Men at Arms

Inhoud

The Fifteenth Discworld Novel.
'Be a MAN in the City Watch! The City Watch needs MEN!' But what it's got includes Corporal Carrot (technically a dwarf), Lance-constable Cuddy (really a dwarf), Lance-contable Detritus (a troll), Lance-constable Angua (a woman... most of the time) and Corporal Nobbs (disqualifief from the huma race for shoving). And they need all the help they can get. Because they've only got twenty-four hours to clean up the town and this is Ankh-Morpork we're talking about...

Bespreking

Tightly packed humour with a great story-line

Captain Samuel Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Guard is about to be married to Lady Sybil Ramkin, an incredibly rich woman who is totally into Dragons. Because Lady Ramkin finds the current job of her fiancé too dangerous -clearly forgetting that being blown to smithereens by a sick dragon is not commonly known as a 'safe' job opportunity- Captain Vimes decides to retire and dedicate his life to Dragons and other so-called 'nobilities'. Subsequently, a new league of City Guards has to be found and trained. In these modern times it is fashionable to be ethnically correct and in the true spirit of this trend: Lance-constable Detrius (a troll who hits himself unconscious if he salutes), Lance-constable Cuddy (a 'short'-tempered dwarf) and Lance-constable Angua (most of the time a woman) become the new recruits. When a series of murders leads to a strange theft of an even weirder weapon, their first ordeal is about to start. To make matters worse, the culprit seems to be a troll and. not everyone is happy about this.

Men at Arms is the second Discworld novel to feature the Night Watch (Vimes, Colon, Carrot and Nobby); the first one is Guards! Guards! These two books certainly belong to the highlights of the Discworld series. Their characters are so colourfully rich and funny, that actually they do not need a strong plot to entertain the reader. Nevertheless Terry Pratchett has delivered with Men at Arms one of his strongest story-lines. It reads like a good suspense novel where you can actually try to find out actually who did it - you won't succeed, of course, but that's part of the fun, isn't it. It's not without reason that Captain Vines sometimes sounds like Inspector Columbo. A lot of funny sidekicks make their appearance: Death tries to become a more 'complete' person, Leonard de Quirm has problems naming his numerous inventions, the speaking dog Gaspode finds a girlfriend, Captain Quirke of the Day Watch shows what the word stupid really means and many, many others. Ever wondered why trolls count like this: one, two, many, many-one, many-two, many-many? Then you simply must read this book!