Night Watch

Irreverent, hilarious, and surprisingly touching, this book is Terry Prachett at his best—the rapier-sharp wit, the brilliant satire, and, my favorite of all, the moments where his characters are shoved up against questions of morality and the choice whether to give in to ugliness and hopelessness or to hold onto a hardscrabble optimism.

Cynical, jaded Sam Vines may be one of my favorite examples of a character who stubbornly refuses to give up on believing that while the world might never be perfect, just maybe, if enough imperfect, barely-holding-themselves-together people try hard enough, it can be a little better than… show more.

Pratchett’s Discworld is, as he describes it, a ‘mirror of worlds’. Yes, it is one in which ‘magic’ replaces such mundane things as electricity, but it is very much a ‘mirror’ in which one explores, through humour, through parody, all manner of societal issues. Pratchett is funny, but he can also be provocative while being funny, and he can explore some very difficult topics in these stories without being blatant. Carcer, the villain, is a psychopath and must be stopped, but the reader also discovers that the villain is also a victim. The plot is complex (as always), but the… show more.

I love Pratchett’s Discworld books. They’re compassionate, insightful, serious, angry— and hilarious.

Pratchett merrily mixes accurate history and free-wheeling fantasy without giving a damn. And, in mocking fairy tales and fantasy tropes, he makes scathing comments on our time.

In Night Watch, Commander Vimes pursues a murderer across the rooves of Unseen University, a place that throbs with magic, during a thunderstorm. A lightning strike causes ‘a temporal shattering.’ Vimes wakes to find himself in his own past, being arrested by his younger self.

Until he can return to his own time, Vimes poses as his own mentor. Which… show more.

Well, this is probably a bit unconventional, but to me, no recommended book list can possibly be complete without a title by Terry Pratchett. He is one of my absolute favorite authors, and his concept of an Assassins’ Guild inspired some of my books. In Night Watch, we follow one of my favorite Discworld characters, Captain Vimes, into the past on an adventure that pushes every kind of boundary. 

There are many potential assassins in this book, but the professional one – here and in the series – is Lord Vetinari, a man that keeps to the shadows and… show more.

There’s hardly any fantasy world stranger than Discworld – a flat, round world resting on the backs of four elephants, who are in turn standing on the back of the great World Turtle, A’Tuin, who is swimming through space. There are plenty of Discworld novels, but of the entire set, my favorite is definitely Night Watch, which also happens to be the first Discworld novel I read. Night Watch features Sam Vimes at his best: a guy who is smart, sneaky, competent, and exactly the cop you want to travel through time to take charge if your city happens to… show more.