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A review by halfmanhalfbook
Guards! Guards!: The Play by Terry Pratchett
5.0
Ankh-Morpork has not had a king for hundreds of year, and the Unique and Supreme Lodge of the Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night think is about time that they did again.They have hatched a plan to summon a dragon and to have a suitably regal looking knight to put it to the sword and claim the throne.
The night watch, a rag bag collection of the lower half of humanity, have a new recruit, Carrot Ironfoundersson, fresh in from the mountains, where at over six foot he no longer could work in the mines. He has a novel outlook on the role of the watch, namely that they should enforce the laws, in particular, the book he was give of old Ankh-Morpork laws that he has been studying.
Vimes, the head of the watch, decides to start investigating the dragons appearances having had a very near miss. As he learns more about the species he meets Lady Ramkin, a nobel and breeder of swamp dragons. As the dragon terraces the city, the puppet heir appears and defeats the dragon, in very suspicious circumstances; but the dragon that has been summoned decides that it likes being free, and appears back at the coronation to rule the city.
This is one of my favourite books by Pratchett, and one where we first meet the motley crew that is the watch. The characters are brilliant, from Nobby, the extremely bent copper, to Vimes, the alcohol marinated captain, all of whom are changed by Carrot, whose view on the world is an uncompromising black and white. The plot is not hugely strong, as there are no twists, and it is fairly easy to work out who is behind the scheme, but where this book wins is the humour and the wit and the origin of so many phrases that have passed into Pratchett lore.
Great book, so glad that I have re read it for the first time in along time.
The night watch, a rag bag collection of the lower half of humanity, have a new recruit, Carrot Ironfoundersson, fresh in from the mountains, where at over six foot he no longer could work in the mines. He has a novel outlook on the role of the watch, namely that they should enforce the laws, in particular, the book he was give of old Ankh-Morpork laws that he has been studying.
Vimes, the head of the watch, decides to start investigating the dragons appearances having had a very near miss. As he learns more about the species he meets Lady Ramkin, a nobel and breeder of swamp dragons. As the dragon terraces the city, the puppet heir appears and defeats the dragon, in very suspicious circumstances; but the dragon that has been summoned decides that it likes being free, and appears back at the coronation to rule the city.
This is one of my favourite books by Pratchett, and one where we first meet the motley crew that is the watch. The characters are brilliant, from Nobby, the extremely bent copper, to Vimes, the alcohol marinated captain, all of whom are changed by Carrot, whose view on the world is an uncompromising black and white. The plot is not hugely strong, as there are no twists, and it is fairly easy to work out who is behind the scheme, but where this book wins is the humour and the wit and the origin of so many phrases that have passed into Pratchett lore.
Great book, so glad that I have re read it for the first time in along time.