In the city of a thousand delights (and smells) someone is plotting murder in the shadows. With hands grasping at secret weaponry of terrible death they set their sights on overturning the rule of Ankh-Morpork and ushering in again the age of kings.
In the Night Watch a time of upheaval is at hand as new recruits are inducted to fulfil quotas of equality and inclusivity. And in these stressful times they're about to lose their leader, as captain Vimes is about to say farewell to life in the watch to marry the richest woman in the city, the excentric caretaker of sick dragons, Sybil Ramkin.
When citizens start showing up murdered left and right, with tight-lipped guildmembers tightening the ranks, in a city threatening to boil over with specie-ist tension, the adopted by dwarves, corporal Carrot will have to keep his wits and his watch-squad together if he's to get to the bottom of whatever new evil is threatening Ankh-Morpork.
To back him up, new recruits Detritus, Cuddy and Angua (troll, dwarf and, eh, woman, respectively)
will have to adapt fast to life in the city guard. But night watch old-timers corporal Colon and all-round weirdo corporal Nobby will gladly show them the ropes. With some reservations, of course.
I've read a fair bit of his writings but this is undoubtably Terry Pratchett at his best.
A touching and heartfelt story that nonetheless tackles issues that are still relevant today, subjects that have the potential to easily raise hackles left and right, but as usual, Pratchett's humour, wit and excellent use of trope subversion manages to extinguish the burning fuse before the barrel blows and starts to upset delicate sensibilities.
The story is rather exceptional for the Discworld. For starters there's an actual honest-to-god police procedural. There are several mysteries backed up by enough clues to give it all meat on its bones and Pratchett lets you stew in your own suspicions and theories until he finally lifts the veil and shows you what is actually going on.
I believe it's something he's not done before (order-of-publication reading order), at least not with this complexity and with so many clues buried everwhere along the way. I didn't figure it out before the time of its revelation and was happy to let Pratchett pull back the curtain on his own. There were some surprises there, I can tell you.
It's also a darker book than I'm used to from the Discworld. In the novels, the darkness is always there of course, usually to somewhat less of a degree and always cloaked in humour, wit and sarcasm. But here there were times when every pretense was dropped, to very good effect; see the previous blogpost: Men At Arms appreciation
Men at Arms is truly a standout among the Discworld Novels, I can see why one would advise a newcomer to start with this one. It's got darkness but also alot of heart, a very well constructed plot laid alongside what is almost a genuine police drama. It's accessible in spades.
Great ending too. I do believe I got a little emotional there.
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