Night Watch is the sixth of the Discworld novels about the City Watch (if you don’t count The Truth which is less about the Watch and more about de Worde. [I’m currently reading it.] If you want to count The Truth, it would be the sixth book and Night Watch the seventh) by Terry Pratchett [reviews of the others here].

Plot:
During the pursuit of a criminal, Sam Vimes (and said criminal, Carcer Dun) gets swept into a magical storm which sends him back 30 years. In the past, he takes on the role of John Keel, his own mentor and has to orchestrate a revolution and try to get Carcer Dun and himself home.

Night Watch is very different in tone from the City Watch books before it – it is much darker and less funny (though there’s still plenty to chuckle about). Inicidentally, it’s also the City Watch book I like most so far. I like Pratchett when he’s darker.

Night Watch is almost completely focussed on Sam Vimes. And it is really amazing to see the character development Sam Vimes has been through: The (mostly subtle) comparison between Future!Vimes and Past!Vimes is beautifully done.

It’s also nice to get an impression of what Ankh-Morpork was like before Vetinari (and btw, Past!Vetinari is already all kinds of awesome).

But apart from all that, Night Watch is one of the best time travel stories ever. Completely logical, interesting and surprising.

I actually thought that Night Watch was the last book about the Watch and I was ready to cry myself to sleep every night after reading it. But then deadra comes along and hands me The Truth and tells me that Monstrous Regiment is kind of about the watch too and that there’s still Thud! Now I’m a little consoled, even if I’ve been reading as slowly as I can to delay the inevitable end…

And finally, have a quote:

“Don’t put your trust in revolutions. They always come around again. That’s why they’re called revolutions. People die, and nothing changes.”