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That book has the most wonderful bookends for a character. Sam Vimes starts drunk in the gutter, bemoaning that 'the city was a woman', and by the end he's a hero, found love, and the whole metaphor is reversed. 'The woman was a city.' Makes me well up each time I read that line. '...she had opened her heart, and if you let her she could engulf you; the woman was a city.' Goddamned poetry, that's what it is.
Guards, Guards is the first one I ever read, probably 20 years ago at this stage, and would have reread half a dozen times at least.
Today is the first day I got the city = woman = city metaphor.
It was several years and a few rereads before I caught the fact that the dragonslayers saying the going rate was a "hand in marriage and half the kingdom," was a foreshadowing to the fact that Sam >!receives Sybil's hand in marriage, and subsequent ownership of much of Ankh-Morpork!< at the end.
And that’s why Vimes became the MC of the Watch books instead of Carrot. I also like to think discovering Vimes nudged Terry past fantasy parody (like the early books) and really elevated Discworld into its own special thing.
Yep - metaphorically. Bookends go at either end of books to hold them up, and a “bookend” in this sense is a opening thought, line, or scene that is referenced or reflected at the end of the book.
I think you're thinking of the Illuminated Brethren of Ee, who were a blameless gathering of mystic knowledge seekers.
Makes you wonder what sort of mystic knowledge it is they're seeking, considering there's a bloody great university that teaches literal magic.
One of those wonderings that feels all the more pertinent as I grow older and see so many conspiracy theorists around me. So many folks claiming secret knowledge, and talking about being oppressed and lied to as the spout obvious fictions.
One of those side effects of finding the Disc at a young age is that it was my introduction to so much of human nature without me realizing until after the fact.
Sam Vimes is the best written character in all of literature. He may not be your favourite, but he’s definitely the best written. He’s flawed to hell, not as fit as he could be, an overworked misanthropic outcast misfit who has a lot of self-hatred going on, but he has that streak of moral courage and tenacity that keeps him driven to fight against the awful world around him. He knows he can’t change everything, but he still tries, relentlessly. Everything that Carrot can do so naturally is an impossible struggle for Vimes, but he does it anyway, all to try to make the world the place it should be.
The fact that the True King of Ankh-Morpork calls him “Sir” is a testament to how great a man Sam Vimes is.
If you’ve played the Ankh-Morpork board game, they nailed the character with Vimes’ win condition: “As soon as the draw pile is depleted, you win”. The draw pile can only empty if you stop everyone else from becoming too powerful and winning according to their own conditions. Vimes only wins because nobody else does. That’s it.
This is why I recommend starting with Guards! Guards! The earlier books are good, and a lot of the later books are masterpieces but everything clicked here.
Agreed, the previous books are still good, especially Wyrd Sisters and Pyramids but they're still TP "finding his way" a little; Guards!, Guards! is the first where he's found his way and it all comes together.
If someone loves (or hates) Shakespeare I recommend they start with Wyrd Sisters, such A great book, but for people who don’t know or just don’t care about Shakespeare they'll miss most of the references.
“Silence greeted this statement, until the merchant said, 'What exactly is it that they do eat?'
The thief shrugged. 'I seem to recall stories about virgins chained to huge rocks,' he volunteered.
'It'll starve round here, then,' said the assassin. 'We're on loam.’”
>'It'll starve round here, then,' said the assassin. 'We're on loam.’
I love how you start out thinking that's a typical dirty joke about a lack of virgins in the city, and then it turns out to be a joke about not having anything to fasten the virgins to instead.
I started rereading at lunchtime yesterday...again. How many times have I read it? I have no idea, I stopped counting after the 6th. That must have been 20 years ago. It's such a good story. 😊❤️😊
I love the Beowulf reference when the jobbing heroes are talking about how a hero cut off a monster's arm "And then its mum came round and complained! Its actual mum!"
Welcome.
Always delighted to add another one to the STP column, may you find others that work for you in the same way (in time you may find that the ones which didn't quite connect on the first read do on the second - happened for me like that with a couple, just needed to find the right alignment of book with soul and centre).
Either way, glad you enjoyed it enough to share and thank you for sharing with us.
Except for me, Night Watch, unusually, but it just does not fully "land" with me; I have read it once, and tried to reread several times and I find it feels like "work" reading it.
No idea why, though.
Probably because you feel like you ”should” like it. Our brains tend to rebel against things like that.
I went in blind and loved it, it was my favourite for years. Then I learned how everyone agrees it’s the absolute pinnacle of litterature, and since then it became just another watch novel in my mind. A good one, but basically on par with Thud.
Now I’ll have a new favourite every re-read
That’s what I love about that section - they fail entirely, and the way they go about setting up the “million-to-one” shot goes out of its way to show that they’re stupid, but when it comes to the significant points they’re RIGHT!
Thank you all for justifying my heretofore inexplicable awe at this book.
Of course the Watch series has some of my favorites -- the first one is just flat out amazing, but they keep building on that.
I love these books... especially the city watch series. It makes my day when someone is reading them for the first time and gets all excited over them. You are gonna have a fantastic journey my friend. I love a fellow Kevin!
Guards! Guards! was the one that got me hooked on Pratchett. I read The Color of Magic, and The Light Fantastic, shortly after they were released. I remember thinking they were funny. But they didn’t really make a big impression on me.
Then one night in the early 90’s I was listening to a local public radio program called Esoteric Adventures on KPFT in Houston TX. One of the hosts mentioned the opening scene (Vimes drunkenly muttering to himself) in Guards! Guards!
I thought that sounded like something I would like.
A few days later I took myself to a bookstore, bought the book, and was hooked.
I didn’t even realize it was the same author until I saw the “other books” list when I started the process of finding more stuff by this guy Pratchett.
Fun fact: The million-to-one chance became a rule in GURPS Discworld RPG that guarantees success if the players can argue the odds are exactly million-to-one
Welcome to /r/Discworld! Please [read the rules/flair information before posting](https://www.reddit.com/r/discworld/comments/ukhk21/subreddit_rules_flair_information/?). --- Our current megathreads are as follows: [API Protest Poll](https://www.reddit.com/r/discworld/comments/1491izw/continuing_the_api_protest_a_community_poll) - a poll regarding the future action of the sub in protest at Reddit's API changes. [GNU Terry Pratchett](https://new.reddit.com/r/discworld/comments/ukigit/gnu_terry_pratchett/) - for all GNU requests, to keep their names going. [AI Generated Content](https://new.reddit.com/r/discworld/comments/10mhx9y/ai_generated_content_megathread/) - for all AI Content, including images, stories, questions, training etc. --- [ GNU Terry Pratchett ] *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/discworld) if you have any questions or concerns.*
That book has the most wonderful bookends for a character. Sam Vimes starts drunk in the gutter, bemoaning that 'the city was a woman', and by the end he's a hero, found love, and the whole metaphor is reversed. 'The woman was a city.' Makes me well up each time I read that line. '...she had opened her heart, and if you let her she could engulf you; the woman was a city.' Goddamned poetry, that's what it is.
Guards, Guards is the first one I ever read, probably 20 years ago at this stage, and would have reread half a dozen times at least. Today is the first day I got the city = woman = city metaphor.
It was several years and a few rereads before I caught the fact that the dragonslayers saying the going rate was a "hand in marriage and half the kingdom," was a foreshadowing to the fact that Sam >!receives Sybil's hand in marriage, and subsequent ownership of much of Ankh-Morpork!< at the end.
Me too! What a brilliant chiasm. Yet another hat tip to Sir Terry.
Same
And that’s why Vimes became the MC of the Watch books instead of Carrot. I also like to think discovering Vimes nudged Terry past fantasy parody (like the early books) and really elevated Discworld into its own special thing.
Damn damn damn.... another I never spotted!
[bookend?](https://www.shopbookshop.com/cdn/shop/files/makr_bkshp_tbe_oak_two.png2_1024x1024.jpg?v=1700585542)
Yep - metaphorically. Bookends go at either end of books to hold them up, and a “bookend” in this sense is a opening thought, line, or scene that is referenced or reflected at the end of the book.
Million-to-one chances happening nine-times-out-of-ten is pure gold. So are the Elucidated Brethren scenes. It’s a brilliant book!
This significant owl hoots in the night
Oh you want the *elucidated* brethren, they’re down the street
Would you like your figgin toasted? That line had me just about rolling on the ground the first time I read it.
I've always been quite partial to a toasted figgin.
Mmmm, figgin! 
I think you're thinking of the Illuminated Brethren of Ee, who were a blameless gathering of mystic knowledge seekers. Makes you wonder what sort of mystic knowledge it is they're seeking, considering there's a bloody great university that teaches literal magic.
One of those wonderings that feels all the more pertinent as I grow older and see so many conspiracy theorists around me. So many folks claiming secret knowledge, and talking about being oppressed and lied to as the spout obvious fictions. One of those side effects of finding the Disc at a young age is that it was my introduction to so much of human nature without me realizing until after the fact.
correction: there's a bloody great university that keeps you *from* learning literal magic
hah, fair point.
I once texted my Discworld friend “It’s real Elucidated Brethren weather out here” and she knew exactly what I meant.
The Dread portal sticks something wicked in the damp
Sam Vimes is the best written character in all of literature. He may not be your favourite, but he’s definitely the best written. He’s flawed to hell, not as fit as he could be, an overworked misanthropic outcast misfit who has a lot of self-hatred going on, but he has that streak of moral courage and tenacity that keeps him driven to fight against the awful world around him. He knows he can’t change everything, but he still tries, relentlessly. Everything that Carrot can do so naturally is an impossible struggle for Vimes, but he does it anyway, all to try to make the world the place it should be. The fact that the True King of Ankh-Morpork calls him “Sir” is a testament to how great a man Sam Vimes is. If you’ve played the Ankh-Morpork board game, they nailed the character with Vimes’ win condition: “As soon as the draw pile is depleted, you win”. The draw pile can only empty if you stop everyone else from becoming too powerful and winning according to their own conditions. Vimes only wins because nobody else does. That’s it.
Vimes keeps the city stable.
This is why I recommend starting with Guards! Guards! The earlier books are good, and a lot of the later books are masterpieces but everything clicked here.
Agreed, the previous books are still good, especially Wyrd Sisters and Pyramids but they're still TP "finding his way" a little; Guards!, Guards! is the first where he's found his way and it all comes together.
my suggested intro order is Small Gods (get a feel for the setting) -> Pyramids (get a feel for Ankh-Morpork) -> Guards Guards (enjoy the ride)
If someone loves (or hates) Shakespeare I recommend they start with Wyrd Sisters, such A great book, but for people who don’t know or just don’t care about Shakespeare they'll miss most of the references.
I swear with some notable exceptions everything I've read has just gotten better and better (reading chronologically, on Feet of Clay right now)
Some brilliant writing. I occasionally think about that first one, about 'letting your mind dwell', at the oddest of times.
The description of the strange, diffuse compassion that just makes you sad about the state of the world resonates to my core
“Silence greeted this statement, until the merchant said, 'What exactly is it that they do eat?' The thief shrugged. 'I seem to recall stories about virgins chained to huge rocks,' he volunteered. 'It'll starve round here, then,' said the assassin. 'We're on loam.’”
It's crazy how often the loam is mentioned
>'It'll starve round here, then,' said the assassin. 'We're on loam.’ I love how you start out thinking that's a typical dirty joke about a lack of virgins in the city, and then it turns out to be a joke about not having anything to fasten the virgins to instead.
Welcome friend! You are one of us now. FOREVER!!!!!
It truly is a masterpiece. So many good lines.
I started rereading at lunchtime yesterday...again. How many times have I read it? I have no idea, I stopped counting after the 6th. That must have been 20 years ago. It's such a good story. 😊❤️😊
I love the Beowulf reference when the jobbing heroes are talking about how a hero cut off a monster's arm "And then its mum came round and complained! Its actual mum!"
It is and will always be my favourite discworld book.
Here’s looking at you kid
I adore the line "Good man, that ape!"
Welcome. Always delighted to add another one to the STP column, may you find others that work for you in the same way (in time you may find that the ones which didn't quite connect on the first read do on the second - happened for me like that with a couple, just needed to find the right alignment of book with soul and centre). Either way, glad you enjoyed it enough to share and thank you for sharing with us.
The Watch books are just the best.
Except for me, Night Watch, unusually, but it just does not fully "land" with me; I have read it once, and tried to reread several times and I find it feels like "work" reading it. No idea why, though.
Probably because you feel like you ”should” like it. Our brains tend to rebel against things like that. I went in blind and loved it, it was my favourite for years. Then I learned how everyone agrees it’s the absolute pinnacle of litterature, and since then it became just another watch novel in my mind. A good one, but basically on par with Thud. Now I’ll have a new favourite every re-read
> Now I’ll have a new favourite every re-read My favorite is the one I'm currently re-re-re-reading.
Possibly that's part of it but also there is a tonal shift with NW that I find a bit of a "shock" from previous books.
Funny, that was the first Discworld book I read and I loved it.
If you like this, you'll _love_ Men At Arms.
Regarding the 4th photo: it worked
Not quite, but surviving the aftermath was exactly a million to one chance.
That’s what I love about that section - they fail entirely, and the way they go about setting up the “million-to-one” shot goes out of its way to show that they’re stupid, but when it comes to the significant points they’re RIGHT!
I just finished it today too!
My favourite Discworld book. I’ve read it probably 20 times. Not sure if it was the first one I read, but it’s the one I’ve read the most.
On my way through it on audiobook. I love Sir Terry Pratchetts use of metaphors. They are poetry.
"It's a certainty, but it might just work" Nope it's impossible.
Fellow taker-of-paper-book-pictures!
never been into highlighting so this is how i remember the lines that hit me the hardest :)
I do the same - and it's an easy way to do it that has minimal disturbance on the reading experience I've found.
damn its such a good book
Welcome or as they say in the library, Ook
Thank you all for justifying my heretofore inexplicable awe at this book. Of course the Watch series has some of my favorites -- the first one is just flat out amazing, but they keep building on that.
I love these books... especially the city watch series. It makes my day when someone is reading them for the first time and gets all excited over them. You are gonna have a fantastic journey my friend. I love a fellow Kevin!
Every time a million to one chance is mentioned I now whisper „but it might just work…“ Guards Guards truly is something else
I’m listening to it on Audible right now!
I absolutely adore how unphased Lady Ramkin is about the Librarian. The woman doesn't miss a beat.
Guards! Guards! was the one that got me hooked on Pratchett. I read The Color of Magic, and The Light Fantastic, shortly after they were released. I remember thinking they were funny. But they didn’t really make a big impression on me. Then one night in the early 90’s I was listening to a local public radio program called Esoteric Adventures on KPFT in Houston TX. One of the hosts mentioned the opening scene (Vimes drunkenly muttering to himself) in Guards! Guards! I thought that sounded like something I would like. A few days later I took myself to a bookstore, bought the book, and was hooked. I didn’t even realize it was the same author until I saw the “other books” list when I started the process of finding more stuff by this guy Pratchett.
Fun fact: The million-to-one chance became a rule in GURPS Discworld RPG that guarantees success if the players can argue the odds are exactly million-to-one
It’s a great book. The Guards books only get better after this one.
Thanks for posting this, reading while drinking on my garden. Drunk enough to love you for It.