Are you looking for a historical adventure story wrapped around the world of fantasy? Or are you trying to improve your English language skills by reading? If you are, this novel is the correct answer. This novel will take you to the fantasy world packaged with adventure, magic, and socio-political issues that you might have encountered in the real life. This article will cover a review of "Night Watch" by Terry Pratchett.
Book Identity
Book title: Night Watch
Author: Terry Pratchett
Publisher: Corgi Book
Date published: 2003
Number of pages: 474
Genres: Fantasy, Adventure, Historical, Comedy
Summary
The story of “Night Watch” revolves around Sam Vimes, a commander of Ankh-Morpork city who accidentally traveled to the past when he was chasing a serial killer. He could not be back to the present unless he also brought the serial killer, who was also accidentally trapped in the past. He lived in the past with a fake identity, and then he joined the cop to bring the serial killer back and give him a legitimate sentence. However, the police agency system in the past was horrible. He had to fix the existing system while dealing with the serial killer disguising himself as a hero for the bad cops. Using his leadership, he tried his best to overcome the problems with his hilarious magical friends.
Characters
Sam Vimes
Sam Vimes was the main character of this story. He used to be a Duke who had everything before accidentally being brought to the past because of a magical anomaly. He was a wonderful leader with a huge sense of justice and righteousness. His strong character became his ultimate weapon to survive the horrible past.
Carcer
Carcer was the antagonist of this story. He was a serial killer who always acted innocent even after doing something bad like killing people. Whenever his name was called in the novel, you can't help but associate him with a clever, chaotic, psychopathic, and manipulative nature. Don't get yourself fooled!
Lord Vetinari
At first, you will not realize that this character will play a really important task to do in the story. To not give you any spoiler, I would only say that he was an amazing assassin. He is my favorite character so far. His mysterious nature would be unveiled little by little as the story goes on, but still, an assassin like him is able to conceal his true nature, even from the readers.
Doctor Lawn
Doctor Lawn was a really skillful doctor who can heal everything. The thing is that in this fantasy world, there were only a few doctors who can save your life. Just imagine how many people will ask for his help during a battle. He also had it difficult.
Other Cops
There were also other cops who would become wither Vimes' or Carcer's underlings. Some of them are John Keel, Billy Wiglet, Horace Nancyball, Dai Dickins, Cecil ‘Snouty’ Clapman, Ned Coates, and Reg Shoe. In this story, you can feel their friendship, and how they worked together as a team.
Review
"Night Watch" by Terry Pratchett delivered a fantasy story in the most unique way. Personally, I have never found any novel with a similar setting as this one. It mixed the fantasy world and the real world in the best way. Despite covering a huge amount of magical creatures, magical problems, and other unbelievable things, there were also humans with no magic.
The social issues covered in this novel were mixtures between the real world and fantasy world issues. For example, there was a conflict between the magical creatures to decide who would rule the city. Because the problems were associated with fantasies, the main character solved the problems in the most creative, yet unimaginable ways.
The best thing about this novel is that it introduced many characters with strong character development for each of them. This, however, could also be the reason why this book is quite overwhelming to be read. All characters had their own problems, and they resolved them along with the main character. Thus, I recommend you to read it at least 2-3 chapters per day, so that you can enjoy the book to your heart content.
Overall, this book is really suitable for those who are looking for a historical fantasy story wrapped with some comedies. You might be overwhelmed at first because there are a lot of twists and sequences of events. With that said, as you get deeper into the book, you will experience the best way possible to get engaged in a fantasy story.
You can consider reading this book if you are learning intermediate until advanced level English. Your reading skills will be improved, and you can also develop your other language skills, such as your speaking fluency.
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