Night Watch: A Novel of Discworld

"Night Watch turns out to be an unexpectedly moving novel about sacrifice and responsibility, its final scenes leaving one near tears. . . Terry Pratchett may still be pegged as a comic novelist, but . . . he’s a lot more.” — Washington Post Book World

Getting knocked back in time thirty years, Sam Vines, Commander of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch experiences a day like no other in which past, present, and future collide with hilarious—and poignant—results in this rollicking Discworld adventure from Terry Pratchett.

One moment Commander of the City Watch Sam Vimes is chasing a murderer across the rooftops of Ankh-Morpork. The next, he’s lying in the street below, naked—and back in his own tough past thanks to a lightning strike and a group of meddling, time-manipulating monks.

It’s a dark Discworld that is all too familiar. Worse, the cop-killing psychopath he’d been pursuing has been transported back with him, and it’s the eve of a deadly street rebellion that took a few good (and not so good) lives. Vimes is determined to do his duty— track down the murderer and change the outcome of the rebellion. By changing history he might just save some worthwhile necks, and steer a novice watchman straight—an impressionable young copper named Sam Vimes.

But if he succeeds, Sam knows it could cost him the future—including the job and the family he loves.

The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Night Watch is the sixth book in the City Watch series. The series includes:

• Guards! Guards!
• Men at Arms
• Feet of Clay
• Jingo
• The Fifth Elephant
• Night Watch
• Thud!
• Snuff

Sir Sam Vimes gets knocked back in time thirty years in this rollicking adventure in Terry Pratchett's bestselling Discworld® series

One moment Sir Sam Vimes is in his old-patrolman form, chasing a sweet-talking psychopath across the rooftops of Ankh-Morpork. The next, he's lying naked in the street, having been sent back thirty years, courtesy of a group of time-manipulating monks who won't leave well-enough alone. This Discworld is a dark place that Vimes remembers all too well—three decades before his title, fortune, beloved wife, and child on the way. Worse still, the murderer he's pursuing has been transported back with him. And on top of that—it's the eve of a fabled street rebellion that killed a few good (and not so good) men. Sam Vimes knows his duty, and by changing history he might just save some worthwhile necks—though it could cost him his own personal future. Plus there's a chance to steer a novice watchman straight and teach him a valuable thing or three about policing—an impressionable young copper named Sam Vimes.

“Nothing short of magical.” - Chicago Tribune

“Pratchett’s storytelling, a clever blend of Monty Pythonesque humor and Big Questions about morality and the workings of the universe, is in top form.” - Publishers Weekly

“Both comic and dark, blending high fantasy, twisted storytelling and all manner of wordplay...a fine place to start reading Pratchett.” - New York Times Book Review

“The book’s rapid cinematic pace - quick cutting, multiple plot lines converging - never flags . . . [Pratchett’s] using his wit and brilliant talent for characterization to attack every kind of intolerance . . . NIGHT WATCH turns out of be an unexpectedly moving novel about sacrifice and responsibility, its final scences leaving one near tears. . . Terry Pratchett may still be pegged as a comic novelist, but as NIGHT WATCH shows, he’s a lot more.” - Washington Post Book World

“The 28th addition to Pratchett’s “Discworld” series explores time travel and historical inevitability with cleverness and humor. The author’s talent for comedy does not falter as he continues to set the standard for comic fantasy.” - Library Journal

“Compulsively readable. . . . Like Jonathan Swift, Pratchett uses his other world to hold up a distorting mirror to our own, and like Swift he is a satirist of enormous talent. He shares with Aristophanes a sense of the comedian’s mission to teach, and with Sophocles a concern to examine the rule of law versus the rights of the individual.” - Sunday Times (London)

“Just sit back and enjoy the funniest novel of the year . . . and] the best Discworld book in the whole world, ever.” - SFX (UK)

“Bubbling with wit and wisdom: both an excellent story and a tribute to beat cops everywhere, doing their hair-raising jobs with quiet courage and determination.” - Kirkus Reviews

“Night Watch mingles the expected array of silly names, hilarious footnotes, wicked puns, etc. with elements of dirty politics, nascent revolution, time and memory, heroism and sacrifice, recalling the more serious side of Dickens. . . . Pratchett makes it clear he can hold his own with the masters.” - Locus

“Masterful and brilliant.” - Fantasy & Science Fiction