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woweewhoa's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
A fun time! I'm working through all the Discworld books in order and currently this is my favorite one! I really enjoyed all the characters and the comedic timing was top notch. I listen to the audiobooks of the books and the narration was really good and characterful for this one for sure!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol
Moderate: Fatphobia, Death, Violence, and Sexism
Minor: Animal cruelty
leanneymu's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, and Fatphobia
szuum's review
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Alcoholism
Moderate: Fatphobia and Sexism
theirgracegrace's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Death, and Violence
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
cults are a prominent plot point of this booktangleroot_eli's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
REREAD March 2024: Now I see why a lot of people recommend starting to read Discworld here, rather than with Colour of Magic. Pratchett really found his footing here. And the timeless/prescient quality feels even more striking now. Replace the Elucidated Brotherhood's black hoods with red hats and the Supreme Grand Master with QAnon, and it... works exactly the same.
* * *
First read review: January 2018: Many Discworld books--and the City Watch books, especially--have a timeless, even prescient quality that makes them equally fascinating and creepy. The subtle interplays between characters, especially the members of the Brotherhood and Vimes vs., erm... everyone are a treat to watch play out. oh and also dragons
* * *
First read review: January 2018: Many Discworld books--and the City Watch books, especially--have a timeless, even prescient quality that makes them equally fascinating and creepy. The subtle interplays between characters, especially the members of the Brotherhood and Vimes vs., erm... everyone are a treat to watch play out. oh and also dragons
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Classism
Minor: Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Misogyny, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Police corruption, Environmental degradation,caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Confinement, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Fatphobia and Sexism
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
GUARDS! GUARDS! is about the City Watch, the folks who come running when someone else is in danger, but lately they've mostly run into their ale cups. Then someone summons a dragon...
I like the guards, and the dragon lady. The stuff about the swamp dragons was great! The villains were fine but underdeveloped. They mostly existed to make the large dragon appear. The main villain had a lot more development and many complex thoughts about what he was doing and why/how, but since it's mostly him monologuing in his thoughts it felt flat in places.
I'm getting tired of this air where everyone but the main character knows what sex is and how it works. It's been in the other Discworld books I've read until this point, and in GUARDS! GUARDS! in particular the density of sly references to the idea of sex felt so high that it crosses over from "joke that older readers will get" to "joke that younger readers won't get but will probably notice that there's something they're not getting". The series isn't specifically aimed at kids, thought it would be fine for teen readers, so it's not inappropriate, really, just tiresome.
A good start to the City Watch sub-series, worth reading if you're trying to read a bunch of the series, but not spectacular on its own. It's clearly setting up something with Carrot to pay off in a later book, so it's important for that arc.
I like the guards, and the dragon lady. The stuff about the swamp dragons was great! The villains were fine but underdeveloped. They mostly existed to make the large dragon appear. The main villain had a lot more development and many complex thoughts about what he was doing and why/how, but since it's mostly him monologuing in his thoughts it felt flat in places.
I'm getting tired of this air where everyone but the main character knows what sex is and how it works. It's been in the other Discworld books I've read until this point, and in GUARDS! GUARDS! in particular the density of sly references to the idea of sex felt so high that it crosses over from "joke that older readers will get" to "joke that younger readers won't get but will probably notice that there's something they're not getting". The series isn't specifically aimed at kids, thought it would be fine for teen readers, so it's not inappropriate, really, just tiresome.
A good start to the City Watch sub-series, worth reading if you're trying to read a bunch of the series, but not spectacular on its own. It's clearly setting up something with Carrot to pay off in a later book, so it's important for that arc.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Murder, and Death
Minor: Ableism, Sexual content, and Medical content
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