Night Watch
 2012 paperback cover; art by Paul Kidby | |
| Author | Terry Pratchett |
|---|---|
| Audio read by | Tony Robinson (Corgi); Stephen Briggs (Isis) Unconfirmed (new) |
| Cover artist | Paul Kidby |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Series | Discworld |
Release number | 29 |
| Sub-series | The Watch |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | 2002-11-05 |
| Preceded by | The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents |
| Followed by | The Wee Free Men |
Night Watch is the twenty-ninth Discworld book, and the sixth focussing on the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. Its major plot involves Sam Vimes being sent back thirty years in time where we meet younger versions of many of the present-day Discworld characters. Characters and plot elements from the novel were major inspirations for the BBC America series The Watch.
Blurb
For a policeman, there can be few things worse than a serial killer loose in your city. Except, perhaps, a serial killer who targets coppers, and a city on the brink of bloody revolution. For Commander Sam Vimes, it all feels horribly familiar. He s back in his own rough, tough past without even the clothes he was standing up in when the lightning struck. Living in the past is hard. But he must survive, because he has a job to do. He must track down the murderer and change the outcome of the rebellion. The problem is - if he wins, he's got no wife, no child, no future...
A Discworld Tale of One City, with a full chorus of street urchins, ladies of negotiable affection, rebels, secret policemen and other children of the revolution.
Podcast episodes
Major appearances
These are episodes primarily devoted to discussing this book.
| Date | Show | Episode | External link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008?[1] | The Turtle Moves | Unknown (episode 2) | N/A |
| 2019-10-15 | Radio Morpork | “Mid Life Time Crisis” | radiomorpork.wordpress.com |
| 2020-04-19 | Desert Island Discworld | “Alex Hern and Night Watch” | desertislanddiscworld.com |
| 2021-01-15 | The Death of Podcasts | “Night Watch” | aalgar.com |
| 2021-07-28 | Wyrd Sisters | “Night Watch” | wyrdsisters.podbean.com |
| 2022-04-08 | Pratchat | “The Land Before Vimes” | pratchatpodcast.com |
| 2022-05-25 | The Compleat Discography | “Night Watch” | compleatdiscography.page |
| 2022-05-25 | Fiction Fans | “Night Watch by Terry Pratchett” | fictionfanspodcast.com |
| 2023-01-09 | The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret | “Foreshadow and Backshadow” (1/4) | thetruthshallmakeyefret.com |
| 2023-01-16 | The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret | “Notably Damper” (2/4) | thetruthshallmakeyefret.com |
| 2023-01-23 | The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret | “The Frilly Shirt of the Revolutionary” (3/4) | thetruthshallmakeyefret.com |
| 2023-01-30 | The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret | “Rhapsody on Barricades” (4/4) | thetruthshallmakeyefret.com |
| 2023-06-30 | Nanny Ogg's Book Club | “Night Watch” | fireside.fm |
| 2023-07-22 | Who Watches the Watch | “Les Vimesrables” (1/3) | pinecast.co |
| 2023-08-11 | Who Watches the Watch | “Straight Pride Special” (2/3) | pincecast.co |
| 2023-08-20 | Who Watches the Watch | “Anne Hedonia” (3/3) | pincecast.co |
| 2023-11-05 | Kendall Bookworms | “Night Watch Book Discussion” | podbean.com |
| 2024-01-31 | Fiction Fans | “Night Watch by Terry Pratchett, feat. Kat Day” | fictionfanspodcast.com |
| 2024-07-09 | Broken Spine Social Club | “Episode 11: Night Watch with My Boss Cathal” | captivate.fm (mp3) |
Other appearances
Episodes where there's significant discussion of the book, but it's not the focus of the episode.
| Date | Show | Episode | External link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-03-28 | The Pratchett Podcast | “EPISODE50” | app.talkshoe.com |
| 2023-03-09 | Intentionally Blank | “In Defiance of Logic and Facts” | buzzsprout.com[2] |
| 2024-03-20 | Fiction Fans | “Interview: Translations with Nevena Andrić”[3] | fictionfanspodcast.com |
Adaptations
- There are four audiobook versions of Night Watch. The abridged Corgi edition read by Tony Robinson and unabridged Isis edition read by Stephen Briggs were both released in 2002. In 2003 Fantastic Audio released an unabridged audiobook read by Stefan Rudnicki, with a guest appearance by Harlan Ellison! (It was one of only two Discworld audiobooks produced by the company.) In 2023, Penguin released their new unabridged audiobook of Night Watch alongside all the other Watch books, read by Jon Culshaw with Bill Nighy reading the footnotes, and Peter Serafinowicz as the voice of Death.
- While not a direct adaptation, Night Watch was, along with Guards! Guards!, the major inspiration for the BBC America series The Watch.
External links
- Night Watch at the L-Space Wiki
- Night Watch on Wikipedia
Footnotes
- ↑ Guess based on Tweets and dates for preceding and later episodes. This is episode two of the podcast, which seems to have been reposted on 12 November 2011, judging from link shared here: https://twitter.com/turtlemoves/status/338337618406305792?s=20
- ↑ This episode of Brandon Sanderson’s chat podcast with fellow author Dan Wells features discussion of some one-star Goodreads reviews of Night Watch at about 31m25s (around 34m in the YouTube version).
- ↑ Andrić discusses her work translating novels in Serbian, including Night Watch and much of the Discworld series.