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Guards! Guards!

Discworld, Book 8

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Guards! Guards!

By: Terry Pratchett, Ben Aaronovitch - afterword
Narrated by: Jon Culshaw, Peter Serafinowicz, Bill Nighy, Ben Aaronovitch
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Over 1 million Discworld audiobooks sold – discover the extraordinary universe of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld like never before

'It was the usual Ankh-Morpork mob in times of crisis; half of them were here to complain, a quarter of them were here to watch the other half, and the remainder were here to rob, importune or sell hotdogs to the rest.'

Insurrection is in the air in the city of Ankh-Morpork. The Haves and Have-Nots are about to fall out all over again.

Captain Sam Vimes of the city's ramshackle Night Watch is used to this. It's enough to drive a man to drink. Well, to drink more. But this time, something is different - the Have-Nots have found the key to a dormant, lethal weapon that even they don't fully understand, and they're about to unleash a campaign of terror on the city.

Time for Captain Vimes to sober up.

The Discworld novels can be listened to in any order but Guards! Guards! is the first book in the City Watch series.

'This is one of Pratchett's best books. Hilarious and highly recommended' The Times

©1989 Terry Pratchett (P)2023 Penguin Audio Action & Adventure Epic Epic Fantasy Fantasy Fiction Humorous Comedy Funny Witty Dragons

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All stars
Most relevant  
I have this story in all its iterations. I was disappointed to see all my Briggs narrations gone. I got this and almost gave up on it, due to what I felt was stilted narration. I gave it another grudging go and just grew into it. It was a joy. A new spin on it, with the footnotes beautifully delivered and my getting used to the pacing making for a very pleasant and entertaining package. I miss my Briggs narrations, but this is a pretty decent successor. The story hasn't changed and that is the perfection of the piece. Yeah, give it ago and properly immerse as I failed initially to do.

Rescued from a first impression.

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A classic Discworld novel featuring Captain Vimes and his squad of night watch. Including a guy well over 6 feet tall and very well muscled who's a dwarf - they always lie about their height apparently!
Its probably one of the easiest books to get into for the Discworld series and its very well presented. Must admit I have the book, the ebook, two different tape recordings of this and now the audiobook.
Perhaps I'm a fan of it!
Seriously, the new version is actually better than the old versions from 20 odd years ago. Same book, better recording.

A fan favourite

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GreaT reading - really immersive and easy to follow along with ! Can’t wait for rest of the series

Excellent audio book

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I have to admit that I didn’t like the narration at the start. The tempo of saying a few words, then a pause, then continuing grated on me. BUT, sticking with it, it grew on me and the fantastic characterization of the voices (particularly Nobby and the Patrician) really bring the story to life.
The book itself is a classic and probably my favorite in the Diskworld series. It’s a must listen from me!

My new definitive version.

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Guards! Guards! Was a great read the first time I read the book. A definite favourite. Full of imagination and humour. But with the added narration and performance of Jon Culshaw, it’s just sublime.
This is one audiobook I plan to enjoy again and again a and again…

A great story to listen too.

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Well it's the introduction to the City Watch, and on the whole Culshaw does a good job with the performance though some of the accents chosen don't quite hit the mark for me. Vimes is a cross between Les Dawson and Sean Bean whereas in my head he's always been more Regan from the Sweeney but I realise this is subjective, and it's more enjoyable than the previous recording so you know, you pays yer money etc

Better than the previous recordings

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The book will get genuine laughs out of you. The writing is phenomenal. It is a parody which has a sense of someone who thinks life is one big joke and goes on to live it. Uplifting in ways you never thought life, or a book, could be.

Man’s it is performed perfectly. There’s genuine earnestness in the characters. It’s not read as a joke. The earnestness of all the characters makes it even more fun. Vimes and carrot and colon and nobby are all very serious about their survival. Heck when they are calculating probability of events… I swear I go about it exactly like that every time I buy a lottery.

This is a book to cherish and enjoy. On to more disc world.

Brilliantly performed. And a brilliant story.

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First time reading or Listening to a Pratchett, not really a big reader myself, I struggle with the words on a page staying where they ought to, but this book was a good one. I liked the story and the pacing of information so one could follow the Detective in his discovering of clues. Throughout, characters were genuinely flawed in that careless way humans (or who once were) are, and a character who appears to not be human from the begining appears as a character dies, but I am unsure what his purpose is beyond talking to ghosts of the very recently departed.
I understand these books are all set in a series based on different cliques in The Discworld, I hope there is further ones on him... In as much a ghost could be a him.

I finished it

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The narration brought this adventure to life. The clever characterisation by John Culshaw,with the dry wit of Bill Nighy as foot notes, made the humour sing.

Good choice of actors

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It's all about soldiers and a dragon, but it's another one in the discworld series.

Excellent

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