> The eighth book in the Discworld series introduces the City Watch
> thread, which is the longest and arguably most popular of the books thus
> far.

> Judging from the introduction, the book was meant to be a deconstruction
> of the generic fantasy guards that attack the hero ten minutes into the
> movie and then get ruthlessly slaughtered (with a side order of film
> noir). It evolves into something much more than that, though. The City
> Watch is probably the strongest cast in the series: fat and rather
> stupid Sergeant Fred Colon; Nobby Nobbs, who's as close to a petty
> criminal as you can get while still working for the government; Carrot
> Ironfoundersson, a six-foot-tall, incredibly naive and upright youth who
> was raised as a dwarf; and Captain Sam Vimes, a drunkard with style,
> intelligence, and a bullheaded, idealistic drive to uphold the law.

> The plot revolves around the attempts of a secret society to summon a
> dragon in order to overthrow the government (said secret society is
> basically a full-on, hilarious Monty Python sketch every time it shows
> up). But it's less about the plot and more about the characters. The
> chemistry between the four guards is unusual and extremely entertaining,
> and every one of them has depths that are plumbed even more later on.
> There's a good deal of character growth, as well; the Vimes and Carrot
> we see at the end of the book are only passingly like the ones we saw at
> the start. The growth continues throughout the series, and charting it
> is quite the pastime.

> In terms of series development, this is the first time we meet the
> iconic Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, the merchant who'll try to sell
> anything; and the Librarian, who earlier was just a regular guy who
> turned into an ape, is now given a lot more skill and intelligence (and
> his dislike of the word "monkey" has solidified as well). Though Lord
> Vetinari was introduced earlier, this is the first time we really see
> his Machiavellian genius.

> One thing I noticed is that Terry has really gone all-out in his use of
> metaphor in this book. Maybe it's because he was trying to evoke a film
> noir feel, but the imagery comes fast and delightful, painting a canvas
> with words and giving everything - the sky, the mist, a uniform, a
> feeling of despair - qualities of something else entirely. It's a really
> great read.

> Although I woud say that it also demonstrates that Vetinari is not
> all-knowing.  He did not know what he had in Vimes or the watch.

> <snip>

>>> In terms of series development, this is the first time we meet the
>>> iconic Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, the merchant who'll try to sell
>>> anything; and the Librarian, who earlier was just a regular guy who
>>> turned into an ape, is now given a lot more skill and intelligence (and
>>> his dislike of the word "monkey" has solidified as well). Though Lord
>>> Vetinari was introduced earlier, this is the first time we really see
>>> his Machiavellian genius.
>> Although I woud say that it also demonstrates that Vetinari is not
>> all-knowing.  He did not know what he had in Vimes or the watch.

> Arguably, he didn't knwo what he had in Carrot.  It was the arrival of
> Carrot that inspired both Vimes and the Watch to greatness.

> This book also re-inforced the idea that stories have power [1].  The
> whole concept that "last, desperate million-to-one shots always
> succeed", the plot of the secret society (involving the myth of the
> returning king) and the fact that Carrot's own influence is based upon
> the fact that he *is* the returning king are all manifestations of
> this.

> Cheers,
> Nigel.

> [1]  I think that the idea first appeared in _Weird Sisters_ in the
> Fool's demonstration of how the power of story can be used.