‘Guards! Guards!’ - Terry Pratchett (Corgi)

Okay, there will be a ‘Discworld’ re-read but I won’t be doing it in any order, not at all. Nope, this will be more about ‘certain reads for certain particular moments’, curated comfort reads if you like ;o) Which brings me round to Terry Pratchett and ‘Guards! Guards!’.

Way, way back in the day, it used to be that Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without a brand new copy of the latest ‘Discworld’ novel. These days, the Discworld is a place that I like to come back to whenever things get a little bit too much. A bit like going into your local, you know everyone already so there’s no pressure; you can just kick back, enjoy a pint and let the world just happen around you. I’ve been after some of that, these last few weeks, so it was pretty much inevitable that I’d head back to ‘Guards! Guards!’, one of my favourite ‘Discworld’ novels. There, I’ve said it :o) ‘Guards! Guards!’ is one of my favourites, if not my favourite ‘Discworld’ book (My top five ‘Discworld’ books can change, maybe not the titles but where they are positioned) so bear that in mind as you read down the page…

'It was the usual Ankh-Morpork mob in times of crisis; half of them were here to complain, a quarter of them were here to watch the other half, and the remainder were here to rob, importune or sell hotdogs to the rest.'

Insurrection is in the air in the city of Ankh-Morpork. The Haves and Have-Nots are about to fall out all over again.

Captain Sam Vimes of the city's ramshackle Night Watch is used to this. It's enough to drive a man to drink. Well, to drink more. But this time, something is different - the Have-Nots have found the key to a dormant, lethal weapon that even they don't fully understand, and they're about to unleash a campaign of terror on the city.

Time for Captain Vimes to sober up.

You could probably say this about all the ‘Discworld’ books but ‘Guards! Guards!’ really does it for me with how well it tells its story while peppering it with loads of jokes and little moments that still make me smile, if not laugh out loud (that moment, right at the end, with Vimes and the Librarian never fails to make me laugh, even though I know it’s coming). I’m a sucker for a little noir, here and there, and Pratchett delivers the kind of noir that you will only find in the Discworld; all the ingredients are there but used ever so slightly differently, that’s the best way I can explain it. The end result is noir but it’s ‘Discworld Noir’ and it works really well as there’s a mystery to solve but plenty of commentary at the same time, poking a little fun at the genre (fantasy and detective fiction) but holding a mirror up for us to examine ourselves at the same time. Pratchett clearly loves humanity but he doesn’t shy away from some of darker moments. Other books have made light about Ankh-Morpork’s ability to take in invaders and essentially render them another ethnic group with their own shops and everything. ‘Guards! Guards!’ takes this to another level with the introduction of a dirty great big dragon that will quite literally vaporize anything that so much as annoys it. What would you do to keep you and yours safe? Pratchett knows and isn’t afraid to show us. It’s the reaction of the dragon itself that really speaks volumes.

None of this would have the same affect though if the mystery wasn’t hung on the shoulders of my favourite set of ‘Discworld’ characters, all out to protect the public and, I’m starting to sound a bit ‘Robocop’ aren’t I? ;o) Anyway, I love how Vimes, Carrot, Colon and Nobbs (with increasing assistance from Lady Ramkin) are somehow what passes for the Law in a city that gets along quite nicely without it, until something happens and the Watch must figure out what to do next. I love how Carrot’s literal application of the Law forces the rest of the Watch to reassess themselves, Vimes in particular (now there’s a redemption arc…), and step up at just the right moment. Because that’s Pratchett as well, faith in us that we will do the right thing, even if it’s ‘eventually’ ;o)

I’m starting to go on a bit so will call it a day here. Hopefully you can see just why I love ‘Guards! Guards!’ but if you just skipped straight to this paragraph (hey, you might have done…), ‘Guards! Guards!’ has it all, all the humour and a story that continues to surprise me with how thoughtful it is. But you’ve read it so you knew that already, didn’t you…?