A definitive annotated edition of one of the greatest of Terry Pratchett’s multi-million-bestselling Discworld novels
'A master storyteller' A.S. Byatt
‘Both comic and dark, blending high fantasy, twisted storytelling and all manner of wordplay ... a fine place to start reading Pratchett’ The New York Times Book Review
Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is in hot pursuit of a serial killer. The trouble is, a well-timed lightning strike has thrown both policeman and pursued into the city’s past. Now Vimes must relive the history that made him: a cruel regime, a bloody revolution, a corrupt police force, and, most unnerving of all, a keen young recruit named Sam Vimes… Night Watch, which draws on inspirations as far ranging as Victor Hugo and M*A*S*H, is a keen satire about the true nature of political power, and the sacrifices made in the name of the greater good; but also a profoundly empathetic novel about community, connection and the tenacity of the human spirit.
This edition of Night Watch – written at the height of Pratchett’s imaginative powers – includes a new foreword by Rob Wilkins and an introduction and annotations by Dr David Lloyd and Dr Darryl Jones, contextualising the novel and Pratchett’s far-reaching legacy for new readers and current fans alike.
"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" - Guardian
"Night Watch can hold its own with the best of the Victorians and it beats the hell out of Bukowski. It has profound moral complexity, hard emotional impact, careful plotting, gritty political insight and, best of all, raw, urgent humanity" - Sunday Times
"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