Night Watch

Rating:
Summary: Sam Vimes Does The Time Machine
Review: This is the Discworld version of a time machine story. I think it's the best written of the entire Terry Pratchett library, but I only give it four stars.

The thing about any time machine story is that you already know how it comes out. And, for me at least, that takes a bit out of Pratchett's toolbox. Pratchett novels in the past have been a wild ride where you were never completely sure how it would all work out. "Night Watch" is a wild ride, but it's a roller coaster ride, and you know at the end of the ride you'll be, more or less, back at the starting point, breathless but okay.

There's also a bit of a character development issue. Maybe it's just the Monks of History having problems again, but how did eager young nightwatchman Sam Vimes - not John Keel, but Sam Vimes - turn into the lush we know and love in "Guards! Guards!"? We first met Sam Vimes, remember, lying drunk in a gutter in a rainstorm...

Still and all, this is an excellent addition to the Night Watch series. Not an introduction, mind you. I think you need to meet Fred Colon and Nobby Nobbs in "Guards! Guards!" or "Men at Arms" to appreciate those first, earlier encounters here. Especially to ah... savor the meeting with Nobby. Longstanding mysteries are solved, and half the fun is knowing they are mysteries in advance. Why Reg Shoe is a zombie. Whether Vetinari is indeed an assassin.

Pratchett's wordcraft is as good or even better than it has ever been. He is particularly deft in seamlessly intertwining the linked story threads and his message, which he slips in as craftily as any assassin. The party at which Mad Lord Winder is not assassinated is particularly well done.

I'm not rabid about Pratchett - I'm not a chronic hanger-on at L-Space, and there are some small sections of The APF I've not committed to memory. But any Prachett book is cause for keen anticipation and delighted, delightful reading. "Night Watch" is no exception. Oh, and stay off the Library dome in lightning storms...

Rating:
Summary: Great Return of the Watch
Review: With each Discworld novel, Terry Pratchett has expanded his already vibrant environment bit by bit, but altered his writing approach and plotcraft quite a bit. Night Watch, in that light, is the return to a comfortable set of established characters, set in a new, dramatic light.

Sam Vimes is hot on the trail of a dangerous psychopath who has just killed an off-duty Watchman. During the ensuing chase, he's propelled back in time to the early days of the Night Watch, where the psychopath is finding a perfect social outlet for his er, interests: as a member of Lord Winder's sadistic Particulars. Vimes has to tread pretty lightly between not disutrbing the natural course of events - which are leading to his eventual rise to Dukedom and - ulp!- fatherhood, and fighting the psychopath Carcer with every tool at his disposal: a corrupt and disorganized Watch; much younger and slovenly versions of Fred Colon and Nobby, and one, very green and naive ... Sam Vimes.

Night Watch's plot is a clear extension of Thief of Time, with the presence of the Temporal Monks, and The Sweeper, with some real great action and interplay between the Vimes of the Future and the Inhabitants of the Past. Unlike Thief of Time, howvever, the plot is a little clearer, and the urgency of the situation is much less contrived. And who hasn't indulged themselves in the fantasy of returning to their past with all the benefits of decades of hindsight? While the plot is a little reminiscent of Men at Arms, and the movie Killing Time - it could be observed that one doesn't really expect a completely original starting point with Terry Pratchett: it's what he does with all those hackneyed setups and stock fantasy scenarios that keeps us coming back again and again.

Night Watch is a terrific return to Discworld: familiar characters that you like; plenty of good laughs at The Assassin's Guild, Sam's grudging rise to greatness, and Nobby and Fred; and an inventive and interesting plot. I feel, however, that even with all its backstory and description of the Good Ol' Bad Ol' Days in Ankh-Morpork, it reads better after you've read Men At Arms, The Fifth Elephant or Feet of Clay. But Pratchett continues to improve with each book, so hurry up and read those, then read Night Watch.

Rating:
Summary: I didn't know a Discworld book could be this good...
Review: ...without Rincewind. Rincewind is definity my favorite, but this book clearly proves that all of his books are awesome. I'm a huge fan of Discworld. I am slowly collecting all of Terry Prachett's books, and his writing couldn't be more enjoyable. I was looking for a good Discworld novel to give to a friend, so I started reading Night Watch, to see if it would make a good gift for a fellow Discworld addict. It blew me away! Vimes is truly a spectacular character. The comedy in the book is outstanding, and the plot is superior, e.g. Qu of the Time Monks making the technology. If you haven't read any of his other books, you should not read this one, for it builds off his other work. But if you are an addict like I am, BUY THIS BOOK!

Rating:
Summary: Not as humorous as previous Pratchett books
Review: With Terry Pratchett as my favorite author, I really looked forward to Night Watch, especially since out of Pratchett's wide range of characters and character settings, my favorite is about the men, troll, dwarves, werewolf, etc, in the nightwatch division of the police force. It is so easy to escape into a Pratchett book, with the characterizations so well done and the humor intoxicating. I would recommend Jingo, Men at Arms, or Feet of Clay over Night Watch though. It was not as humorous as I would have liked, except for the parts with Nobby Nobbs as a young street urchin. Those parts were excellent! Overall, the book is a good fantasy with Vimes going back in time and seeing things from a slightly differnet perspective than he had experienced them before. Cleverly written, just not quite the caliber of previous books. Still very much worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Night Watch review by Tom
Review: Let me start this review by saying we (the American Terry Pratchett fans/buyers) are being cheated. That's right, cheated. It seems that over in jolly old England they get really, really bloody cool covers for their Discworld books. We get stupid, stylized (spelling?) covers over here. They get the books first there, too. Which is why the last couple of Pratchett books I bought (Last Hero, Thief of Time) online have been from Amazon UK. Thanks to the exchange rate, I have actually gotten the books cheaper, too!
Anyway, my review. This is a great read. It is hard to put down once you stop. Pratchett is on his game, again. This is not one of the wizard series where anything can happen and it is a laugh a minute. The book has its laughs, boy does it ever. But a lot are actually mean, kind of in your face laughs. It is a Night Watch book. By their nature (crimes, Ank-Morpork at night!) they have to be kind of dark, mean little books.
Sam Vines, on his way to a ceremony, gets pulled into the chase of the city's most notorious (only because the city knows about him) criminal, Carcer. Seems Carcer has just killed a member of the Watch. During the chase Vimes and Carcer get sent back to AnkMorpork of twenty years ago. A dark, dreary, dirty place, good old AnkMorpork! Vimes takes the place of his mentor and, while trying to catch Carcer must: teach the fresh, green Lance Constable Sam Vimes how to be a 'good' copper; lead the watch; and fight a rebellion. All while trying not to change history! Of course he knows what happens and so does Carcer. Carcer, however doesn't care about the future and attempts to change the future by killing the past which is now the present which will only lead to the future. Got it? Want a smoke and a tea while you think about it and then re-read it?
We get to see the original members of the Watch before they became 'honest' coppers: Ned Coates, Nobby, Reg. There are no Trolls, Dwarves, Werwolves, Vampires. Uberwald is not even talked about, the wizards are not fun. This is old AnkMorpork.
Buy the book (either the US or UK version) read it, then re-read the many sections you didn't get the first read through, and anjoy another great Pratchett book!

Rating:
Summary: Best in the series so far
Review: Sam Vimes is my favorite Discworld character, and this book is his triumph! I've read all of the Discworld books to date, and this one is my favorite. Keeps the reader in suspense, and I couldn't put it down. Great characters from the Discworld are seen in their younger days. A must read for all Discworld and Pratchett fans!

Rating:
Summary: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.....
Review: A Tale of Two Cities falls through a crack in the space time continuum and lands in the hands of a very strange librarian. One with orange hair. All over. I have read as much Terry Pratchett as I could get hold of. No, this is not like his other books (with the possible exception of Maurice and His Educated Rats). Both have a stream of darkness running through them which lends them a totally different flavor (air, ambiance, meaning?) I have just finished reading this book again and I have to say that I think it is one of his finest. "I laughed, I cried, I fell down...." Get this book and read it. Then read it again. It grows on you. Sort of like Nobby. Of course, Nobby looks like all sorts of things grow on him...

Rating:
Summary: Stuck Somewhere Between Funny and Serious
Review: While his wife is in labor, Vimes accidentally goes back in time while chasing an arch-criminal and meets his younger self, taking on the role of an unsung hero of one of the revolutions in Ankh-Morpork. We meet a young Patrician and Nobby. The Monks of Time make cameos, but are under-used. This book is more serious than the usual Discworld novel and contains a lot of meditation on the nature of duty, responsibility, and heroism. It would seem that a whole book going deep into Vimes' past and psychology would be interesting, but I agree with one of the reviewers on Amazon; if you already know Vimes, you'll find that he never really surprises you in this book. I'd give it four stars if it were either funnier _or_ a better serious novel. As in a lot of Pratchett, many scenes in this story cry out for a stronger sense of place and evocative detail; there's too much telling and not enough showing. It wouldn't make a good introduction to Discworld; for that, try _The Truth_.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I love Terry Pratchett. This book is not like most of his other ones, but it is good all the same. It is very dark and has a strong message. Don't expect this book to be like all the other Terry Pratchett books, but I recomend it all the same.

Rating:
Summary: This is not Pratchett
Review: This is a strange book, quite good, but it reads like well-informed fan fiction, not at all like Terry Pratchett himself (i have read all of the Discworld series, some titles several times over).
The style is dry, the characters non-developed, the pacing and structure do not have the same feel as other works, and it lots of ways this story is flavorless.
It doesn't feel right....