When I was playing around with LibraryThing's Unsuggester the other week, I was amazed how many times books by Terry Pratchett showed up in response to the titles I was trying out. I hadn't heard much about Mr. Pratchett, save that his work was quite funny. Anyway, a bit later I was browsing in the English library on campus and--Behold!--there was a Terry Pratchett book on the shelf! Since I'm between school years at the moment, I borrowed the book to have a read. Night Watch is about Samuel Vimes, the commander of the police force of the city of Ankh-Morpork. He's chasing down a murderer when a magical storm sends both of them back into the past. It's a time when the city was awash in corruption, ruled by an incompetent despot who is bleeding the people dry. It's also a time when young Sam Vimes is starting out on the city watch. The elder Vimes ends up trying to find a place for himself in the past, find the escaped murderer and find a way back to his proper time, all while trying to steer his younger self down the (mostly) straight and narrow. It's a good time travel tale, even without the added pleasure of Mr. Pratchett's wit. I'm strongly tempted to put it on my shelf. It might even be the first step in changing the Unsuggester results.
--J. ( )

Commander Samuel Vimes of the capitol city's City Watch, is in hot pursuit of an arch criminal threatening Vimes' home and wife, who is in labor with his first-born child. As they grapple for control of a deadly crossbow in a thunderstorm on the roof of the Unseen University, home of Discworld's Wizards and source of poorly controlled magic at times, a lightning bolt catapults them 30 years back in time. There, Sam finds himself in the body of a legendary hero, Sergeant at Arms of the Night Watch, John Keel. An alarming discovery, for Vimes knows full well that Sergeant Keel lies in a hero's grave, the result of brave action in the bloody 25th of May Rebellion. The date is the dawn of that fateful day and Sam realizes, once he assesses his situation, that he has not only unwillingly become a part of his own history but, when he looks around the watch room, he sees Young Lance Corporal Sam Vimes, a raw recruit of a few weeks. He will have the opportunity to mentor him and what a disappointing prospect Young Sam seems to be. Night Watch delves deeper into the philosophy of war and leadership than most of the Discworld books. It also offers more action than any others in the collection. For the initiated, you will discover how Reg Shoe becomes a zombie, you will meet Lord Vetinari as a young and promising student of the Assassin's Guild and discover how Knobby Knobs becomes a faithful follower of Commander Vimes in later years. ( )

My favorite book of all time. I read it once a year on teh 25th of May. ( )

Goodness that didn't take long. There was a time when I thought Pratchett had completely lost it, and I kind of lost interest in keeping up with the books any more. But when they suddenly turn up cheap? Well what the hell? They make good light reading. And more than that it appears. For feeling fed up with a cold this was the perfect antidote. I may still be sniffling and relying on Richard to feed me and bring me hot lemon squash but I have had fun. A new, very fresh, spin on some old characters, and a host of new ones. A bit of history we hadn't really heard of before is suddenly brought to life, and Vimes is brought back to life with it, a life he thought he'd lost and missed. It has the best bits of Pratchett, jokes yes, and the occasional eye-watering pune, but not to the expense of a rip-roaring plot. It's almost enough to let me forgive him for the dreadful Australian monstrosity, but we'll see. ( )

A cop ends up traveling in time in his own lifetime, setting up one of those fun time travel conundrums. Although I liked the basic story idea, I found the writing to be a bit grating and awkward to read. It could just be that I don't get the Britishness. ( )