Guards! Guards!

Discworld, Book 8

De: Terry Pratchett, Ben Aaranovitch - introduction

Narrado por: Jon Culshaw, Peter Serafinowicz, Bill Nighy, Ben Aaronovitch

Over 1 million Discworld audiobooks sold – discover the extraordinary universe of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld like never before

Discover the gloriously inventive and funny fantasy novel from bestselling author Terry Pratchett, the first book in the City Watch series, part of the Discworld novels.


'Noble dragons don't have friends. The nearest they can get to the idea is an enemy who is still alive.'

The city of Ankh-Morpork is in turmoil, its citizens revolting. Again.

A shadowy secret brotherhood has summoned a dragon to spread terror throughout the city, intent on overthrowing the Patrician and ruling in his place. Too bad the dragon has ideas of its own ...

It's up to Captain Sam Vimes and the ramshackle Night Watch to stop it. Only problem is, the Watch are more used to dealing with mobs than dragons.

And if they can't bring down this fire-breathing tyrant and reinstate their own, slightly less dangerous one, Ankh-Morpork might be lost. For ever...

Guards! Guards! is the first book in the City Watch series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order.


‘Possibly the funniest book ever written’ 5-star reader review

'This is one of Pratchett's best books. Hilarious and highly recommended' The Times

© Terry Pratchett 1989 (P) Penguin Audio 2023

Reseñas de la Crítica

'This is one of Pratchett's best books. Hilarious and highly recommended'

'Pratchett is at the peak of his powers; it's hard to think of any humorist writing in Britain today who can match him...A masterful ear for dialogue, a keen eye for the ridiculous and a real feel for language'

'The best humorous English author since P.G. Wodehouse'

1st disk book

It was a million to one chance but it might just work and so I laughed and cried and had a good time.

Incredible

Fantastic production of a fantastic book. Narrarator brought the characters to life and elevated Guards! Guards! Into one of my favorites

Definitely worth a second lesson

Great subversion of fantasy where I can tell a lot of authors got their inspiration from

Wonderful Narration

I rarely write reviews, but want to provide a counterweight against reviewers who are attached to previous narrators and complain that this reading is somehow all wrong. If you love a very prolific author and have got used to one stylistic interpretation it really can be grating to shift gears, but I think this is a great improvement. The first time I listened to a Discworld novel I thought it was sort of fun but annoyingly silly, something for a 14 year old who'd just discovered British satire but ultimately just monotonous, like relentless over-the-top YA slapstick. I liked them better in paper books. But I like them best as read in this version. I LOVE them in this version. The bulk of complaints seem to be around the sobriety of the narration - it's "too serious", too straight-faced, too lacking in general hilarity of tone. To me, the effect is much funnier - and much more interesting - because a poker faced voice* (ding) best captures not only Pratchett's brilliantly satirical wit but also the depth and poignancy of each fascinating character AND the real weight of his social commentary. Guards! Guards! isn't just tons of totally absorbing fun, it's startlingly relevant. Now I'm ripping through the whole series as read by these terrific narrators with a brand new appreciation, what a delight!

* I also don't understand complaints about the handling of footnotes, like this apology for the mixed metaphor. I think the little dings make them work perfectly.

Always going to relisten/reread these books

It’s a Discworld book, it’s a guaranteed great time. Pratchett books are always like that.