Guards! Guards!

Discworld, Book 8

By: Terry Pratchett, Ben Aaranovitch - introduction

Narrated by: Jon Culshaw, Peter Serafinowicz, Bill Nighy, Ben Aaronovitch

Brought to you by Penguin.

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

'It was the usual Ankh-Morpork mob in times of crisis; half of them were here to complain, a quarter of them were here to watch the other half, and the remainder were here to rob, importune or sell hotdogs to the rest.'

Insurrection is in the air in the city of Ankh-Morpork. The Haves and Have-Nots are about to fall out all over again.

Captain Sam Vimes of the city's ramshackle Night Watch is used to this. It's enough to drive a man to drink. Well, to drink more. But this time, something is different - the Have-Nots have found the key to a dormant, lethal weapon that even they don't fully understand, and they're about to unleash a campaign of terror on the city.

Time for Captain Vimes to sober up.

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

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

© Terry Pratchett 1989 (P) Penguin Audio 2023

Critic reviews

'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'

Wait till the end there is a highlight

There is a wonderful tribute at the end to look forward to. It was a surprise to me. But I adored all the references.
Performance wise: I own a previous work by Nigel Planer and had been hesitant to try the new one. Terry Pratchett’s guards and witches audiobooks have been my constant companion for a long time listened to everyday (it’s the tism). But I decided to give it a try. The music at the beginning was quite majestic, not at all like what sounded like two xylophones, a triangle and a zipper being thrown together in the previous one from 1989. I will say I enjoyed it because it set you up for a fantasy novel and then gave you Vimes drunk in a gutter. Jon Culshaw’s voice gives it a gritty noir feel, like an old police procedural. Vimes is still Vimes. Still a man of the city. I loved Jon’s version of Colon and Nobby as well. It was so good that it felt like I was listening to this audiobook again for the first time! I also enjoyed Bill Nighy reading the footnotes and Peter Serafinowicz’ as Death. So if it’s your first try, you will enjoy the feel of this one. And if it’s your hundredth (or thousandth my fellow tisms) time hopefully it will feel like the first time and also like an old friend.

Uproariously Funny, Possibly Prachett's Pinnacle

I haven't laughed this much out loud, quietly listening to my audio book and then erupting in laughter to stun passers-by, since The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Prachett's earlier works are fantastic as well, but something about the Watch and lampooning Lethal Weapon and the cop movie craze of the late-80s hits satisfyingly different. The ruminations on city life, the "evil" of man, and incredible scenes like the Watch on the roof make this an unforgettable and delightful journey.

Stupendiferous!

Recommended for everybody! I have waited with anticipation for over a year and am not disappointed.

Enjoying the new versions

I’ll always have a soft spot for the original recordings, but I enjoy the production quality and voice acting of the new versions.

loops back to beginning in the final 30 seconds

I appreciated the narrator's consistency with matching a character voice to that character's dialogue. Nobby's voice acting is a perfect match for the personality, and Vimes is fairly good. I don't know yet that I liked it enough to re-purchase the rest of the Watch arc with this narrator -- it depends on the studio quality on Men At Arms, which is written as much more of an ensemble story.