Discworld: NIGHTWATCH, half-way

[timepiececlock]

NIGHTWATCH, page 274/422

They're building the barricades, and it's getting very exciting, and I can't stop reading! This is darker than all of the other Discworld books so far, and oh Vimes, and it's going to go badly and we'll lose people and... and I hope that grave in the beginning chapter isn't the foreshadowing I'm afraid it is. ::crosses fingers::

It's neat to see all the familiar characters in their younger days. I especially enjoy Nobby, Dibbler, and so forth. I'm amused that a certain young rookie has a resemblence to Carrot.

That's it for now. I'll probably type up something when I get to the end of the book. No spoilers or hints in the comments, please! I'll be done by tomorrow at the latest.

Comments

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

YOu can probably find a lot of them on bittorrent for the audiobooks. I've been getting them that way.

I'd say read/listen to them all in published order, starting with The Color of Magic. You'll want a library card since the series is about 35 books. Or you could download the audiobooks somehow.

If you don't want to read the whole series in order, and want a smaller portion, the City Watch books start with Guards! Guards!, the wizards start with The Colour of Magic, the Death books start with Mort, and the Witches books start with Equal Rites in a way, but truly begin with Wyrd Sisters. One of my favorites is Small Gods which takes place a hundred years or more before the main series timeline, though.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

amend: I got them on audiobook, but I didn't get them from bittorrent, so I don't know if they're there or not.

[gojira007.livejournal.com]

As I possess a library card, I think I may well read the whole series gradually. Anyway, I like starting at the beginning, so "Color of Magic" it is. Thanks for the tips, though. :)

[boosette.livejournal.com]

If you get discouraged by or find that you just aren't clicking with _Color of Magic_, don't be shy about skipping ahead to another subseries - I like the Watch books best (As in, oh great good god I would sell my soul to have these books go on forever) and was absolutely bored to tears by _Mort_,.

If you're looking for a one-shot, I can't reccomend _Monsterous Regiment_ highly enough. It's hilarious and poignant and amazing and lovely. (It's tied loosely to the Watch books, but the Watch characters play only a peripheral role in MR.)

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

See, that's where it gets iffy. I'd still say just skip to the next book in the progression (which I believe is another wizard book and then the witches and then Death), because the City Watch don't kick in until book 8.

It's all taste, too. I was lukewarm on the first Watch book Guards!Guards!(#8), but I really liked the second one Men At Arms (#15, I think.) I loved Mort, but I didn't care for Sourcery as much as The Color of Magic. And for stand-alones, I liked Moving Pictures more than Pyramids.

That's why I say just go chronologically, and if you don't like one, skip to the next. They're in a criss-crossing chronological order that gets something of a loss if you only read one group of characters. There's a lot allusions and in-jokes that you'd miss.

[boosette.livejournal.com]

I am horrible for these sorts of things - I tend to read the L-Space article on the book before/while I'm reading it, so I know what the in-jokes are, even if I don't get-get them.

(I read/am reading DW all over the place, myself, because I started with the Watch books on recommendation and proceeded with what my local library had, and there the pickings were rather slim.)

Also, when you get to Thud!, the companion picture book Where's My Cow? is absolutely adorable.