Night Watch by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #29)

Commander Sam Vimes is about to be a father.  But he has been forbidden from his wife’s side.  What’s a good copper to do besides wear a hole in the carpet pacing?  Catch bad guys!  And Carcer, known murderer, bad guy extraordinaire, has been spotted and the Watch has him surrounded.  Joining the hunt is the best thing Sam can think of to keep him occupied.  But a harrowing encounter with Carcer atop the Unseen University Library during a freak magical storm sends Vimes and Carcer back in time.  Their presence alone disrupts the thread of time but when Carcer murders John Keel, the man who mentored a young Sam Vimes, the older Vimes must assume Keel’s identity and mentor himself if he is to be the Sam Vimes that he is.  Even if time has been disrupted certain events must take place: teaching a young Sam how to be a copper, being the face of a revolution and grabbing hold of Carcer to bring him to justice and back to the timeline they belong in.  If Sam fails, the life he knows, will never be or have been.

Oh time travel what a tangled web you weave and Pratchett handles it wonderfully though there were moments that confused me but I think that’s just the nature of time travel and this is Discworld after all.  Night Watch is also quite dark and gritty, and I’m often surprised by this at times because the humor and fantasy elements are hilarious and outrageous.  Pratchett doesn’t shy away from violence and the truth and motivations behind the mob mentality, rebellions and class warfare.  There’s also plenty of light moments and comedy.  I don’t know how Pratchett is able to balance everything out but he does.  There are moments that make you cringe, nod your head in agreement, stifle a laugh; his books are very engaging.

I really loved seeing the younger versions of Sam, Colon, Nobby and Vetineri.  A skinny, street urchin, pickpocket Nobby is the cutest, filthiest thing ever and Vetineri is just as sly and smart as an assasin just as he will be a sly, two-steps-ahead-of-you patrician.  And of course, Sam is Sam, always the copper, always determined to do what is right and he has become one of my favorite characters, not just from Discworld, but also from the fantasy genre altogether.

Summer In Discworld

Well, I’m still in the middle of the Once Upon A Time Challenge and all is going well.  But that won’t stop me from joining along on another reading challenge.  This one took no second thoughts about participating.  It’s the Summer In Discworld challenge hosted by Tales of the Marvelous.  So you know what that means?


Lots of Discworld!


I’ve already dipped my toe into Terry Pratchett’s Discworld on two occasions, with Snuff and Going Postal, and I’m looking forward to more!  And of course, I am all stocked up so this gives me a good excuse to haul these books out of the bag they've been sitting in since I bought them.


Now, it’s all about having fun and enjoying the experience of this strange flat world that sits on the back of four elephants who stand upon a turtle floating through space.  There will also be a group read for Going Postal, which I recently read and loved and can’t wait to see what others think.  More details can be found here.

I’m a bit late writing this since the reading challenge started on June 1st, but it continues on through August 31st so there is still lots of time to enjoy a silly adventure or two in Ankh-Morpork.  So join along if you can, you won’t regret it!  And don’t forget to check out those who will be taking the plunge as well: http://marveloustales.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/summer-in-discworld-reviews/

P.S.  I'm about 100 pages into Guards! Guards! and it's fabulous!

Weekend Fun: A Book Fair, New Books, Mother’s Day, The Avengers and Downton Abbey!

It was a pretty full weekend.  On Saturday I went to the 4th Annual Tallahassee Downtown Book Fair.  It was my first book fair and I had no idea how these things work.  I was feeling a little awkward and was trying to get through all the tables quickly because we got there about an hour before they would be packing up.  It wasn't until we left that I realized I should have written a handful of questions before I got there to ask and highlight each author I spoke to here.  Of course I think of that after.  Oh well, next time I'll be better prepared.  I browsed through the Friends of the Library Book Sale but nothing called to me.

Friends of the Library book sale

Venessa making a bookmark

But I did find something that called to me from one of the local author's tables.  I picked up a signed copy of Riding Fence by A.H. Holt.  The last western I read, that was fiction, was Lonesome Dove and I really don’t read western novels much so I’m really excited about this one.  It'll be nice to take a break and read outside of the SF/Fantasy genre.

AND THEN I went to Loud Voice Books and guess what I did?  Bought five Pratchett’s, of course!:

Guards! Guards!, Night Watch, I Shall Wear Midnight, Thud! and Nation

I only meant to pick up three but I couldn't say no to them when the hardcovers were only $3!  So I got Guards! Guards!, The Night Watch, Thud!, I Shall Wear Midnight and Nation, which is a non-Discworld book.  I happened upon a paperback copy of Nation a couple weeks ago and passed it up.  But after reading this review, I regretted not getting it so knew I would need it.


Then on Sunday I celebrated Mother’s Day with a trip to the movie theater to see The Avengers!  And oh. My. Goodness.  I loved it!  Things I loved in no particular order (and slightly spoilerish):

• All the clips and hints given before the movie was released totally didn't give away too much.  I was afraid it would but it didn't.  I went in with some idea what to expect and having read non-spoilerish reviews I was anticipating a great movie.  I think I loved it more than I was expecting to!
• The team getting together/getting to know each bits were my favorite parts.  Especially how each Avenger would team up with someone:  Tony Stark and Bruce Banner bonding in the lab just two geniuses at work, Iron Man and Captain America working together to get the engine of the Hellicarrier running again, Captain America leading the way with Hawkeye and Black Widow by his side, Cap giving Black Widow a boost to hop aboard a Chitauri flying-motorcycle-thingy, Iron Man grabbing Hawkeye to give him a lift while calling him Legolas and The Hulk grabbing Iron Man before he fell.... great stuff!  
• And oh boy, there were some great one liners in this movie.  But it’s Joss, and that’s what I've come to expect from watching his other shows, Buffy and Firefly.  Big epic disasters are fun and all, but it’s the funny moments, the verbal jabs that people make and that he portrays flawlessly have always been what I enjoyed the most from Whedon.
• Thor didn't get a lot of bonding time with the other Avengers, but he is more of an outsider being from another world and I hope he gets more one on one moments with the others in the sequel.  But his scenes with Loki I liked.  Thor, not ready to give up on his brother was great, and you could feel Loki’s jealousy and resentment growing up in “big brother’s” shadow.
• Agent Coulson, you’re the best.  You put up with so much from these guys and you always remained cool, calm and collected.  You were not afraid to stand up to someone who was more powerful than you.  You did your duty and you are respected for that.
• I'm glad The Avengers called out S.H.I.E.L.D., how they did, in a way, instigate this whole mess.  They mean well but they're not perfect and can make mistakes.
• Everyone got to strut their stuff and all their abilities were utilized well.

This is a great group of actors, who had a great director and it turned out to be a great comic book movie.  I couldn’t have asked for more.


After watching The Avengers and gushing over it with my husband (who usually falls asleep during a movie but didn't this time) we came home and I settled in to watch some Downton Abbey.  I watched all seven episodes that were available on Netflix.  I was up until almost 2 am.  It was so addicting!  Briefly, here's what I thought...


My guest list for a spot of tea:


The Dowager Countess
Lady Sybil
Anna
Mr. Bates
Matthew Crawley


The most infuriating, of infuriating people to ever shake a fist at:


Lady Mary
Lady Edith
Thomas
Ms. O’Brien


It was a great weekend and I had a wonderful Mother's Day.  I hope everyone else did too.

"Oh, and do take his wig, will you? We tried putting it in a cupboard, but it got out."

Stop the world.


I’d like to get off so I can climb aboard the giant flat disc, that sits on the back of four elephants, that stand upon a giant turtle floating through space, because Discworld seems to be where all the fun is at.  This was my second adventure with Terry Pratchett’s Discworld and this time I got to spend more time in Ankh-Morpork and I loved every minute of it.


In Going Postal by Terry Pratchett, con man Moist von Lipwig, is sentenced and “hanged” for his crimes.  But Lord Vetineri has other plans in mind for Moist, such as turning him into the new Postmaster!  Not a very prestigious profession for a con man but it’s better than being dead.


The Ankh-Morpork postal service has been out of commission for years and it’s backlogged with letters clogging the old building.  Moist has to contend with avalanches of old, undelivered mail bursting through doors, postal workers who “follow regulations” other than actually delivering the mail, the coaches are being run as a private business and the mail is actually speaking to Moist, asking to be delivered!  And all of the Postmasters before Moist have died under mysterious circumstances.  But Moist sees this as an opportunity to put his skills to work.  What does he have to lose?  He’s already “died” once.  Oh and he’s also up against The Grand Trunk, a company that runs the clacks that has been run down by the greed and corruption of its board members.


The clacks are a network of tall towers place at intervals (or on rooftops within the city limits of Ankh-Morpork) that send messages back and forth through a special code communicated through shutters and blinking lights.  Similar to the fire signals in The Return of the King, the semaphore line and the telegraph system.  They are the only means of communication since the breakdown of the postal service.  When Moist threatens the operators of The Grand Trunk when he actually starts delivery letters, things get very interesting.  There are plots to sabotage the other.  There is witty banter with veiled threats and a challenge issued that Moist has no hope of winning.


Moist is a fun character.  He is totally without honor and has no problem admitting it or even using his skills as a con man to make things work to his advantage.  But it’s all to help the struggling postal service regain its prominence.  He is charming and smart and it’s easy to forgive him for his “dishonorable ways”.


I was able to get to know Lord Vetineri, the Patrician and ruler of Ankh-Morpork.  I was introduced to him in Snuff but only briefly.  In Going Postal I got to see him in his full glory and I love this guy.  He is smart, ruthless and his battle of wits with Moist and the chairman of The Grand Trunk, Reacher Gilt, were the best parts of this book.  He is the ultimate puppet master!


This book, or rather, this world, from what I've seen so far, is just full of unique, oddball characters that you grow to love.  Terry Pratchett writes some great dialog too.  This is one of the handful of books that had me laugh out loud.  And maybe the only book that had me laughing out loud more than once.  It’s all Moist and his antics and the things he gets away with.  I think I’m just going to look upon this book dreamily as I wait for the weekend when I can go snap up more from Loud Voice Books who posted a pic of a pile of Discworld books they just got in.  I just hope there’s still some left when I get there!  But I will restrain myself from reading the entire series all at once.  There is a lot more to read out there but from my two positive experiences I’d like to keep these around as palate cleansers for those not-so-great reads that pop up now and again.  Basically, this was me after I finished reading Going Postal:

Snuff by Terry Pratchett Review

A few years ago I read Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. I absolutely love that book. Since then I’ve read other books by Neil Gaiman but not Terry Pratchett and I’d always meant to. Finally, this year I did so with Snuff, the newest book of the Discworld series.

Discworld is a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants that stand upon the back of a giant turtle. The world is peppered with wizards, trolls, dwarves, vampires, werewolves, goblins and there’s a small man named Wee Mad Arthur who captures and rides birds wherever he wants to go!

And there is of course the City Watch in the city of Ankh-Morpork, where Sam Vimes is the Commander. In Snuff we follow Sam on vacation with his wife and son. Sam is a lawman, through and through, and he will uphold the law, no matter what it takes. And even though he leaves the crime and corruption of Ankh-Morpork, it follows him even when he’s on vacation.

I jumped into Discworld blindly with Snuff. I knew absolutely nothing about it at the time, but I felt it was incredibly believable. It may help that there’s now 39 books in the series and Terry knows this world inside out.

I really like Sam Vimes. I don’t know everything he’s seen or done throughout the Discworld series, but I find him a believable, interesting character. I can see why he’s treated with respect and loyalty. And then there's Willikins, Sam's butler/body guard. This guy is great and I really liked his and Sam’s friendship as well as Sam and his wife, Lady Sybil’s, relationship. This is the type of relationships I like to read about: the love, respect, and understanding between friends and within a marriage.

One of my favorite themes in books is friendship and loyalty, how a character grows into this leader that people love, respect and would lay down their life for. In return they know, and we as well, that the person they would give their life to protect would in turn do the very same for them. Sam is one of those characters. This was a clever, fun and exciting read and I’m fully prepared to emerge myself into Discworld.