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

[boosette.livejournal.com]

A year ago I would have agreed with you, but now I have to say you are _Wrong_ with a capital silent W. Thud! is definitely better than Night Watch, although it is by a slim margin.

finished it!

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I have that one in paperback form waiting for me, a few books in advance.

I liked Night Watch a lot, though I can't say if it's my absolute favorite yet. I'll have to read them all to decide. So far, these are my favorites:

Wyrd Sisters
Small Gods
Hogfather
Maskerade
The Amazing Maurice & H.E.R.
Nightwatch

I really like Small Gods and Nightwatch the most I think, though I'm still very attached to the Maurice book, which I think fully deserves the award it got.

Though I'm amused that it qualifies as children's literature because it basically reads like all of the Discworld books, with only slightly less violence. And most of the violence is done by furry animals...even though it's still definitely violence.

As a character set, I like the witches most, but I really enjoy them all. Even though none of the Rincewind books are my favorite, there are elements of his series that I really, really enjoy. Same for the City Watch.

Having finished tonight, I can guess that Nightwatch is given more adherence from fans because it's so much heavier than normal Discworld fair. All the DW books have dark plots at the core (usually involving murder or war or justice or power), but NW seemed to have only 1/5th the amount of humor of his normal books. Usually the humor offsets the drama, but here it was solid drama the whole way through, and the series of final climactic confrontations were darker by far, even compared to the prior darker books like Small Gods, The Fifth Elephant, and Lords & Ladies. Drama moves us more than humor, especially if it's usually more humor than drama in our regular fair.

I'm not sure if that's a cynical or sentimental assessment.