Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Guards! Guards!
Book Review: FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC !
Summary: 4 Stars
"Guards ! Guards !" is the eighth book in Terry Pratchett's hugely popular Discworld series and is the first to focus on Sam Vimes and Ankh-Morpork's City Guard. Although the City Guard was once a fine and noble profession, it has fallen by the wayside in recent years. Once, there had been hundreds of members : as the book opens, the City's Night Watch is staffed only by Sam, Sergeant Fred Colon and Corporal Nobby Nobbs. Like the Night Watch itself, Sam has also fallen on hard times. Having started drinking to forget (it was possibly something to do with a woman), he now drinks to forget the drinking. Despite his faults, though, he's a likeable cynic who has a well-developed sense of fair play and identifies with the underdog.
Things start turning around for Sam and the Watch in "Guards ! Guards !". The force sees a dramatic rise in numbers with the arrival of Carrot Ironfoundersson. Orphaned as a baby, Carrot had been taken in by the dwarfs and raised in a gold mine. Until shortly before he left home, he didn't realise he was human - he'd always thought he was just tall for his species. His adoptive father decides it's best for Carrot to spend some time with other humans and 'manages' to secure a position for him in the Ankh-Morpork City Guard. Carrot, on his arrival, is viewed with some amazement : an actual, honest volunteer. He takes things very literally (as dwarfs tend to do), is very innocent (he wouldn't know what to do with a seamstress if one fell into his lap) and a lot of the humour comes from his utter confusion.
The problem for Sam and the Night Watch is presented by the Unique and Supreme Lodge of the Elucidated Brethren. Well, actually, the problem is its mysterious (and big-headed) Supreme Grand Master, an ambitious and manipulative individual. (The remaining members are bitter, vitriolic, small-minded, jealous, resentful and a bit stupid. As a result, they're very easy to manipulate). He's devised a Machiavellian plan that will involve the removal of the Patrician (Ankh-Morpork's tyrant) and lead to the restoration of the monarchy. Unfortunately, his plan involves the controlling of a very dangerous dragon - to that end, Brother Fingers has managed to 'acquire' De Malachite's book on summoning dragons from the Unseen University's library. For some reason, it doesn't seem to bother him that the book is badly burnt.
This is the first of the Discworld books to feature Sam and the City Guard. As a result, it's a pretty good starting point if you've never read any of the other Discworld books before and want to see what you're missing. Pratchett's books are always very funny and this one gets better as it goes along. Definitely recommended.
Book Review: Fantasy and Humor can Live in Harmony
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great book. I have not read Terry Pratchett before and did so after hearing of the many comparisons between him and Douglas Adams, the British funnyman who penned the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books. You need to know that I greatly appreciate zany British humor. If you don't, this may not be the book for you.
Guards! Guards! is one of many books that take place on Discworld. While this is not the first book of the Discworld series, you do not need to read any of the earlier books to enjoy this one.
This book introduces the city watch. A bumbling apathetic group of city guards who's exclusive duty it seems is to ring a bell every hour and say all is well, even if all is horribly unwell.
One such unwell event is the visit of a large and destructive dragon which claims itself king. Will the city watch rise to the occasion or head for the tavern for a pint. Perhaps a bit of both.
Pratchett is an amazingly funny author and the best part is he weaves an excellent story as well. It's rare to find this kind of balance. I don't know if anyone could read this book and not smile (and quite possibly laugh out loud!). Enjoy.
Book Review: Full of funny, ironical and absurd situations
Summary: 5 Stars
I was told that Terry Pratchet resembles in his style of writing Douglas Adams and that he is very funny too. So I decided to read one of his many books about the Diskworld. And it turned out that those rumors about people dying out of laughter while reading Pratchett are the mere truth. There were lots of funny, ironical and absurd situations that made me smile or laugh.
The story takes place in Diskworld main city of Ankh-Morpork. A guild is lead by a person who plans to summon and control dragon and later make him disappear so that his protege can take the throne pretending to have killed tha dragon. The City Watch should defend the city. However the Watch is obsolete because the Patrician Lord Vetinari has legalized guilds of criminals which in their turn are responsible to keep crimes in decent count. A young and sturdy lad named Carrot that still believes is a dwarf, volunteers and joins the Watch with enthusiasm to chase every criminal. Captian of the Watch is one of the main characters who in the face of the danger from the Dragon (who becomes king) decides to do all he can to save the city. The woman presence is in the face of Lady Ramkin (far away from beautiful woman, away even from woman) whose hobby are little swamp dragons, one of which eventually fights the evil Noble Dragon.
As a whole the story is very interesting and dinamyc. Characters are well developed, each with his unique characteristcs - from the very naive Carrot to the extremely witty Patrician Lord Vetinari. What surprised me pleasantly is that through the funny plot there are numerous lines that can be interpreted in serous ironical way. While reading a person could very often be able to make parallel to the real world and possibly get a moral for hismelf.
Book Review: Funny, funny man.
Summary: 4 Stars
I don't like to do things easy. I picked up this book in an airport on a business trip. I had never read Terry Pratchett before, but had heard him mentioned by some people that I work with. All I can say is that they are correct! The book was filled with vivid characters that made me laugh. It included a dragon that wasn't quite right, and alcoholic and some bad guys. Seems simple doesn't it? Well this author has created a world with it's own rules. All of the above characters are woven into a tapestry that takes a comical look at a society of laws. There is a message in there somewhere and when I finish wiping the tears of laughter from my eyes I'll figure it out. It is now my understanding that there are 20 something Discworld books and I will have to find them all now. Guess my business trips will be covered for the foreseeable future.Book Review: Good book
Summary: 4 Stars
Minimum Maturity Level - Teen
Mild language (Couple S-words at worst). Mild violence.
Previous Reading Required - Minor
To get the full effect on some of the humor. It's a good idea to have some background on some of the characters. As an example, prior knowledge on the character Death will tell you that he always speaks in capital letters without quotes. Otherwise, you may not get the punchline till later.
Reading Level - Average
Easy to understand what's going on for the most part. The dialog is along the lines of British Comedy. If you ever watched "Shaun of the dead" or "Hotfuzz" then you'd know what I mean.
Rate of Development - Fast
The story develops quite quickly so you are not having to read through a bunch of character development.
The Story - Good
The city of Ankh-Morpork is being plagued intermittantly by a dragon. But dragons do not exist! Needless to say, there is sufficient evidence that a dragon does exist and is running amok in the city. How did it get there? Where is it's lair? What does it want? This sounds like a job for Captain Vimes of the City Watch. The City Watch comprised of 4 men. Vimes, Nobby, Colon, and Carrot the a six foot six inch dwarf (adopted human).
My Suggestion - Recommended
This book is funny in its own way. British humor, I always thought is fun listen but also watch. Here, you kind of have to envision the whole skit happening in fluidity. I found myself having to reread a paragraph every now and then to get the right idea of the comedy in play. It becomes very entertaining to hear the banter between Nobby and Colon. Some of it being nonsense but Pratchett makes it entertaining. The characters all have personality and it shows in the writing - how they talk, walk, and act.