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kappafrog's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Pratchett is one of my favourite authors, but this was really disappointing. The gender/sexual politics were a little dull 30 years on but took a really unpleasant turn late in the book. Carrot becoming Angua's master after they slept together was disgusting. The mystery was confusing and I gave up trying to figure it out myself. I really didn't like the dog subplot. Also, whatever happened to the people Cruces shot from the Tower of Art?
Bright spots were Detritus, Cuddy, and the Via Cloaca. And of course with Pratchett there were plenty of laugh out loud moments, like the Librarian playing the organ. Still, a rare dud from one of my favourite authors.
Bright spots were Detritus, Cuddy, and the Via Cloaca. And of course with Pratchett there were plenty of laugh out loud moments, like the Librarian playing the organ. Still, a rare dud from one of my favourite authors.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, and Classism
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Police brutality, Vomit, Misogyny, Hate crime, and Alcoholism
Minor: Addiction, Racial slurs, Fatphobia, Child abuse, Excrement, and Pedophilia
luxton's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I enjoyed this book much more than the first book in the series, "Guards! Guards!". The quality of writing didn't change much, but Terry Pratchett's humour finally felt like it clicked with me and the characters were more fleshed out due to the benefit of it being the second in a series.
I wish the ending had provided more details explaining the solution to the mystery, it was technically fully resolved but not in a way that felt entirely satisfying
I wish the ending
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty and Murder
ampharos906's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Animal cruelty, and Gun violence
Minor: Grief, Animal death, Death, Medical content, Gun violence, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, and Murder
soupply's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Classism, Addiction, Grief, Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Misogyny, Hate crime, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Sexual harassment, and Racial slurs
Minor: Bullying
woweewhoa's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Gun violence, and Racism
Moderate: Alcohol, Violence, Death, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Sexism, and Animal death
Minor: Fatphobia and Alcoholism
crufts's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
How dare Terry Prachett write so many fantastic books...
Although Men At Arms is Book 15 of the Discworld series, you only need to have read Guards! Guards! (Book 8) to understand what's going on. You might be able to read Men At Arms as a standalone, but you would miss a lot of the references.
Times are changing in the Watch of the city of Ankh-Morpork. Lord Vetinari has decreed that the Watch must take on three new "diversity hires": a troll (Detritus), a dwarf (Cuddy), and awerewolf woman (Angua).
The Captain of the Watch (Sam Vimes) is awkward about this, especially considering the eons-old feud between trolls and dwarves. He's even more awkward about his impending marriage to Lady Sybil Ramkin, and the fact that it dumps him into the upper crust of society - a place he has never been, and, to be honest, kind of detests.
Fortunately, young Corporal Carrot, an adopted dwarf who is two meters tall, is there to take all of these changes in his (massive) stride. And when a dangerous weapon is stolen from the Assassin's Guild, it'll take the entire Watch to hunt down who did it, and why...
Does that description make the plot sound very complicated? Honestly, it is. There are a lot of threads woven in - the marriage, the racial feud, the werewolf angle, a romance, the stolen weapon, etc. Both Vimes and Carrot (and arguably even Angua) become the "main character" at different points in the story, and they all get their own character arcs. I was shocked to realize the book is only 377 pages long because so much is accomplished.
Now, usually this kind of thing would have me complaining the book is too "cluttered". But somehow Terry Pratchett pulled it off. Maybe because the book has 4 or 5 acts (with major turning points) instead of a standard 3 acts? In any case, the book never felt overly "busy".
As usual for the Discworld, the characters were a goldmine. Not only do we see adored returning characters (Vimes, Carrot, Lady Ramkin, Lord Vetinari) but we also get some fascinating new ones (Detritus and his unusual trollish mental state, Angua's double life). We also got some great worldbuilding that dives into the Fools' Guild and the Assassins' Guild. And need I even say that there was plenty of Discworld-style humour?
To top it all off, this is the book which introduces Sam Vimes' Economic Theory of Boots, which has gone on to enter popular culture.
Men At Arms is a wonderful book and I whole-heartedly recommend it.
Although Men At Arms is Book 15 of the Discworld series, you only need to have read Guards! Guards! (Book 8) to understand what's going on. You might be able to read Men At Arms as a standalone, but you would miss a lot of the references.
Times are changing in the Watch of the city of Ankh-Morpork. Lord Vetinari has decreed that the Watch must take on three new "diversity hires": a troll (Detritus), a dwarf (Cuddy), and a
The Captain of the Watch (Sam Vimes) is awkward about this, especially considering the eons-old feud between trolls and dwarves. He's even more awkward about his impending marriage to Lady Sybil Ramkin, and the fact that it dumps him into the upper crust of society - a place he has never been, and, to be honest, kind of detests.
Fortunately, young Corporal Carrot, an adopted dwarf who is two meters tall, is there to take all of these changes in his (massive) stride. And when a dangerous weapon is stolen from the Assassin's Guild, it'll take the entire Watch to hunt down who did it, and why...
Does that description make the plot sound very complicated? Honestly, it is. There are a lot of threads woven in - the marriage, the racial feud, the werewolf angle, a romance, the stolen weapon, etc. Both Vimes and Carrot (and arguably even Angua) become the "main character" at different points in the story, and they all get their own character arcs. I was shocked to realize the book is only 377 pages long because so much is accomplished.
Now, usually this kind of thing would have me complaining the book is too "cluttered". But somehow Terry Pratchett pulled it off. Maybe because the book has 4 or 5 acts (with major turning points) instead of a standard 3 acts? In any case, the book never felt overly "busy".
As usual for the Discworld, the characters were a goldmine. Not only do we see adored returning characters (Vimes, Carrot, Lady Ramkin, Lord Vetinari) but we also get some fascinating new ones (Detritus and his unusual trollish mental state, Angua's double life). We also got some great worldbuilding that dives into the Fools' Guild and the Assassins' Guild. And need I even say that there was plenty of Discworld-style humour?
To top it all off, this is the book which introduces Sam Vimes' Economic Theory of Boots, which has gone on to enter popular culture.
Men At Arms is a wonderful book and I whole-heartedly recommend it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Gun violence
Fantasy racism of ongoing troll/dwarf hostilties appear in the narrative, including some spoken comments.Sexism is alluded to but does not appear in the narrative.
Violence and gun violence appear briefly during some action scenes.
Alcohol and alcoholism: Despite Lady Ramkin's protestations, Vimes has not entirely given up the drink.
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