A Man With An Agenda

As I'm rapidly approaching the end of the Discworld books, I am more and more impressed with Pratchett's ability. Within the series there are several story arcs that can be read separately but even the most stand-alone of the novels, like 'Small Gods' or 'Pyramids', impacts the rest of the series.

'Night Watch' is of course a Watchman novel, centering on Sam Vimes and a pivotal event in his past. I try to be careful about five star ratings but very early on in this book there was a scene that encapsulated what I love best about Pratchett - there's the laughs of course, the terrible puns (or play on words), the satire of genre fiction and society, and of course the plotting itself which is fantastic; but what I like best is how Pratchett can so easily break down preconceptions and myth-making, and that tendency is most effective when he applies it to his own creations.

The same scene, read by others, may not have the same effect (which is a great thing about fiction), so I won't go into it to much, but Sam Vimes has been built up as a hard, practical man, a realistic idealist, or idealistic realist...anyway, in many ways it was sometimes hard to see Vimes as a complete individual outside of his work and the needs of the plot - but early in 'Night Watch' when Vimes is thinking of the loss of his wedding present from Sybil, and quietly expresses that he wants to go home, that's something else entirely.

Discworld

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