Guards! Guards!

Title: Guards! Guards!
Author: Terry Pratchett
Published: Originally 1989, Kindle edition in 2009
Genre: Humour fantasy
Pages: 403 on the Kindle, plus Footnotes


This one's number 8 in Pratchett's Discworld-series, and the first to introduce the night shift of Ankh-Morpork's City Watch: Captain Vimes, and his proud, tall, honest men-- err, man. The dwarven Carrot, who stands well over six foot tall, slightly hunched. The rest of them -both Nobbs and Colon- are a bit shifty. Work has been rather easy for the watchmen, when you don't run too fast, avoid the seedier parts of Ankh-Morpork, and know to look away when there's a hint of crime somewhere nearby.

Over-enthusiastic new recruit Carrot starts arresting people, though. And if that wasn't trouble enough, there are signs of a dragon over the dark skies, despite the fact that they were supposed to be extinct. Only small swamp dragons exist anymore, and they're so likely to explode themselves by accident that it's a wonder there are any left.

It's been so long since I last read Guards! Guards! that I don't even remember whether I read it in English or Finnish. On the plus side, I didn't really remember much of it. The City Watch books weren't my favourites when I was younger. I can already tell that I'm gonna enjoy them so much more this time 'round. (I'm taking part in Terry Pratchett Read-along among Finnish book bloggers. Not that I wouldn't have picked up a Discworld book or three anyway: started on Mort as soon as I heard the sad news.) I know for sure that I'm definitely getting more out of all the references and puns.


   Captain Vimes limped forward from the shadows.
   A small and extremely frightened golden dragon was clamped firmly under one arm. His other hand held it by the tail.
   The rioters watched it, hypnotized.
   'Now I know what you're thinking,' Vimes went on, softly. 'Youre wondering, after all this excitement, has it got enough flame left? And, y'know, I ain't so sure myself...'
   He leaned forward, sighting between the dragon's ears, and his voice buzzed like a knife blade:
   'What you've got to ask yourself is: Am I feeling lucky?'
   They swayed backwards as he advanced.
   'Well?' he said. 'Are you feeling lucky?'