Men at Arms

I have been reading Terry Pratchett’s Disc World novels since my teens, and I will never stop! Pratchett’s genius comes from his ability to tell us about our own world through wonderful characters who are werewolves, wizards, and golems. However, my favorite character is in Men At Arms, and he is very human.

Sam Vines is in charge of the police and the social commentator of the novels, describing the hierarchies and injustices of the world, such as the "Boots" theory of socioeconomic unfairness. The story is gripping, the characters are funny, and they highlight the disparities in our own… show more.

This is the second book in the Guards sequence, but it’s easy enough to start here. This detective story set in the sprawling, smelly metropolis of Ankh-Morpork, featuring dwarves, werewolves, and (occasionally) humans, is a laugh-out-loud and anarchic book, managing to be hugely joyous and page-turningly compelling at the same time. Insanely silly and utterly real, with characters so solid you can see (or in some cases, smell) them long after you turn the last page.