Guards! Guards!: (Discworld Novel 8) (Discworld Novels)

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is one of the most popular Discworld books and I have not read it, this makes it the ideal candidate for a reentry into this unique and wonderful series.

Somehow, though, to a soul attuned to the subtle rhythms of a library, there are few worse sights than a hole where a book ought to be. There are ordinary people in Ankh-Morpork now: street urchins, bartenders, low-life criminals, common palace guards, traders, workers, to name a few.This time we got hilarious parody on "good cop, who's tired of this lawless city" and "a hero who kills dragon and saves everyone" with intriguing plot twists and funny characters. Scenes unfold like a film but there are times I caught myself reacting to something, then there's a change, and when we cut back we're experiencing the fallout of the event. Pratchett is at the peak of his powers; it's hard to think of any humorist writing in Britain today who can match him.

It had the feeling of re-watching a TV series with someone who’s never seen it, I kept wanting to turn around and tell myself the importance of Detritus, Sybil and Pseudopolis Yard. Terry's latest book, Nation, a non-Discworld standalone YA novel was published in October of 2008 and was an instant New York Times and London Times bestseller.The Discworld is a lot of fun but it is also a comedic examination of humanity and civilization and it takes a master of Pratchett’s genius talent to pull it off successfully. While a crowd attempts to close in on the King to kill it, Sybil tries to plead for it, while Carrot places it under arrest; but Errol lets the dragon escape, to be his mate. And if they can’t bring down this fire-breathing tyrant and reinstate their own, slightly less dangerous one, Ankh-Morpork might be lost. Si coges una ciudad y la pones patas arriba, pones a los criminales a cargo, y la gente "respetable" en la parte inferior, tendrás algo que se parece vagamente a Ankh Morpork. And all of it is woven into a neat tight plot that carries us through the dry humor and slapstick and sad seriousness to the unexpected depth as you allow the cogs and wheels of your brain turn contemplating Pratchett's intentions.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Pratchett uses the scenery to show the ridiculousness of despotic government systems, especially the not only representative and powerless marionette kings, queens, and fairies, but the brutal enforcement behind them through the shadow government and hierarchies, making many monarchies the worst places to live. In one of the earliest episodes our Shaolin monk-in-training was tasked to walk along a sheet of rice paper without ripping it or leaving a mark. Lord Vetinari is such an eclectic, badass, clinical antihero protagonist that it´s difficult to point the finger on if he´s evil, good, or just so extremely opportunistic and finetuning his plans to perfection that he can go with the citizens mental flow and preventively manipulate and indoctrinate.

But what made me realise this is a book I will love forever is the introduction to the Elucidated Brethren. It is a lovely way to spend several hours curled up in a chair on a rainy day, mesmerized by Pratchett's wit and wisdom. Wonse falls to his death after the very literal Carrot hits him with a thrown copy of Laws and Ordinances of Ankh-Morpork. I've listened to Tony Robinson read the best third of the book, laughed about eleven times and chortled more. It doesn't help that dwarves (and therefore Carrot) are very literal creatures that don't know sarcasm or puns or figures of speech.

p. 257] The scene where Errol's supersonic boom smashes the dragon out of the air is possibly based on another Clint Eastwood movie, the 1982 Firefox. Vimes arrests Wonse, as he tries to summon another dragon, telling Carrot to "throw the book at him". Honest reveal - I think I resisted because people said he was better than Douglas Adams and that rubbed me the wrong way. A whole new generation has learned about this through the combined efforts of an uninspired Disney flick and a particularly nauseating song by Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart and Sting.

p. 108] "Once you've ruled out the impossible then whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truth. Meanwhile, a secret society (the Elucidated Bethren of the Ebon Night) has decided to summon a dragon, intending on overthrowing the Patrician Lord Vetinari and replacing him with an old-fashioned monarchy. Dudo muchísimo que palabras como inteligente, ingenioso, cínico, hilarante, oscuro, desgarrador a la par que divertido realmente hagan justicia a su escritura, es una combinación maestra de todas esas palabras y obtienes esa escritura increíble que es a la vez divertida, inteligente, y debajo, todo es increíblemente oscuro y algo aleccionador.