Rating: 
Summary: A great story a better mystery
Review: I love the discworld books. I also love a good mystery. Here I received both and Terry Pratchett dumps Vimes, Carrot and the rest of the watch into a good old fashion who dunit. The victims are a priest, a museum curator, an old woman, a small child, and the partition of the city (well almost). The watch is portrayed less like English bobbies and more like New York cops with a cynical attitude towards the clues and the higher up. There where times when if felt like Tarry was channeling the ghost of Dashal Hammet to write this book. Definitely a favorite.
Rating:
Summary: Part 3 of the City Watch series of Discworld
Review: I just finished the third book in the City Watch series, Feet of Clay. It is another home run for Pratchett. The book is not quite as funny as the first two, but it says even more about the human condition. No human institution is left unscathed as he hits politics, religion, social class, and racism. All in one book, while still filling it full of parody, jokes, and slapstick comedy. What more could you ask for?The plight of the golem in this book is very well-staged. Pratchett presents some very biting commentary on life in general and our attitudes toward different people, using the golems as a focal point. Are golems really alive? Do they constitute a race, and thus they can be discriminated against? Some of the arguments parallel the Star Trek: The Next Generation Episode "Measure of a Man," where Picard asks some of these same questions. Once you create a group of "beings," at what point do these beings become a race? Do they have a soul? Pratchett doesn't go that far, but he does present some very good points about all of this. The character development of Carrot and Vimes continues as well. Carrott is now a captain in the Watch, and thus has authority (authority which he's always really had, due to his charisma). Vimes continues his determination to have the Watch be a respected institution as Carrot's devotion to duty continues to rub off on him. He has grown from a character wallowing in drink to forget about the Watch and his problems, to a well-rounded person who's determined to make the best of himself and watch out for his people. The Watch has grown in size as well, with many more members. They now have a forensic alchemist (a female dwarf who has decided to start actually showing she's female), along with a gargoyle and a man who likes to distribute religious literature. Of course, there are also many more unnamed ones. Pratchett does a wonderful job of giving each of these characters three dimensions. I didn't find this book quite as funny as the first two, but it still does have many great moments. The lessening of the humour is off-set by some great social commentary. Don't be fooled, though. This isn't a social treatise. It's a funny book that makes some good social points. And isn't that what good social commentary is all about? Read this book, but read the first two before this one. I think you'll get more enjoyment out of this one if you have the basis of the first two books. It's certainly not mandatory to understand what's going on, but it helps.
Rating:
Summary: This Book Rocks
Review: THis is one of the funniest pieces of literature I have ever read. The charaters of Terry Prachett are pure genius and just a little unbelieveabal. Buy This book. It is very funny and Should Be Read By All. Any book of his set in Ankh-Morpork are wonderful and this is the best one. I don't want to give anything away but one of the best scenes involves a "loaded wolf" and another a hold up of a policemen's bar.
Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable, entertaining and well, enjoyable...
Review: I liked this book. When I first picked it up, I knew pretty much what I wanted. I was looking for a nice Vimes episode, something to fill up the boring hours in between an otherwise pretty dull life(in otherwords, holiday time). The first couple of pages didn`t seem so engrossing, but as the story progresses, it becomes more and more addictive. On top of that cunning old Pratchett seems to have a dislike of chapters, and when you see only four small and insignifigant asterisks seperating you from the next scene, it`s like a heroine addict sitting and staring at a loaded syringe(no I have had no such experience). The plot is intriguing, with a murderer walking (or stomping) free on the streets of Ankh Morpork, Vetinari on the verge of death(amazing, huh?) and Commander Samuel Vimes on the loose, trying to find the questions to answers which he knows are floating around soomewhere. For Terry Pratchett(especially Vimes)fans, this book is a must.
Rating:
Summary: A Seriously Prod Buttock Book
Review: Terry Pratchett's Discworld series is a mirror of our world, but it's a funhouse mirror, with our world reflected back in a distorted way. The distortions are both amusing - sometimes hysterically funny - and thought-provoking. Sometimes the reflection is barely recognizable, and sometimes it is so close to ours that it cuts like a knife. His logic is rigorous, but skewed, and the twists reveal a great deal about the assumptions we make every day. This is a quintessential police procedural novel, as reflected by Pratchett's mirror, combined with a Frankenstein theme. Instead of detectives and police, we have the Night Watch. Commander Sam Vimes is a classic recovering drunk and Sergeant Colon is fat and lazy - recognizable as stock characters; but another cop is a female werewolf with pre-lunar tension, the captain is a six foot, six inch human who thinks he is a dwarf, a third is a troll and the forensics expert is an out of the closet dwarf trying to get in touch with her feminine side. Someone has killed two old men, and someone is trying to poison the Patrician, the closest thing the city of Ankh-Morpork has to a ruler. The suspects appear to be golems, the artificial men of Hebrew mythology, but golems can't kill. Golems are the perfect slave, only able to do the things they are told, the "words in their head." And how is it that Corporal Nobby Nobbs, a constable who carries a certificate establishing he is probably human, can be the long-lost Earl of Ankh and the heir apparent to the throne? All these plot threads and more come together in the finest Pratchett tradition, in one of his best and most satisfying conclusions. Women have their biggest roles yet in a Night Watch novel, and the complex relationship between the Patrician and Sam Vimes continues to evolve. It's only later, when you think about what happened to the golems, that you recognize the reflection of our world and the important messages Pratchett is conveying. The humor and satire are present in abundance. The scene in which three thieves try to hold up the Night Watch's favorite bar and, worse still, try to use Constable Angua as a hostage, is simply delightful. Pratchett's skills with dialog and characterization are in fine form. But it's the messages that occur to you afterwards that make the novel truly memorable, and make this book, in Captain Carrot's phrase, "seriously prod buttock." Great fun; highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: "Everyone's guilty of Something" - Feet of Clay quote
Review: This is another crime story in the tradition of Men at Arms for those who've read previous Guards book. Feet of Clay is a good read, with the backdrop themed around what happen when anyone try to play god and create life without realizing the consequences.
Although the backdrop theme to this book is great, its not as complicated as Fifth Elephant and is not necessarily as funny as Men at Arms. This would would get a 4 1/2 stars if such rating were possible. If you're a fan of the Guards, then don't miss this book. Its a lot better than some of Pratchett's early works. This book dealt with a lot of social politics, and the concept of "Capitalism". This book also dig deeper into the Pratritian of Ankh-Morpork. To all Guards fan, Hamlock Vetinari is still an enigma, but more on him are written in this book as a preface for Jingo. So to anyone who read this review, buy the book.
Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly one of the coolest Watch books there is!
Review: The summary on the back of the book has very little to do with the actual story. So ignore it. And read an *accurate* synopsis instead. On the more plot-driven side, two old men have been killed, one with a loaf of dwarf bread and one with an unknown blunt instrument. White clay was found at both scenes. Poison-laced grease was under the fingernails of one of the victims. Oh, and did I mention that the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork is being poisoned? Commander Vimes and the rest of the City Watch are going absolutely *crazy* trying to figure out how the poisoner's getting to him. It's not the food. It's not the drink. It's not the air or in fact anything else their new forensic alchemist (a dwarf) has tested. And they've tested practically everything. A golem, one of those odd men of clay who don't- can't- do anything but work and follow orders, has walked on into the Watch House to give itself up for the murders of the old men- but when asked what the weapon was, it completely failed to mention bread. And the other golems have started to destroy themselves. On the more character-based end of things, we've got a watchwoman werewolf with pre-lunar tension, a female dwarfish alchemist with an identity crisis, and the first golem ever to discover what being free actually is. You have got to read this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Mwhahahahahaha!
Review: Of all the multitude of Discworld Novels the ones about the City Watch of Ankh-Morpork are the funniest. The third book about our intrepid group of coppers filled with Pratchett's usual side splitting witticisms, hillarious footnotes, and deep satire and sarcasam. If you liked Douglas Adams but got confused by "So Long and Thanks for All the Fish" Try Discworld novels and enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Citizen Clay...
Review: If you are a Pratchett fan then I am wasting my time telling you what a genius Terry is... if you're not yet a Pratchett fan, you need to find your introduction book to the master of Fantasy Satire. Probably one of the finest mystery stories I've ever read. A Golem has commited murder, except that Golem's can't kill... A locked-door mystery unlike any other, Feet of Clay introduces a variety of exciting new characters to the Ankh-Morpork city watch and happily returns Sam Vimes, Nobby, Colon and Carrot in a story that will have you scratching your head in wonder while you are covering your mouth laughing... A must have for any fan of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch.
Rating:
Summary: Funny, with a twist
Review: The early Discworld novels, to me, were lightweight, amusing stories with no staying power because there was nobody in them to like or admire. With the guards novels, he has provided several. Commander Vimes, commander of the Watch and reformed drunk (alcoholics have money). Lady Sybil, his loving and deceptively intelligent wife. Carrot, the 6-foot tall adopted dwarf,together with Angua, the vegetarian werewolf, and their growing love. How will it end? Will they have children or puppies? Will we ever know? On and on the list of good secondary characters continues to grow. I rated this book at 4 stars upon my first reading, and increased it to 5 after my second. It is a thoroughly funny book, considering that it is, at least in its outlines, a murder mystery. The solution is obvious to some readers, not so to others, but that's irrelevant. It's the path to the solution that's so funny. This may be the most character-driven of his novels, and it ranks with the best of the Discworld series. It's only after the laughter fades that you realize that Mr. Pratchett has slipped you a fast one. He has raised excellent questions about what it means to be alive and a moral free agent, and then leaves you to sort it out. Funny and thought-provoking at the same time - a rare achievement, indeed.
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