★★★★★ Night Watch, by Terry Pratchett
Truth! Justice! Freedom! Reasonably Priced Love! And a hard boiled egg!
Night Watch
Terry Pratchett
Truth! Justice! Freedom! Reasonably Priced Love! And a hard boiled egg!
Terry Pratchett was honored by appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) and later knighted (which is why I may occasionally refer to him as Sir Terry), in part for his “services to literature.” He liked to joke that his services to literature consisted in his not writing any.
In the long history of false modesty, there are few boasts less convincing than this one. If I were asked to demonstrate in court Pratchett‘s services to literature, this novel, Night Watch, would be exhibit A. Night Watch is (in my opinion) the best of the first 29 Discworld novels. (I have so far only read the first 29.) It is a novel that any author could be proud of. It is the sixth in the City Watch subseries. I would not advise reading it without reading the first five. Night Watch assumes that you know who these characters are, especially Sam Vimes.
Like most of the City Watch novels, Night Watch is political. It begins with several old-timers of the City Watch adorning themselves with sprigs of lilac and visiting a graveyard to commemorate those who died in the Glorious Revolution of the twenty-fifth of May, 1957, and the brief existence of the People’s Republic of Treacle Mine Road.
The real story begins when Vimes, chasing a dangerous murderer (Carcer) gets flung back magically in time to just days before the Glorious Revolution. The Revolution preceded Havelock Vetinari’s (relatively) benevolent reign as Patrician. Instead the city is under the thumb of the stupid and corrupt Lord Winder, who rules by fear and abuse. Vimes (under the alias John Keel) becomes the leader of the Revolution. He also becomes, briefly, a mentor to his young self, a boy in his teens who has recently become a City Watchman. Vimes/Keel, as usual, personifies decency and sense. His main role as leader is to keep people from foolishly killing each other and getting killed.
We meet several old friends as young men. Perhaps the most interesting is Vetinari. We knew already that Vetinari was educated as an assassin. (The Guild of Assassins runs the best school in Ankh-Morpork.) At the time of the Revolution Vetinari was a young man in his late teens. (I’m guessing about his age.) He’s a minor player in the Revolution, but a player nonetheless. Night Watch sheds light on his origins and on how he would eventually rise to Patricianship.
To me, an American in 2025, Night Watch felt surprisingly topical. That gave an otherwise exciting story that little fillip of extra interest. Alas for a Sam Vimes to lead us now!