Terry Pratchett’s Guards! Guards! is the kind of book that proves fantasy can be smart, funny, and deeply human without taking itself too seriously. It’s fast-moving, witty, and full of characters that are absurd on the surface but feel surprisingly real. I grew up on the Discworld, and this is generally the mini-series I tell my peers to start with. It’s witty, light, has serious messages, and is more universal than some of the others.
This is the eighth book in the Discworld series, but it is the first one that focuses on the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. The main character is Captain Sam Vimes, a tired and cynical guard who drinks too much and has pretty much given up. Then there is Corporal Carrot, a six-foot-tall man raised by dwarfs who believes in rules, law, and doing the right thing no matter what. Oh, and there is also a dragon. A real one. And it plays a huge role in the chaos that follows.
The story starts with a shady secret society summoning a dragon in the hopes of overthrowing the city’s ruler and bringing back a king. What unfolds is part detective story, part political mess, and part buddy-cop comedy set in a world full of magic and nonsense. Beneath all of it, Pratchett manages to ask serious questions about power, corruption, and what it means to make moral choices when the system is working against you. One of my favourite things about Pratchett is the nuance he uses when satirising real-world issues in his novels. It is never (or rarely) clumsy, and you can see the purpose of his writing beyond the joke.
His writing is full of clever lines and quick jokes. He clearly loves the world he has built and treats his oddball characters with care. He is not just poking fun at fantasy stories. He is reshaping them and making room for people who are not heroes in the usual sense but still choose to stand up and do something good.
If you have never read Discworld before, this is a great place to start. It is easy to follow, genuinely funny, and sets up one of the most beloved storylines in the entire series. If you are already a fan, this is probably where you started to really care about Vimes and the City Watch.
[Art by Paul Kidby]