Reviews with content warning for Murder - Night Watch

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

6 reviews

wandering_seal's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I've read this book at least once a year for about twenty years and it never fails to hook me in. I feel just as emotional now as I did the first time I read this - actually I think I probably get the story now a lot better than I did as a teen. Certainly I understand the fickleness of memory and the demise of idealism shown here in a way I don't think a teen can.

I adore Vimes, and while I'm not sure this is the story I adore him the most in, it is I think my favourite of his books. His rough, undesired goodness just shines through.

Content Warnings

ell_n's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content Warnings

crufts's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Man. How did Terry Pratchett do it? In short, another fantastic Discworld novel, this one continuing the Guards arc that started in Guards! Guards! (see my review of that here).
Although Night Watch is Book 29 of the Discworld series, you only need to have read Guards! Guards! (Book 8) to understand what's going on. Actually, you could probably even read Night Watch as a standalone.

Captain Samuel Vimes has long led the Night Watch of the city of Ankh-Morpork. He's seen a lot in his 48 or so years, including the day thirty years ago when a violent revolution ended in the removal of the city's ruler - and the deaths of many of young Sam's colleagues in the Watch. It was an experience that could have turned a good man bad. But fortunately, young Sam and the other watchmen had the guidance of the honest and incorruptible Sergeant John Keel, and so Sam Vimes grew up to be an honest policeman himself.

Thirty years later, the grown Captain Vimes is chasing down the unrepentant murderer Carcer when they're both thrown back in time by a magical anomaly. Carcer immediately murders the past version of Sergeant Keel, and plans to do the same to young Sam Vimes. The older Vimes realizes he only has one chance to save history: he must step into Keel's shoes and lead the Night Watch through the chaotic revolution that is inexorably bearing down on the city.

Since the story steps away from the present day so quickly, I thought I'd miss beloved characters from Guards! Guards! such as Lady Sybil Ramkin, or even the watchmen like Corporal Carrot or Sergeant Colon. What we actually get is a concentrated dose of Sam Vimes by himself, and that was so interesting to read that I'd soon completely forgotten about these other characters. We even get sneak peeks at younger versions of some of the present-day characters such as

Corporal Nobbs, Lord Vetinari, Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, and even (briefly) Lady Ramkin

.

In contrast to previous Discworld books which are basically a barrel of laughs tied up with clever wordplay, Night Watch got shockingly dark and emotional at times, and I mean that as a huge compliment. I'm very glad Terry Pratchett dipped into a darker tone for this novel because it made for a terrific ending.

Excellent novel, would totally recommend if you're reading through the Guards arc of Discworld. You might also like the sequel, Feet of Clay.

Content Warnings