Night Watch: A Novel of Discworld [Hardcover]

Terry Pratchett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 5, 2002

This morning, Commander Vimes of the City Watch had it all. He was a Duke. He was rich.He was respected. He had a silver cigar case. He was about to become a father.

This morning he thought longingly about the good old days.

Tonight, he's in them.

Flung back in time by a mysterious accident, Sam Vimes has to start all over again. He must get a new name and a job, and there's only one job he's good at: cop in the Watch. He must track down a brutal murderer. He must find his younger self and teach him everything he knows. He must whip the cowardly, despised Night Watch into a crack fighting force -- fast. Because Sam Vimes knows what's going to happen. He remembers it. He was there. It's part of history. And you can't change history . . .

But Sam is going to. He has no choice. Otherwise, a bloody revolution will start, and good men will die. Sam saw their names on old headstones just this morning -- but tonight they're young men who think they have a future. And rather than let them die, Sam will do anything -- turn traitor, burn buildings, take over a revolt, anything -- to snatch them from the jaws of history. He will do it even if victory will mean giving up the only future he knows.

For if he succeeds, he's got no wife, no child, no riches, no fame -- all that will simply vanish. But if he doesn't try, he wouldn't be Sam Vimes.

And so the battle is on. He knows how it's going to end; after all, he was there. His name is on one of those headstones. But that's just a minor detail . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

British author Pratchett's storytelling, a clever blend of Monty Pythonesque humor and Big Questions about morality and the workings of the universe, is in top form in his 28th novel in the phenomenally bestselling Discworld series (The Last Hero, etc.). Pragmatic Sam Vimes, Commander of Ankh-Morpork's City Watch, can't complain. He has a title, his wife is due to give birth to their first child any moment and he hasn't had to pound a beat in ages but that doesn't stop him from missing certain bits of his old life. Thank goodness there's work to be done. Vimes manages to corner a murderer, Carcer, on the library dome at Unseen University during a tremendous storm, only to be zapped back in time 30 years, to an Ankh-Morpork where the Watch is a joke, the ruling Patrician mad and the city on the verge of rebellion. Three decades earlier, a man named John Keel took over the Night Watch and taught young Sam Vimes how to be a good cop before dying in that rebellion. Unfortunately, in this version of the past, Carcer has killed Keel. The only way Vimes can hope to return home and ensure he has a future to return home to is to take on Keel's role. The author lightens Vimes's decidedly dark situation with glimpses into the origins of several of the more unique denizens of Ankh-Morpork. One comes away, as always, with the feeling that if Ankh-Morpork isn't a real place, it bloody well ought to be.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A freak accident hurls Commander Sam Vines back into his own past, where he must assume a new identity and watch his younger self struggle to rise in the ranks of the City Watch of Ankh-Morpork while tracking down a dangerous criminal and finding a way to return to his own time. The 28th addition to Pratchett's "Discworld" series explores time travel and historical inevitability with cleverness and humor. The author's talent for comedy does not falter as he continues to set the standard for comic fantasy. A good choice, particularly where the series is popular.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 338 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1st edition (November 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060013117
• ISBN-13: 978-0060013110
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (125 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #483,038 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Terry Pratchett sold his first story when he was fifteen, which earned him enough money to buy a second-hand typewriter. His first novel, a humorous fantasy entitled The Carpet People, appeared in 1971 from the publisher Colin Smythe. Terry worked for many years as a journalist and press officer, writing in his spare time and publishing a number of novels, including his first Discworld novel, The Color of Magic, in 1983. In 1987 he turned to writing full time, and has not looked back since. To date there are a total of 36 books in the Discworld series, of which four (so far) are written for children. The first of these children's books, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, won the Carnegie Medal. A non-Discworld book, Good Omens, his 1990 collaboration with Neil Gaiman, has been a longtime bestseller, and was reissued in hardcover by William Morrow in early 2006 (it is also available as a mass market paperback (Harper Torch, 2006) and trade paperback (Harper Paperbacks, 2006). Terry's latest book, Nation, a non-Discworld standalone YA novel was published in October of 2008 and was an instant New York Times and London Times bestseller. Regarded as one of the most significant contemporary English-language satirists, Pratchett has won numerous literary awards, was named an Officer of the British Empire "for services to literature" in 1998, and has received four honorary doctorates from the Universities of Warwick, Portsmouth, Bath, and Bristol. His acclaimed novels have sold more than 55 million copies (give or take a few million) and have been translated into 36 languages. Terry Pratchett lives in England with his family, and spends too much time at his word processor.  Some of Terry's accolades include: The Carnegie Medal, Locus Awards, the Mythopoetic Award, ALA Notable Books for Children, ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Book Sense 76 Pick, Prometheus Award and the British Fantasy Award.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When lilacs last in Ankh-Morpork bloomed, February 23, 2006

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Night Watch (Mass Market Paperback)

One of the tricky parts of a time travel novel is explaining to the traveler (especially if his journey is inadvertent as it is in "Night Watch") and the reader just what the heck happened.

Luckily, in a previous Discworld novel, "Thief of Time" (2001), Pratchett invented Lu-Tze and the Time Monks, so that when Sam Vimes travels back to his own past while chasing a cold-blooded murderer, a little bald wrinkly smiling man (Rule #1: "Do not act incautiously when confronting little bald wrinkly smiling men!") rescues Sam from the clutches of history's cowardly, badly run Night Watch, and explains what has happened.

Basically, young Sam Vimes has just joined the past's Night Watch and the older Sam Vimes must teach him to be a good cop while disguised as Sargeant John Keel, newly arrived in Ankh-Morpork and ready to kick some sloppy, sadistic cop butt.

If 'old' Vimes doesn't make sure 'young' Vimes becomes a decent cop, his future, his wife, his position as Commander of the Watch will be lost to him. Good men will needlessly die.

Historical Ankh-Morpork is also gearing up for a revolt against a Patrician who is propped up by a really nasty secret police gang. Once 'Sargeant John Keel' gets himself clothed, out of jail, his plight explained by Lu-Tze, and is put in charge of the Treacle Mine Road Watch House, he must train up young Sam Vimes (as well as future-Sargeant Colon, and Nobby Nobbs), capture a killer, and make sure the Revolution is won by the right people.

Only then Vimes will get to return to the 'future' where his wife is about to give birth.

I enjoy all of Discworld novels starring the redoubtable Sam Vimes, but "Night Watch" is something special. The plot zips from beginning to end, never slowing down except for the mandatory insertion of the Time Monks, who have to explain the how and why of Sam's excursion into his own past. Many of the loose ends from previous Night Watch novels are tied together and neatly tucked in. Most of all, I was delighted by a deepening illumination of character--not just of Vimes, but of the Patrician Vetinari, Sargeant Colon, and Nobby Nobbs. While you read, you'll be thinking 'of course they started like this.' Pratchett is that good.

If you'd like to read the Sam Vimes/Night Watch books in order of publication, they are: "Guards! Guards!" (1989); "Men at Arms" (1993); "Feet of Clay" (1996); "Jingo" (1997); "Night Watch" (2002); and "Thud!" (2005).

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How the Vimes Character was Formed, November 8, 2002

By 

John Newman (Westminster, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Night Watch: A Novel of Discworld (Hardcover)

Night Watch is the 27th, or 28th (depending on how you count them) book in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. The Discworld series takes place on the flat world of the Disc which is carried on the backs of four elephants standing on the great Turtle, A'tuin, as he (or maybe she) swims through space. On the Disc mariners who attempt to sail over the horizon, in fact, sail over the edge. The Disc is home to magic and many magical creatures and beings abound, gods, dwarfs, trolls, vampires, zombies, werewolves, wizards, witches and more. Terry Pratchett's Discworld books can be grouped into categories depending on who the primary characters are. I tend to think of the categories as the Wizards of the Unseen University, the Witches of Lancre, Death, and the City Watch. Most of the Discworld books fall into one of these categories although a few like Pyramids, Moving Pictures and Small Gods don't. Night Watch though is definitely a City Watch book.

In Night Watch, we learn how Samuel Vimes' character was formed. His Grace, the Duke Samuel Vimes, the commander of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is dispatched back in time (along with a ruthless killer) to the waning days of the corrupt Lord Winder's reign as ruler of Ankh-Morpork. Vimes must assume the identity of John Keel, a guardsman recently recruited to the Ankh-Morpork Night Watch as a Sergeant at Arms. In the Night Watch he finds his earlier self, takes him under his wing and teaches him how to be a good copper. In his jaunt back to the past Vimes meets earlier versions of Fred Colon as a corporal, Nobby Nobbs as a street urchin, Reg Shoe as a non-zombie revolutionary and a young new street vendor named Dibbler just starting out. Lu-Tze, the sweeper monk of history, makes an appearance trying to get Vimes to accept his role in the course of events leading up to the revolution that ousts Lord Winder. A young Vetinari, as a senior at the Assasins Guild also takes part in the plot.

Terry Pratchett's Discworld books are jewels of humorous fantasy and Night Watch is no exception. The most enjoyable Discworld books involve the City Watch, Guards, Guards, Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, and The Fifth Elephant. Night Watch continues the story of the City Watch characters by going back in time to explain how the central character, Sam Vimes, came to be. However, Night Watch, is not the typical hysterical Pratchett romp through the fantastic world of the Disc. This book, while still funny, is a little darker than the average Discworld book and a little bit deeper, which makes it a very nice change of pace. The older Sam Vimes as John Keel, teaches the younger Vimes the meaning of being a watchman, doing the job that's in front of you and keeping the peace. It's in some ways a sad and trying story, but it opens up tremendous insight into one of the most beloved Discworld characters. This book probably is not the best choice for your first Discworld book, but if you are a fan of the Discworld and enjoy the books about the City Watch, this book is a must read.

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sam Vimes Does The Time Machine, November 21, 2002

By 

James D. DeWitt "Alaska Fan" (Fairbanks, AK United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Night Watch: A Novel of Discworld (Hardcover)

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...