Night Watch, by Terry Pratchett

[keilexandra]

Night Watch
by Terry Pratchett
338 pages (hardcover)
Genre: Fiction/Fantasy/Humor

I'm apparently on a Pratchett binge; only The Light Fantastic is left at the local branch though, and hopefully I will resist requesting until I work through some of my personal TBR backlog. Annoyingly common typos in this volume as well; which speaks to sloppy copyediting. I hear this is the first Vimes book; if so, I"m surprised. It seems to hint at an uncommon amount of backstory and would be an awkward introduction. A great book for development of Vimes's character and discovering his history, but I'm more interested in the here-and-now characters. That said, I love the glimpses of young Havelock Vetinari--where is his aunt now? And I really want to read a Vetinari book, one that actually centers on him. Vetinari seems to be in the margins of everything, but never smack in the center foreground. I suppose that's appropriate.

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

No; it's chronologically first (in the flashback sequences only, obviously), but was written after Guards! Guards! and at least two other Watch books. I think it works better if you already know the characters.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

I would argue against 'chronologically first'. Relative to Ankh-Morpork, yes. Relative to Vimes? Yes and no, mostly no. He changes so much from Guards to Thud.

[keilexandra]

I'd definitely agree that NIGHT WATCH wouldn't have worked for me if I didn't already know Vimes from THUD! or another book. The backstory was interesting, but only because I already cared about the character.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Also, Light Fantastic sucks. Avoid it.

[keilexandra]

I think I need to read it for rounded-Pratchett-experience's sake, but perhaps with a critical mind rather than as fluff.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

The Color of Magic and The Light Fantastic are not... okay, so he made this world. Then he played in it some. Then it coalesced into Discworld and a bunhc of standalone books happened, and then recurring characters, and then there are multibook arcs and beauty and hilarity that makes me cry.
The first two books are at 'played some'. Interesting because of context.

[keilexandra]

Mmm, yeah. I know it's one of his earliest books and the least mature because of that. But it'll definitely be interesting for context.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure where it falls in terms of his entire work. The Carpet People is earlier (ish). Discworld is unfinished, though, and Rincewind is not as charismatic a character as Vimes or Weatherwax (or Susan, or Tiffany, or Moist).