Customer Reviews
An Excellent Pratchett - By: Iain S. Palin, 11 Jan 2008 
Sam Vimes, one of the recurring characters in Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series, has been doing well. The humbly-born, pragmatic, streetwise, but basicallly honourable cop has risen to become Watch commander in Ankh-Morpork, chief of police in one of the wealthiest & most powerful cities of the Discworld. He has married late, & it is a love match, but the fact that his wife is an aristocrat & the wealthiest woman in the city has done his career no harm. He has come to the notice of the city's ruler Lord Vetinari (the Machiavellian politician's Machiavellian politician), who uses him for diplomatic missions where his talents will be more useful than those of the usual run of diplomats. This happened most memorably in "The Fifth Elephant", one of the best books of the series.
But now something has gone horribly wrong. A psychopathic cop-killer has been cornered in the wizards' university & Vimes is about to make the collar when an accidental discharge of magical energy throws them both thirty years into the past. In the less well-run city of those days he must act as mentor to his younger self, a rookie Watchman, he must try to foil, & then lead, a revolution, & he must try to get home, while keeping both his selves safe from the cop-killer who has quickly found a natural place in the secret police.
The "Discworld" novels can vary in quality, but overalll seem to be getting even better as the series progresses. Entertaining & thought-provoking, "Night Watch" is definitely in the top rank.
There are no words... - By: Luke A. G. Palmer, 25 Sep 2007 ...for how wonderfully written this book is.
The story it tells is tragic & dark, but is done with that Pratchettian wit that we've come to adore. Vimes' cynical take on things is our mirror into the events of the revolution (and revolutions in general), & it's so brilliantly done that the book is simply kissable!
The villain, Carcer, was engaging & a very suitable anti-Vimes. It was nice that Lu-Tze made a cameo, another character with whom Vimes is destined to interact to our amusement. A glimpse into the life & times of a young Havelock Vetinari provided an interesting branch from the main storyline, without revealing too much of his "idiosyncratic despotism".
This is my favourite Discworld book of alll time, on equal par with Hogfather & Thief of Time.
Well done, Mr. Pratchett. I salute you.
This is one of Pratchett's best - By: Anna Tigg, 21 Jun 2007 Having been a HUGE Discworld fan for over ten years, I am always eager to read every new book. This, the 29th in the adult Discworld canon, is one of the best Pratchett books ever. Sam Vimes is a creation of genius. Pratchett has been graduallly developing him from the drunk, cartoon copper of Guards! Guards! & he is now a fully-rounded individual that the reader is able to reallly relate to. He is cynical yet soft-hearted, a powerful man in present-day Ankh-Morpork, yet still keen to be on the street with the rest of his coppers. In this book he & the murderer he is chasing are thrown back in time by a magical storm, to a time just before a revolution in Ankh-Morpork. Vimes appears in the past as the Sergeant who taught him alll he knows, & has to ensure that history happens as it should in order to get back to his future with his wife & their unborn child. We meet younger versions of many popular characters such as Colon, Nobby, Rosie Palm & even Havelock Vetinari, as a somewhat bullied member of the Assassin's School. There is also a welcome appearance for Lu-Tze, the most well-travelled Monk of History, follower of the Way of Mrs Cosmopolite, etc. There's intrigue aplenty as Vimes tries to save his friends while also knowing that some of them have to die for History to work.
This is a brilliant read, rightly making it into The Big Read Top 100, along with a number of other Pratchett novels. It is funny, sad & clever & it had me totallly enthrallled from beginning to end. Readers new to Pratchett should probably try one of his older books first, though, to get used to his style. If you want to follow alll the City Watch books in the correct order, they go like this: 'Guards! Guards!', 'Men At Arms', 'Feet of Clay', 'Jingo', 'The Fifth Elephant', 'Night Watch', & 'Thud'. Various members of the Watch also appear in a number of the other Discworld novels, including 'Maskerade', 'Hogfather', 'The Truth', 'Monstrous Regiment' & 'Going Postal'.
One of his best - By: D. Rogers, 21 Apr 2007 This book is very different to the other ones that Terry Pratchett has produced over the years, and, in my opinion, this is certainly not a bad thing.
For one, it contains a lot less humour than the other books that he has written, although it does have its moments. But, what I like about the book is the more serious undertone. Vimes is transported back in time, & is reliving events that he has already seen once. All through the book, the seriousness of the consequences of his actions confuses & angers him, as he knows that, whatever he does, the outcome of what is about to occur will not change. The agony of a character in a position like this could be very uncomfortable to watch, yet Pratchett weaves his magic again, creating a book that is cheery considering the subject matter, yet remaining serious enough.
And, for the reason that it is simply a different take on life in the Discworld, I would certainly recommend this book as one of the best that Pratchett has ever written.
Vimes at his best - By: S. KAY, 08 Dec 2006 This story sends Vimes back in time to take on the role as his own hero- John Keel. He goes back to the days when the Night Watch was at difficult times. Vimes soon learns that he is to groom a younger self into the Watch. There is one major problem... Vimes knows that to fulfil history, he must die as John Keel once did. Vimes however, has something on his side- history is changing
This is definately one of the best Pratchett books there are. He uses the humour of Vimes to reallly show the reader the history of the Watch.
It is a must have!!!
