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prettiestwhistles's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.25
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
kappafrog's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Bright spots were Detritus, Cuddy, and the Via Cloaca. And of course with Pratchett there were plenty of laugh out loud moments, like the Librarian playing the organ. Still, a rare dud from one of my favourite authors.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, Police brutality, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Addiction, Child abuse, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, and Excrement
luxton's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.5
I wish the ending
Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty and Murder
ampharos906's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, and Gun violence
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Alcohol
soupply's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racial slurs, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Bullying
woweewhoa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, and Racism
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Racial slurs, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Alcohol
Minor: Alcoholism and Fatphobia
crufts's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Although Men At Arms is Book 15 of the Discworld series, you only need to have read Guards! Guards! (Book 8) to understand what's going on. You might be able to read Men At Arms as a standalone, but you would miss a lot of the references.
Times are changing in the Watch of the city of Ankh-Morpork. Lord Vetinari has decreed that the Watch must take on three new "diversity hires": a troll (Detritus), a dwarf (Cuddy), and a
The Captain of the Watch (Sam Vimes) is awkward about this, especially considering the eons-old feud between trolls and dwarves. He's even more awkward about his impending marriage to Lady Sybil Ramkin, and the fact that it dumps him into the upper crust of society - a place he has never been, and, to be honest, kind of detests.
Fortunately, young Corporal Carrot, an adopted dwarf who is two meters tall, is there to take all of these changes in his (massive) stride. And when a dangerous weapon is stolen from the Assassin's Guild, it'll take the entire Watch to hunt down who did it, and why...
Does that description make the plot sound very complicated? Honestly, it is. There are a lot of threads woven in - the marriage, the racial feud, the werewolf angle, a romance, the stolen weapon, etc. Both Vimes and Carrot (and arguably even Angua) become the "main character" at different points in the story, and they all get their own character arcs. I was shocked to realize the book is only 377 pages long because so much is accomplished.
Now, usually this kind of thing would have me complaining the book is too "cluttered". But somehow Terry Pratchett pulled it off. Maybe because the book has 4 or 5 acts (with major turning points) instead of a standard 3 acts? In any case, the book never felt overly "busy".
As usual for the Discworld, the characters were a goldmine. Not only do we see adored returning characters (Vimes, Carrot, Lady Ramkin, Lord Vetinari) but we also get some fascinating new ones (Detritus and his unusual trollish mental state, Angua's double life). We also got some great worldbuilding that dives into the Fools' Guild and the Assassins' Guild. And need I even say that there was plenty of Discworld-style humour?
To top it all off, this is the book which introduces Sam Vimes' Economic Theory of Boots, which has gone on to enter popular culture.
Men At Arms is a wonderful book and I whole-heartedly recommend it.
Moderate: Racism and Violence
Minor: Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Alcohol
Fantasy racism of ongoing troll/dwarf hostilties appear in the narrative, including some spoken comments.Sexism is alluded to but does not appear in the narrative.
Violence and gun violence appear briefly during some action scenes.
Alcohol and alcoholism: Despite Lady Ramkin's protestations, Vimes has not entirely given up the drink.