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.