One moment Sir Sam Vimes is in his old-patrolman form, chasing a sweet-talking psychopath across the rooftops of Ankh-Morpork. Whether it was a requiem or a victory chant he didn't know, but Dickens started it and the rest joined in, each man singing as though he was all by himself and unaware of the rest.Īll the little angels rise up, rise up.Sir Sam Vimes gets knocked back in time thirty years in this rollicking adventure in Terry Pratchett's bestselling Discworld(R) series I think I may just have to pin a sprig on to my coat on the 25th of May. My wife and I bought a house last fall, and by coincidence it just so happens to have a large lilac bush out front. Young Nobby in particular was a treat, and gave me a new level of appreciation for a character which had previously seemed little more than a punchline. Keel' influenced these characters I've grown so attached to in their earlier years. timey-wimey, if you know what I mean), but in this case it was incredible to see how 'Sgt. Time travel is not something I generally enjoy as a concept in fiction (it usually comes off as a bit too. The dialogue at the end between Vimes and Vetinari (moments which are always fantastic, the two are such fantastic foils for one another), was a perfect illustration of how the two think so similarly and also so differently at the same time. Carser evoked a visceral hatred in me the likes of which few literary villains have, and I could feel in my guts the rage of Vimes' inner beast in every moment where the two interacted. That said, and even with how much I enjoyed the previous Vimes books, Night Watch was on a whole other level.

Pratchett's intertwining of the fantasy, comedy, and mystery/detective genres is just so incredibly unique and well-executed, I've never seen anything like it.

I've been reading the books in publication order, and even though I am genuinely invested in the other plot lines as well, I have sometimes found myself rushing though the non-Vimes books just so that I can get to the next Vimes book faster.

Though I've really enjoyed almost all of the books in the series so far, the Vimes books have been far and away my favourites. I've been working my way through the Discworld series for the last couple months and have been planning to write a (probably very long) post on the subject once I'm finished, but after finishing Night Watch I just couldn't wait to say something about it.

Pratchett night watch series