Guards! Guards!

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	Fantasy / Pratchett, Terry	4-week checkout	Due 04-26-2024
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Fantasy / Pratchett, Terry	4-week checkout	Due 05-14-2024
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Fantasy / Pratchett, Terry	4-week checkout	Due 05-10-2024
Westgate Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Fiction / Fantasy / Pratchett, Terry	4-week checkout	Due 05-16-2024

"Originally published in Great Britain by Victor Gollancz."--T.p. verso.
Here there be dragons . . . and the denizens of Ankh-Morpork wish one huge firebreather would return from whence it came. Long believed extinct, a superb specimen of draco nobilis ("noble dragon" for those who don't understand italics) has appeared in Discworld's greatest city. Not only does this unwelcome visitor have a nasty habit of charbroiling everything in its path, in rather short order it is crowned King (it is a noble dragon, after all . . .). Meanwhile, back at Unseen University, an ancient and long-forgotten volume -- The Summoning of Dragons -- is missing from the Library's shelves. To the rescue come Captain Vimes, Constable Carrot, and the rest of the Night Watch who, along with other brave citizens, risk everything, including a good roasting, to dethrone the flying monarch and restore order to Ankh-Morpork (before it's burned to a crisp). A rare tale, well done as only Terry Pratchett can.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

my beloved diskworld submitted by ferdoble on August 11, 2011, 3:57pm To describe Terry Pratchett’s books is a difficult thing to do. The disc world series is in a word fantastic. Terry Pratchett, would seem to use the disk world, to take any theme, or know story and then twist it in his own very humorous way. These are not always laugh out loud funny (sometimes they are), bur rather the sort of funny that just sort of lifts your spirits a little bit.

I will say that in some cases there isn’t always a really strong story, sometimes its just his characters moving through one of those twisted themes. I like them all, you may want to start with the Most Von Lipwig story line (“Going Postal” and then “making money”) as at least the first one has a really great story line.

I love to pepper my reading queue with these books to keep all those books that take themselves seriously fresh and interesting.

I recommend reading them ALL.

OR listening to them. The two main narrators of Terry Pratchett’s books are Stephen Briggs & Nigel Planer and they take Terry Pratchett’s phenomenal writing to a whole new level.

Mason and dragons and cops, oh my! submitted by Jen Chapin-Smith on August 17, 2012, 7:59am The eighth of Sir Terry Pratchett's 39 Discworld novels, "Guards! Guards!" is the first to feature the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, led by Commander Sam Vimes and his funny motley crew. This book mocks the Masons conspiracy theories and government corruption. (Potential spoiler alert!) The wealthy residents of the city grow uphappy with the city tyrant's reforms that don't favor them so they decide to overthrow him by calling in a dragon. Of course, they find themselves in way over their heads and Vimes' crew must save the day, which they do with the help of Vimes' sweetheart who is an expert on dragons.
I highly recommend all of Pratchett's novels, especially the Discworld ones, but read at least "The Colour of Magic," "Mort" and "Equal Rites" first to get a feel for the Discworld and its recurring characters.

guards! guards! submitted by qmomo on June 27, 2019, 6:44pm this is first book in the city watch subseries of the main discworld series. like pretty much any discworld it's quite funny, with constant witty jokes and asides, and has a critical but affectionate view of humanity.

This was a fun intro to Discworld submitted by tazzzzz on July 19, 2020, 3:10pm After looking at a reading guide for Discworld, I decided to start with the city watch series (Guards! Guards! is the first). The story was quite fun, while still incorporating elements of mystery. While I didn't feel _compelled_ to move on to the next in the series (Men At Arms), I did anyhow and have enjoyed the ride as I have continued.

If you're looking for a fun fantasy story that delights in skewering common tropes, this is a good pick.

I listened to the audiobook. The narration was excellent (one of these narrators that really acts the parts well).

Excellent intro to an excellent series submitted by rjfernandorizzo on July 8, 2022, 6:27pm This was my first Discworld novel, and it was a delightful intro to the series. Sir Terry's narrative voice is witty, whimsical, and dryly hilarious as protagonist Commander Vimes, recovering idealist and head of the decrepit Night Watch of the city of Ankh-Morpork, barrels his way through high-stakes noir-style intrigue (but with dragons). A nourishing read for fantasy lovers looking for something silly and self-aware. The audiobook production is also top notch.