I Read Books: Men At Arms

Men At Arms

Pratchett returns to the Night Watch in Ankh Morpork. Things are changing, there are new guards (a troll, a dwarf and a werewolf), and Captain Vimes is retiring to get married and become a gentleman of leisure.

Still, crime never sleeps. There’s a man who wants to restore the king and thinks he’s found him. And the Assassin’s Guild has a secret weapon – The Gonne – that is too dangerous to be used and they keep as a warning.

Guilds are a law unto themselves so what happens behind guild walls is not the concern of the watch. But one murder is of a dwarf and this is creating ethnic tensions between Dwarfs and Trolls. Corporal Carrot can maybe keep a lid on it, if he uses his charisma, but they’re going to have to find a culprit. With the guilds and nobility not wanting to rock the boat, and not caring about the dwarf/troll relationships the Patrician orders Vimes off the case.

To make him chase it more.

A perfectly serviceable mystery plot married to some good jokes, and just enough commentary on real world ideas to make a point without getting in the way of the rest. And even a romance.

Read This: A cool comedy fantasy mystery
Don’t Read This: A gun? In my fantasy city?