You Had To Be There (Night Watch - Terry Pratchett)

Member Name: wyrdsister

Product:	Night Watch - Terry Pratchett
Date:	17/11/02 (246 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great characters

Disadvantages: Part of a series

Terry Pratchett’s Discworld has become a bit of an institution these days. Say what you will about Discworld, about its author or sense of humour, but a new Pratchett book will hit the bestseller list within days of its release. Pratchett has a lot of fans; all eager to see what life has in store for the Disc’s inhabitants. And Pratchett likes to oblige, sometimes more successfully than others. Still, after twenty-six books, you could say that a lot of life happens on that little flat world. Night Watch is the latest instalment in the Discworld series and as the title might suggest, a new adventure for the Ankh-Morpork City Watch.

It could be said that Samuel Vimes has everything. He’s in command of a fighting fit police force. He’s been made a Duke and he’s richer than Creosote. He’s happily married, and very soon to be a father. It could be said that you play the hand you’re dealt; all things considered, Vimes didn’t get a bad one. Nowadays, however, things don’t feel exactly right…especially today.

Maybe Sam Vimes feels like a class traitor, maybe he feels he’s more of a manager than a real copper…especially today. On that day, every year Samuel Vimes, and a few others, wears a lilac bloom in remembrance those who have fallen, the forgotten victims of the bloody revolution. He remembers his old Sergeant, who showed him how to be a copper. He remembers what happened, few do: you had to be there.

This was then and right now he’s got work to do, there’s a vicious serial killer on the loose but the Watch is closing in: Carcer’s been spotted on the rooftops of the University. Just as Sam Vimes gets his hands on him, the lightning strikes. When he wakes up, Vimes realises that something is dreadfully wrong. Apart from the fact that one side of his face hurts like hell, his clothes are gone, Carcer’s escaped and that’s not the worst of it.

Circumstances, a magical storm and temporal anomalies have conspired to send Vimes in the dark past of Ankh-Morpork, in a city ruled by an insane Patrician and controlled by the sadistic secret police known as the Cable Street Particulars. It is a time where corruption, fear and oppression are just part of the routine. It is a past Sam Vimes knows only too well, because he’s been there before. There’s a revolution coming and Sam Vimes has a job to do: he must teach his younger self to be a good copper, stop Carcer, change the past and hope there will be a future.

The story is centred on the character of Samuel Vimes, the commander of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, the Disc’s answer to policing. The Watch has changed dramatically since its beginning in Guards! Guards!. It is more efficient, better manned and, by and large, tends to bring some justice. Having brought the Watch this far, it seems that Vimes has become almost superfluous to its existence. His state of mind at the beginning of the novel are well presented and almost confirmed by Vimes excessive recklessness.

What sets Night Watch slightly apart from the rest of the Watch Chronicles is the fact that Vimes is entirely unsupported by his usual crew. The absence of Carrot is particularly notable as he usually provides a temperate balance to Vimes’ irritable and cynical nature. Although the “old” Watch regulars such as Nobby and Colon aren’t completely absent, they are nevertheless not the characters the readers are accustomed to…yet. On this occasion, Sam Vimes is pretty much on his own, with no home or friends and limited resources in very dangerous times. He does have some partial help in the monks of history, who make their first appearance since Thief of Time, but they remain satisfactorily in the background, leaving Vimes to move the story forward.


Sam Vimes does have his years of experience on his side and a good memory however, but he’s not the only one to have this advantage. Carcer, the serial killer and psychopath brought along on Vimes trip down memory lane, is using his knowledge of history to serve his own interests. As with many of Pratchett’s characters, Carcer has a stereotypical side to his nature with just that soupcon of charm and cunning that help make him appear truly dangerous. The other main baddies of the story are the Particulars, who are preceded by a chilling and evil reputation, and become more sinister as the plot progresses.

For the backdrop of Night Watch, Pratchett draws from many tales in history and literature, where the “People” rise up for their rights. The story explores the nature of revolutions and power, but does so from the everyman perspective, as the story is primarily seen from the point of view of Vimes. In a Discworld way, it also considers the notion of law and control. Vimes, as a typical anti-authoritarian and natural leader is the perfect candidate to convey this debate.

Over the years, Discworld has seen many contemporary issues surface behind the humour. But in many ways, the Watch novels are the most politically orientated of the Discworld series. They really show the humanist side of the later Discworld novels, and Pratchett, who is primarily known as a satirical writer, shows the depth and intelligence of his work, notably with the Watch chronicles and especially with Night Watch.

If this sounds too serious, well don’t worry too much. The beauty of Discworld is that it works on many levels and Night Watch has its fair share of humour too. In this instance, because of the nature of the story, the humour is subtler and rather than the usual jokes, it tends to rely on observational wit and on Vimes’ cynicism, sheer obstinacy and uncanny ability to make enemies. A lot of the comedy also comes from Pratchett’s talent for bringing out the absurd in any situation and delivering the unexpected.

When a writer decides to take one of his most popular characters and send him into the past, there are only two possible outcomes. You get either a clever and challenging novel, or a book of second-hand ideas and unimaginative proportions. Fortunately Pratchett has delivered a Discworld story that is both unconventional and truly enjoyable. Night Watch is unlike many of its predecessors, it feels darker, and deals with serious issues in more depth and realism than usually associated with Discworld. Of course no tales from the Disc would be complete without a bit of humour, and Pratchett is not letting anyone down on this count, not forgetting the added bonus of meeting some of Ankh-Morpork’s finest “before they were famous”. Night Watch is one of Pratchett’s best; it has all the qualities you’d expect and much, much more.

Summary: Great Discworld Noir Story, not for the beginers