SPOILERS Men at Arms Discussion **Spoilers**

Welcome to the Sir Terry Pratchett Forums
Register here for the Sir Terry Pratchett forum and message boards.
Sign up

Ook ?

New Member
Dec 27, 2020
10
600
49
#81
Currently reading MAA and really enjoying it !! - will post my further thoughts when I have finished it
 

Ponderstibbons

Lance-Constable
Sep 5, 2023
35
50
57
Fife
#84
**Warning**

This thread is for discussing Men at Arms in some depth. If you haven’t read the book then read on at your own risk – or, better still, go and read the book and join in the fun.

For those of us that are going to join in the discussion, here are a few guidelines:

Please feel free to make comparisons to other Discworld books, making sure you identify the book and the passage you are referring to. Others may not be as familiar with the book you are referencing, so think before you post.

Sometimes we’ll need to agree to disagree – only Terry knows for sure what he was thinking when he wrote the books and individuals members may have widely different interpretations – so try to keep the discussion friendly.

We may be discussing a book that you don’t much care for – don’t be put off joining in the discussion. If you didn’t care for the book, then that in itself is a good topic for discussion.

Please note: there is no time limit to this discussion. Please feel free to add to it at any time - especially if you've just read the book.

And finally:

Please endeavour to keep the discussion on topic. If necessary I will step in and steer it back to the original topic – so no digressions please!

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*


Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett
Originally published 1993




Captain Samuel Vimes is leaving the Watch to get married and become a gentleman. Who will be the new leader of the all new multi-species Night Watch? And what about the plot to get rid of the Patrician and replace him with a king? Of course there’s also a deadly weapon on the street, several unsolved murders and the trolls and dwarfs are ready to fight the Battle of Koom Valley (or was it an ambush?) right there in Ankh-Morpork!

Maybe now is not the best time for Sam Vimes to leave the Watch after all.
------------------------------------
There’s ten years between the publication of this book and the last one we discussed (The Wee Free Men) and a further ten years since the publication of the first Discworld book (The Colour of Magic). Ankh-Morpork and Discworld are really becoming recognisable as the places we know and love.

But this is actually only the second Watch book. Only the second time we read about Sam Vimes, Carrot and the rest of the Watch (even if one or two had made cameo appearances in other books). Some of the characters – Vimes and Carrot in particular, have come a long way and developed considerably since Guards! Guards! Indeed, Carrot seems to change before our very eyes in this book.

I enjoyed rereading it. :)

But what did you think of it?
----------------------------------

Want to write the introduction for the next discussion (Hogfather)? PM me and let me know if you’d like to – first come first served. ;)
I have just finished reading/ Nigel Planer reading it to me- wonderful!!. Time to start another DW novel
 
Likes: RathDarkblade

RathDarkblade

Moderator
City Watch
Mar 24, 2015
16,002
3,400
47
Melbourne, Victoria
#90
Hmm - I was wondering which Discworld books Tony Robinson has read, because I remember listening to them in the late '90s (on CD, long before the Discworld films were out ... unless you mean the animated films, Dug?) :)

So, I googled "Tony Robinson Discworld", and came across this gem of a question:

Can Tony Robinson read?
*falls off his chair laughing*
 

=Tamar

Lieutenant
May 20, 2012
11,961
2,900
#92
Devil's advocate here... some people prefer to let the words do the work.
But I enjoy printed books and have no experience with recorded ones.
 

RathDarkblade

Moderator
City Watch
Mar 24, 2015
16,002
3,400
47
Melbourne, Victoria
#93
That's fair enough, =Tamar. :) I also enjoy the printed word very much. But since English is my second language (yes, surprise -- I've 'only' been speaking English for 35 years, but it's not my mother tongue), there are still some jokes and allusions that STP made but which flew right over my head.

So, when I hear Nigel or Stephen read the books (and put the right inflections in the right places), these become much more intelligible and the books become even funnier. :)
 

User Menu

Newsletter