Rating: 
Summary: A Great Book in a Great Series
Review: For my money this is the best book that Pratchett has written in the Discworld series. You get so many great elements added to the story: the alcoholic Vimes, Nobby and Colon, Carrot, the Patrician, Sybil Ramkin, and of course Errol the abnormal dragon.This book is a great place to pick up the Discworld series, if you haven't read any of the others don't feel threatened by it being the...like 9th book. A whole new cast of characters is introduced along with the wonderful Ankh-Morpork. It's more than just a comedy about a dragon running through the streets. (With Pratchett nothing is that easy.) It has some serious commentary on Law and on human behavior. I see Pratchett as a kind of teacher, who hides his lessons in his hugely entertaining stories. All that said, buy this book!! I apologize for all of you who will read it and need to read the rest of the series as soon as possible. It will cost you some money (he's got somewhere around 26 Discworld books alone) but you may end up thanking me.
Rating:
Summary: It's Pratchett
Review: The sense of irony and satire that have made Pratchett famous are in full display, in a mockerie of current government, and previous autocracies, and also in the fact that people are eager to follow anyone with a bit of charisma without even asking. Pratchett's cartoon of our world is always fascinating and fun to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Only a minor complaint
Review: (...). My expectations were very high, as everyone seems to love Pratchett (and particularly this book.) GUARDS!! GUARDS!! introduces Sam Vimes and the nightwatch. One might call them bumbling or pathetic, but they're not. They're impotent; manacled by the very bizarre circumstances of their own existances. And there lies the undertone of seriousness. Cynical and sarcastic: at one point, Carrot (yes, that's his name) arrests all the members of the thieves guild. His fellow watchman are embarrased and apologize to everyone and explain to Carrot that you just can't run around arresting thieves like that. There are rules! Knowing this, it isn't so hard to believe that later, a dragon becomes king. Is this funny? Yes, very. Is it serious? Yes, very. An entertaining read. I imagine that soon I will plow through all of them and be writing a review like some of the others here, where I talk about all the other books and how they compare. For now though, just know that this is a good place to start... it worked for me (though I 'started' with The Truth). I dropped that single star up there only because two thirds of the way through, the pace slowed for no noticable reason. A sort of repetition breifly reared its ugly head. But only breifly. Its a minor complaint
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: This book is one of my absolute favorites... if you're new to the series, it's a great one to start with! Ah... good ol' Ankh-Morpork... (that's a thing I've noticed... usually in the books where Pratchett first introduces the charaters, the charater development is super. It kinda fades after a while, but the books are among the tops of the tops, in my opinion... but that's just me.)
Rating:
Summary: The people united can never be ignited!
Review: Discworld really doesn't get any better or funnier than this. For the first time in the series, we get an extended up-close view of life in the remarkable city of Anhk-Morpork. We are introduced to such wonderful characters as Captain Vimes of the City Watch and his singular subordinates Nobby, Colon, and the giant dwarf (adopted) Carrot; the formidable Lady Ramkin; and Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler. The remarkable fashion in which the Patrician Lord Vetinari runs the city is explained in some detail, we begin to really get to know the Librarian of Unseen University (who was of course turned into an orangutan some type back as a result of a magical accident), and Pratchett gives us a basic rundown on the theory of L-Space under which all libraries work and are magically connected. Everyone knows that dragons do not exist, not the type of giant mythical creatures who fly around breathing fire all over the place. Thus, it comes as something of a surprise to people when Anhk-Morpork begins experiencing incidents of the body-melting variety; such a perpetrator can only be dismissed for so long as a giant wading bird, however. It seems that a group of unimportant have-nots has been wooed into a secret society bent on teaching the haves a lesson or two by magically summoning a dragon to carry out their wishes. Naturally, things get out of hand, and the dragon finds a way to establish permanent residence in reality. Declaring himself king of the city, preparations are made to turn over treasure and begin sacrificing maidens. The City Watch has long been nothing but a joke in town, especially after the establishment of proper guilds virtually eliminated illegal illegality, and Captain Vimes and his men have no desire to enforce the law anyway, unless enforcing the law somehow involves drinking copious amounts of alcohol. Young Carrot (who has just found out he is a human and not a dwarf after all, all six and a half feet of him) amazingly volunteers for the Watch and actually tries to enforce the law, thereby causing a bit of controversy at first. Then the dragon business comes along, and the City Watchmen take it upon themselves to try and overcome the wossname since no one else, aside from the noble swamp-dragon enthusiast Lady Ramkin, seems to offer much resistance at all (even when extolled by Sergeant Colon's rally cry "The people united can never be ignited!"). Of course, the odds of solving such a crisis as this are a million-to-one; odds of a million-to-one guarantees success, as everyone knows, and the problem comes in making sure your plan's chance of success does not miss the mark; it can't be a thousand-to-one or even 999,999-to-one odds because you've never heard of anyone succeeding with those odds against them, now have you? There is so much that goes to the very heart of the Discworld in this novel that one cannot begin to list it all here. Captain Vimes and the City Watch members are some of the most human characters in the series, and they also happen to be very funny. Virtually everything about this book is terribly funny. The only question I have about this novel is how in the world the inept wizard Rincewind managed to be completely absent from such a dangerous situation as the one represented by the dragon to the city. It's really best that he does not appear in these pages, though, as it would take something away from the incredible appeal of the City Watch characters. If ever a Discworld novel were required reading, it would have to be Guards! Guards! If you can't enjoy this book, then Pratchett's Discworld series is not for you.
Rating:
Summary: A dragon?
Review: When has it (Diskworld) ever said anything about dragons? I think in this book was the first mentioning of them.
First of all: Vimes is the captain of the night watch, just doing his job (not very well). Sergent Colon is sergent of the Night Watch, who has been married for years because his wife has a day job, and they communicate by notes. Nobby is Corporal of the NIght Watch. Carrot is a dwarf-or, so he thinks, and he is on his way to join the Watch; volentaraly. The Librarian is really annoyed at finding that his book has been stolen. Lady Ramkin is just doing what she likes best; taking care of and breeding swamp dragons (little tiny dragons who die very quickly). And the Surpreme Grand Master and his brethen are going to summon a dragon. And then:
Many people in Ankh-Morpork are wondering if the 'draco nobilis' (noble dragon) really is extinct. I say only 'many', for many more already know it still exists (and sadly most of those could not tell anyone else, for they went with Death). And the Librarian is still upset about his book. After all, stealing books (or 'a' book) is the worst crime one could commit; isn't it? A very funny, and good, book, and something new (aren't they all?).
Rating:
Summary: One fourth of the series characters start here
Review: The Discworld books are mostly about the witches, the wizards, death, or the guards. This book introduces us to the guards and their world.
Rating:
Summary: Meet the City Watch
Review: This was the first Discworld novel that I read. I still think it is one of the best. It is worth it just to be introduced to Carrot the 6-foot dwarf. He was by far the best character in the book. All of the watch were funny as was the Patrician (especially in the cell with the rats). The Patrician's secretary and his makeshift wizards' club was also a riot. And let us not forget CMOT Dibbler and the strange items he sells. This is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Combining humor with great storytelling
Review: This is my favorite Discworld book, because it is the most complete. Pratchett's humor is here, as always, poking fun at society, people and fantasy, but Terry has also put together a great cast of characters and a solid story, which he doesn't always do.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book -- Introduces the Watch, Vimes, and Carrot
Review: This is the 8th in Pratchett's Discworld. An excellent book which introduces the Watch (specifically, and most importantly, Carrot and Capt. Vimes). It also fleshes out both the Librarian and the Patrician some more. All of these become very important in later books, so reading this one is not only great fun, it's also important.
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