Men at Arms - Terry Pratchett

Following the (justified) acclaim which followed Guards! Guards! - the first significant appearance of the Ankh Morpork City Watch - it was almost inevitable that a sequel would follow. Sure enough, in 1994, along came the delightful Men at Arms. If you ever find yourself trying to explain to someone the appeal of Terry Pratchett, hand them a copy of Men at Arms. It contains pretty much everything that makes a Discworld book so much fun and sets it apart from other wannabe humorous science fiction. All the Pratchett staples are there - funny one-liners, silly situations, and brilliantly written characters. It is also one of the few Pratchett books ...  Read the complete review

The world is flat and that’s a fact. Discworld, world and mirror of worlds, stands on the edge of reality. It also stands on the back of four elephants that rest eternally on the back of the Star Turtle the Great A’Tuin. Pratchett has written extensively about Discworld and its inhabitants, sometimes more successfully than others. There are a number of recurring characters in Discworld novels. Each book is usually concerned with a particular group of these characters, be it the Lancre Witches, Rincewind and his unhappy adventures, the Watch or Death and family. Men at Arms is the sequel to Guards! Guards! and the second book in what will turns out to be one ...  Read the complete review

Men At Arms was the very first discworld book I read, one day when I had nothing to read (looks at the piles of books he currently had to read and wishes it was still like that in a way) I looked through my Dad's shelves of books and came across this, at first glance I wasn't too sure if I'd enjoy it or not but after I'd read the description I decided to give it a go, read it very quickly and loved it. The book contained so much humour while also having a good story and so many elements of real life that aren't always noticable at a glance. The title of this opinion is from the book itself. Later I asked my Dad what he thought of ...  Read the complete review

Because I’ve not read them in anything like the right order (this being about the twentieth one I’ve actually read), this is one of the earlier Discworld novels to heavily feature the City Watch, but I've read several that come after it. Thus my view of the characters in this book were already formed. Whether or not this made any difference to how I viewed Men At Arms I’m not really sure, though it was kind of strange reading characters I’m very familiar with being presented for the first time - a little like watching a football match already knowing the score, perhaps? At any rate, because this is one of the most plot-driven novels in the Discworld series, it didn’t ...  Read the complete review

This is the second in the Watch Subseries of Discworld. The watch is the laughing stock of Ankh-Morpork(A big city-state on the Sto Plains.) and nobody want to join but this time they’ve been allocated three new recruits from the minorities of the city to balance the squad up. These are A dwarf, a troll and a lady. Now dwarves and Trolls are ancient enemies so you can see trouble starting already. Add on top of this the fact that someone has got hold of an advanced piece of weaponry and is trying to kill the major figures in the city and an uprising is just over the horizon and you can see its going be a tough time for all concerned. This book is a really good yarn ...  Read the complete review