''Guards! Guards!'' is a
fantasy novel
Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. magic (paranormal), Magic, the supernatural and Legendary creature, magical creatures are common i ...
by British writer
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English author, humorist, and Satire, satirist, best known for the ''Discworld'' series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983 and 2015, and for the Apocalyp ...
, the eighth in the ''
Discworld
''Discworld'' is a comic fantasy"Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle, ed., ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. book series written by the English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a fl ...
'' series, first published in 1989. It is the first novel about the
Ankh-Morpork City Watch. The first
''Discworld'' point-and-click adventure game borrowed heavily from the plot of ''Guards! Guards!''
[BBC - h2g2 - Terry Pratchett's Discworld - the Computer Game](_blank)
Retrieved 2009-05-9
Plot
A secret
monastic order
Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially ...
plots to overthrow the
Patrician of
Ankh-Morpork
Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state that is the setting for many Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett.
Overview
Pratchett describes Ankh-Morpork as the biggest city in Discworld and its corrupt mercantile capital.
In '' The Art of Discwo ...
and install a
puppet monarch
A puppet ruler is someone who holds a title of political authority, but is loyal to or controlled by outside persons or groups. When a foreign government wields such outside control, the puppet ruler's territory is referred to as a puppet state. I ...
under the control of the Order. They summon a
dragon
A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
to terrorise the city and plan to have the puppet "slay" the dragon and claim to be the lost heir of the defunct royal house.
The Night Watch, which is generally seen as both corrupt and incompetent, starts to change with the arrival of idealistic new recruit
Carrot Ironfoundersson, a human orphan raised by dwarfish parents. When the
Librarian
A librarian is a person who professionally works managing information. Librarians' common activities include providing access to information, conducting research, creating and managing information systems, creating, leading, and evaluating educat ...
of the
Unseen University
The Unseen University (UU) is a school of wizardry in Terry Pratchett's '' Discworld'' series of fantasy novels. Located in the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork, the UU is staffed by mostly indolent and inept old wizards. The university's name i ...
(an
orangutan
Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ...
) reports a book of magic stolen, Vimes links the theft to the dragon's appearances. The Watch's investigation makes the acquaintance of
Lady Sybil Ramkin, who breeds small swamp dragons, and gives an underdeveloped dragon named Errol to the Watch as a
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, sports team, university society, society, military unit, or brand, brand name. Mascots are als ...
.
At first, the plot works flawlessly. The Patrician is ousted in favor of the new king (despite no-one knowing what the new king's name is), but the banished dragon returns and makes itself king, demanding
gold
Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
and
virgin
Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereof ...
sacrifice
Sacrifice is an act or offering made to a deity. A sacrifice can serve as propitiation, or a sacrifice can be an offering of praise and thanksgiving.
Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Gree ...
s, and prepares to wage war against Ankh-Morpork's neighbours for the further acquisition of both (which the citizenry generally seem to approve of).
Vimes confronts his old childhood friend, the Patrician's Secretary Lupine Wonse, having figured out that he is the Supreme Grand Master, and responsible for the dragon's appearance. Vimes is imprisoned in the same cell as the Patrician. Vimes escapes with the help of the Librarian and runs to rescue Sybil, chosen as the first sacrificed maiden. After the remaining Watch fail to kill the king through a 'million-to-one chance' arrowshot, Errol fights it, and knocks it from the sky. The assembled crowd closes in to kill the king, and Sybil pleads for the dragon's life. Carrot arrests it, but Errol lets it escape. The dragon is in fact female, and the battle between them was a courtship ritual.
Vimes arrests Wonse, as he tries to summon another dragon, telling Carrot to "throw the book at him". Wonse falls to his death after the very literal Carrot hits him with a thrown copy of ''Laws and Ordinances of Ankh-Morpork''.
The Patrician is reinstated as ruler of Ankh-Morpork, and offers the Watch anything they want as a reward. They ask only for a modest pay raise, a new tea kettle, and a dartboard. However, since the Watch's original station house was destroyed by the dragon, Lady Ramkin donates her childhood home at Pseudopolis Yard to serve as the new one. She also proposes marriage to Vimes, who, much to his own surprise, accepts.
Characters
The Watch
*
Samuel Vimes
*
Fred Colon
The Ankh-Morpork City Watch is a fictional police force appearing in Terry Pratchett, Terry Prattchett's Discworld series. The Watch primarily functions out of the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork, but some stories do include members of the watch ...
*
Nobby Nobbs
The Ankh-Morpork City Watch is a fictional police force appearing in Terry Pratchett, Terry Prattchett's Discworld series. The Watch primarily functions out of the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork, but some stories do include members of the watch ...
*
Carrot Ironfoundersson
Other
*
Havelock Vetinari
Lord Havelock Vetinari (, ), Lord Patrician (Primus inter pares) of the city-state of Ankh-Morpork, is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series. Vetinari has written an unpublished manuscript known as ''The Servant'', ...
, the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork
*Lupine Wonse
*The Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night
*Sybil Ramkin
*Errol
Reception
John Clute
John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part ...
in 1990 wrote that the book's serious topics risked damaging the Discworld's comedic potential: "Pratchett writes with something like genius", and particularly faulted Lord Vetinari's monologue on the nature of
evil
Evil, as a concept, is usually defined as profoundly immoral behavior, and it is related to acts that cause unnecessary pain and suffering to others.
Evil is commonly seen as the opposite, or sometimes absence, of good. It can be an extreme ...
(which Clute described as
Realpolitik
''Realpolitik'' ( ; ) is the approach of conducting diplomatic or political policies based primarily on considerations of given circumstances and factors, rather than strictly following ideological, moral, or ethical premises. In this respect, ...
and
Weltschmerz
(; literally "world-pain") is a literary concept describing the feeling experienced by an individual who believes that reality can never satisfy the expectations of the mind, resulting in "a mood of weariness or sadness about life arising from ...
): although he conceded that the monologue had been skilfully written, and he felt that it "has all the ring of another sphere of discourse" and "comes close to shattering the comic pulse of the Discworld".
[Guards, Unicorns, Zool]
by John Clute
John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part ...
, originally published in '' Interzone'' January/February 1990; archived in ''Look at the Evidence: Essays and Reviews''; published 2016 by Orion Publishing Group
Orion Publishing Group Ltd. is a UK-based book publisher. It was founded in 1991 and acquired Weidenfeld & Nicolson the following year. The group has published numerous bestselling books by notable authors including Ian Rankin, Michael Connell ...
''
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
'' described ''Guards! Guards!'' as a "solid entryway" to the Discworld novels.
[There's No Wrong Place To Start Reading Pratchett]
by Tasha Robinson, at National Public Radio
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
; published March 16, 2015; retrieved September 29, 2017
Adaptations
The novel has been adapted as:
* a six-episode serial on
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
(23 November - 28 December 1992) dramatised by Michael Butt and starring
John Wood (Vimes),
Melvyn Hayes
Melvyn Hayes ('' né'' Hyams; born 11 January 1935) is an English actor and voice-over performer. He is best known for playing the effeminate Gunner (later Bombardier) "Gloria" Beaumont in the 1970s BBC sitcom '' It Ain't Half Hot Mum'', for ...
(Nobby),
Robert Gwilym (Carrot),
Crawford Logan (Vetinari),
Helen Atkinson-Wood (Lady Ramkin),
Brett Usher (Supreme Grand Master), and
Martin Jarvis (narrator).
* a stage play for the amateur stage scripted by
Stephen Briggs
Stephen Briggs (born 1951) is a British writer of subsidiary works and merchandise surrounding Terry Pratchett's comic fantasy '' Discworld''. '' The Streets of Ankh-Morpork'', the first Discworld map, was co-designed by Briggs and Pratchett a ...
(1993) (script later published in book form 1997).
[Doollee - The Playwrights Databas]
Stephen Briggs - complete guide to the Playwright, Plays, Theatres, Agent
Retrieved 2009-05-9
* a professional stage play scripted by
Geoffrey Cush and starring
Paul Darrow (1998).
* a "Big Comic" (
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a self-contained, book-length form of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and Anthology, anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comics sc ...
) drawn by
Graham Higgins and based on Briggs' script (2000).
* an audio play presented live at Dragon*Con in 2001, adapted by David Benedict and performed by the ARTC (Atlanta Radio Theatre Company). In appreciation, the ARTC made a donation to the Orangutan Foundation International.
ARTC's Podcast
Retrieved 2009-05-9
* a video game
A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...
loosely based on the plot of the book, with Rincewind
Rincewind ( ) is a fictional character who appears in several of the '' Discworld'' novels by Terry Pratchett. He was a failed student at Unseen University for wizards in Ankh-Morpork, often described as "the magical equivalent to the number ze ...
substituted for Sam Vimes.
Translations
*Стражите! Стражите! (Bulgarian)
*''Stráže! Stráže!'' (Czech)
*''Wacht! Wacht!'' (Dutch)
*''Vahid! Vahid!'' (Estonian)
*''Vartijat, hoi!'' (Finnish)
*''Au Guet !'' (French)
*''Wachen! Wachen!'' (German)
*שומרים! שומרים! (Shomrim! Shomrim!) (Hebrew)
*''Őrség! Őrség!'' (Hungarian)
*''A me le guardie!'' (Italian)
*''I lovens navn!'' (In the name of the law) (Norwegian)
*''Straż! Straż!'' (Polish)
*''Guardas! Guardas! '' (Portuguese - Brazil)
*''Gărzi! Gărzi!'' (Romanian)
*Стража! Стража! (Russian)
*''Straža! Straža!'' (Serbian)
*''¡Guardias! ¿Guardias?'' (Spanish)
*''I lagens namn'' (In the name of the law) (Swedish)
*''Muhafızlar! Muhafızlar!'' (Turkish)
*''來人啊!'' (繁體中文)
*''卫兵！卫兵！''(简体中文)
*''Варта! Варта!'' (Ukrainian)
*''Guàrdies, guàrdies!'' (Catalan)
References
External links
*
Annotations for ''Guards! Guards!''
Discworld reading order - The Watch
{{Authority control
1989 British novels
Discworld books
British comedy novels
British fantasy novels
1989 fantasy novels
British novels adapted into television shows
Novels adapted into comics
Novels set in swamps
Victor Gollancz Ltd books
Speculative crime and thriller fiction novels