Hello, it's Reviewsday Tuesday and it's time for a new episode of Discworld Discourses.
Today I am reviewing Men at Arms, the 15th book in the Discworld series
By Terry Pratchett, first published in 1993.
This book sees the expansion of the City Watch of Ankh-Morpork
And the imminent retirement of Sam Vimes,
And also a lot of mysterious deaths that need to be investigated.
Where to even start with this book.
This is the second City Watch book and it is, to me,
The book in which the City Watch series becomes the very best in the Discworld.
There are City Watch books in the future that I know I love more than this
But this is the one, to me, where the City Watch series begins to show its full potentianl, I guess.
We meet so many new characters in this book
Also get to know a lot of other characters more.
Every character in this book feels more vivid and real
And layered to me than they have previously.
There are so many character arcs weaving throughout the story
Which is so satisfying if you are someone like me who just loves fictional characters.
Sam Vimes really soars in this book,
I may have mentioned before that he's my very favourite Discworld character.
And Carrot, arguably, soars even more in this book.
This is an excellent book for Carrot.
Angua, Detritus, Cuddy, Nobby, Colon, Gaspode, even Vetinari,
This is a sea of riches from a character standpoint.
In some Discworld books some characters, to me, feel like they're there to further the plot or further a joke
But Men at Arms is not one of those books.
Also I think it's one of the best paced Discworld novels so far.
The way the story is structured, the way we weave in and out of different plots,
The way we transition between different scenes, it feels pretty seamless in this book.
I feel like it's a pretty great example of Terry Patchett's genius
When it comes to plotting and pacing, as well as character and world building.
It's such a satisfying book to read.
Satisfying is my favourite word to use to describe this book.
It's a great story, it goes into the tension between dwarves and trolls,
It shines a light on prejudice between races.
it's a funny book as well and beautifully written.
There are so many great quotes and passages in this book.
It has Sam Vimes' boots theory of socio-economic unfairness
Which is one of my favourite passages in any Discworld book.
So yeah, as you may be able to tell, I really love this book.
Definitely my favourite book in this reread so far.
I haven't remembered before to be honest how much I love this book
Until I started reading and then it all came flooding back.
But I think that's because I think of a couple of the later City Watch books
As some of my favourites across the whole series
So I think Men at Arms got a bit lost to me because it's so early in the series.
But I'm hoping it won't again because it was wonderful.
I definitely recommend reading this book if you haven't managed to get into the Discworld series yet.
I wouldn't even say that you need to read Guards! Guards! first.
I mean, it might help but I think that Men at Arms is still pretty fantastic as a standalone.
I will give Men at Arms 4.7 out of 5.
4.7 is definitely my highest score so far. It's definitely my favourite of the series so far.
If you enjoyed Men at Arms, what should you read next?
I would definitely say to continue with the City Watch books.
The next one is Feet of Clay.
And of course if you haven't read Guards! Guards! yet then that would be a good place to go.
If you didn't get on as well with Men at Arms then Soul Music is the next in the Discworld series
And that book is pretty fantastic in my opinion, as well.
A couple of facts about Men at Arms, I don't have many.
This is another one of the books that has been adapted into a stage play by Stephen Briggs.
And this book contains a lot of references, as is usual with Discworld books,
Including to King Arthur, and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
That's it for today. I would really have to know what you think about Men at Arms if you have read it.
Do you love it as much as me, and who is your favourite character?
The next book I'll be reviewing in Discworld Discourses is Soul Music
And that review will be on 3rd September.
And I will as usual put the link to the full list of Discworld books
And when I'm planning on reviewing them in the description below.
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I hope you have a fantastic day and I will see you very soon!