Sam Vimes, a character that I have steadily fallen in love with. Because the book is a response to the ill treatment that guards/henchmen/minions receive in other works of fiction, it reshaped how I perceive background characters in every book, movie and tv show I've read...more

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Jan 16, 2011 Jeanna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

I was perhaps 85% of the way through this book when I realized... it has no chapters. No chapters. This floored me. How could I have read so much of a book without realizing it had no chapter breaks, just little paragraph breaks to indicate smaller sections?

The fact that it had no chapters is frankly immaterial to whether or not the book was likable. I just had to mention it.

And the book was, in my opinion, quite likable. It was humorous and biting occasionally and delightfully paced as well (...more I was perhaps 85% of the way through this book when I realized... it has no chapters. No chapters. This floored me. How could I have read so much of a book without realizing it had no chapter breaks, just little paragraph breaks to indicate smaller sections?

The fact that it had no chapters is frankly immaterial to whether or not the book was likable. I just had to mention it.

And the book was, in my opinion, quite likable. It was humorous and biting occasionally and delightfully paced as well (which is probably why I didn't notice the lack of chapters). It's one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, which are essentially a collection of satirical novels based on the same world.

This was my second Discworld novel (and the first was a young adult novel and rather different from the usual Discworld books), but since reading it I have read several more. Essentially, Discworld novels generally follow one of a few different groupings of characters. There are the witches (who I didn't particularly enjoy much--Granny Weatherwax was too annoying), there's Death (remarkably entertaining in the one I've read so far, titled Mort), Rincewind (haven't read any of these), and the guards (who are my favorites, I think). Oh also, the aforementioned young adult series follows Tiffany Aching and the Wee Free Men (delightful!!).

If you are not familiar with Discworld but are interested in it, let me recommend using the following reading guide to get you started:

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/09/30/...

If you read this particular book, you will get to look forward to the secret passwords that let you into one of the many secret societies in the city of Ankh-Morpork. And watch out--make sure you end up at the right secret society's meeting (oh, you're looking for the Elucidated Brethren? Well, that's two doors down). Hee hee, snort snort.

Rating: PG, but it might be a little closer to PG-13 if you really catch all the double-entendre and similar humor, which I undoubtedly did not. Pratchett's novels generally have a bit of sexual humor, taken quite lightly, and some swearing as well (though I seem to recall only what I would consider the lesser swear words).

See also: Wee Free Men

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Jan 03, 2011 Krishnakumar Sankaran rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, fiction

I've loved every Discworld book featuring the City Watch I've read so far, namely, Feet of Clay, Jingo, Thud!. Guards! Guards! is the first in the series to feature the City Watch (the Night Watch in this book) and its primary characters, Sam Vimes, Nobby Nobbs, Fred Colon and Carrot Ironfoundersson. It also establishes the complex relationship between Vimes and Vetinari that is developed in the latter books.

As such, the plot involves dragons and a cult obsessed with summoning them, a defunct N...more

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Aug 19, 2010 Margaret rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy-and-science-fiction, authors-op

Guards! Guards! is one of my favorites of Terry Pratchett's long-running Discworld series. As he frequently does in the Discworld novels, Pratchett takes on a convention of heroic fantasy - the guards who dash in and get slaughtered wholesale by the hero - and creates a host of real and intriguing characters. The Clint Eastwood-like Captain Vimes is the captain of the Night Watch, who as the story opens consist of only two other men -- until they're joined by Carrot Ironfoundersson, a human rais...more

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Jul 30, 2010 mina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Buku pertama subserial City Watch dalam serial Discworld, sebuah subserial yang sepertinya dibuat Pratchett untuk memparodikan politik. Waktu itu City Watch masih berupa Night Watch dengan hanya 1 Captain (Vimes) dan 3 anggota: Carrot (masuk dengan sukarela karena ayahnya dapat info yang ketinggalan jaman tentang the Watch), Colon, dan Nobby. Agak di tengah buku, Colon merekrut 1 anggota lagi, yaitu the Librarian (yap, that adorable orangutan).

Di awal buku Vimes ditunjukkan sebagai seorang Capt...more

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Dec 26, 2009 Sandy Ferguson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What an awesome book!
In Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett creates a new legend in Discworld, of Sam Vines and the nightwatch of Ankh-Morpork, a new breed of heroes! All they want is a pay-rise, and a new kettle!
I learned so much in this book, how there is hope for the human condition, and how it is found in unexpected places, true heroes will emerge, warts and all, and we will cheer them on, wandering at the same time, did he just steal my drink?
I practically laughed from start to finish with thi...more

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May 29, 2012 Rob Kitchin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Pratchett has a wonderfully inventive mind and a natural storytelling flair. It’s a powerful combination leads to novels that are highly enjoyable, and yet also make the reader reflect on a particular issue – in this case, desire, power and law and order. Setting his stories in Discworld frees his parables of certain constraints, allowing him to draw on myths and legends, and to come at things in an oblique angle, meaning its message does not feel contrived or preachy. The result is a set of boo...more

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May 11, 2012 Lucy Furr rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: discworld, fantasy

Having read other much of the later Discworld novels, but not this one in particular, the Patrician has always been one of my favorite characters (and here we get our first good look at him in series order). I'd put him second behind Death. And much like Death, I just love the way the Patrician operates. Everything he does is so calculated and everything always seems to work out to his benefit, ALWAYS. He may not be the kind of person you want running YOUR city, but he is definitely the kind of...more

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About Terry Pratchett

Sir Terry Pratchett sold his first story when he was thirteen, which earned him enough money to buy a second-hand typewriter. His first novel, a humorous fantasy entitled The Carpet People, appeared in 1971 from the publisher Colin Smythe. Terry worked for many years as a journalist and press officer, writing in his spare time and publishing a number of novels, including his first Discworld novel,...more

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