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Attempting to assign a genre to Terry Pratchett is like trying to identify the parentage of a rescue league dog. As you get to know the beast, there are so many fascinating possibilities and ancestors evident that finally you just throw up your hands and say, "Who cares?" If you enjoy it and want to keep it around for company, why not just let it be called whatever it answers to.
I am not a fantasy reader, nor am I a sci-fi fan. There are exceptions of course, but neither genre label will draw me inexorably down a bookstore aisle. A voracious reader friend who rarely leads me astray first introduced me to Terry Pratchett a few years ago. Now, just let me spy a Terry Pratchett Discworld novel I haven't read (a rare commodity these days since I first started collecting these deliciously droll satires) and it's mine. Snatched up, bought, wrapped and out the door.
For the uninitiated, Pratchett has discovered a planet, perhaps in our solar system, perhaps not, called Discworld. It is a strange, flat planet inhabited by humans --- more or less. It's also inhabited by trolls, dwarves, witches and wizards, the occasional imp, (useful creatures for picture taking and reminding its owners of important appointments) werewolves, vampires, zombies, gargoyles, a talking dog and, ultimately, the Man in Black, the Grim Reaper, the Keeper of Personal Hour Glasses --- DEATH. The humans are under the impression that they rule Discworld, which amuses the other beings to no end. It also amuses the millions of fans who devour each book as it hits the shelves.
NIGHT WATCH adds an element never before encountered in a Pratchett book --- time travel. Commander Samuel Vimes of the capitol city's City Watch, is in hot pursuit of an arch criminal threatening Vimes' home and wife, who is in labor with his first-born child. As they grapple for control of a deadly crossbow in a thunderstorm on the roof of the Unseen University, home of Discworld's Wizards and source of poorly controlled magic at times, a lightning bolt catapults them 30 years back in time.
There, Sam finds himself in the body of a legendary hero, Sergeant of the Night Watch John Keel. An alarming discovery, for Vimes knows full well that Sgt. Keel lies in a hero's grave, the result of brave action in the bloody 25th of May Rebellion. The date is the dawn of that fateful day and Sam realizes, once he assesses his situation, that he has not only unwillingly become a part of his own history but, when he looks around the watch room, he sees Young Lance Corporal Sam Vimes, a raw recruit of a few weeks. He will have the opportunity to mentor him and what a disappointing prospect Young Sam seems to be.
"He wondered if it was at all possible to give this idiot some lessons in basic politics. That was always the dream, wasn't it? 'I wish I knew then what I know now'? But when you got older, you found out that You Now wasn't You Then. You Then was a twerp. You Then was what you had to be to start out on the rocky road of becoming You Now, and one of the rocky patches on that road was being a twerp. A much better dream, one that'd ensure sounder sleep, was not to know now what you didn't know then."
NIGHT WATCH delves deeper into the philosophy of war and leadership than most of the Discworld books. It also offers more action than any others in the collection. For the initiated, you will discover how Reg Shoe becomes a zombie, you will meet Lord Vetineri as a young and promising student of the Assassin's Guild and discover how Knobby Knobs becomes a faithful follower of Commander Vimes in later years.
Series books should stand alone so that new readers can follow the story. NIGHT WATCH no doubt succeeds in this. Perhaps because it is almost, but not quite, a prequel to the rest of Discworld's adventures, readers new to Pratchett will haunt booksellers for previous editions.
--- Reviewed by Roz Shea
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