Men at Arms
 2023 Penguin paperback, designed by Leo Nickolls incorporating art by Paul Kidby | |
| Author | Terry Pratchett |
|---|---|
| Audio read by | Tony Robinson (Corgi) Nigel Planer (Isis) Jon Culshaw (Penguin) |
| Cover artist | Josh Kirby |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Series | Discworld |
Release number | 15 |
| Sub-series | The Watch |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Gollancz/Corgi |
Publication date | 1993-11-11 |
| Preceded by | Lords and Ladies |
| Followed by | Soul Music |
Men at Arms is the fifteenth Discworld book, and the second novel about the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. It introduces the first woman in the Watch, Angua, and also sees the return of Detritus the troll and Gaspode the talking dog.
Blurb
“Be a MAN in the City Watch! The City watch needs MEN!”
But what it's got includes Corporal Carrot (technically a dwarf), Lance-constable Cuddy (really a dwarf), Lance-constable Detritus (a troll), Lance-constable Angua (a woman…most of the time) and Corporal Nobbs (disqualified from the human race for shoving).
And they need all the help they can get. Because there's evil in the air and murder afoot and something very nasty in the streets.
It'd help if it could all be sorted out by noon, because that's when Captain Vimes is officially retiring, handing in his badge and getting married.
And since this is Ankh-Morpork, noon promises to be not just high, but stinking.
Podcast episodes
Major appearances
These are episodes primarily devoted to discussing this book.
| Date | Show | Episode | External link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-09-20 | Radio Morpork | “Affirmative Action Heroes” | radiomorpork.wordpress.com |
| 2017-11-08 | Pratchat | “Boots Theory” | pratchatpodcast.com |
| 2019-12-15 | The Death of Podcasts | “Men at Arms” | aalgar.com |
| 2020-04-28 | Wyrd Sisters | “Men at Arms” | wyrdsisters.podbean.com |
| 2020-08-30 | Desert Island Discworld | “Alice Fraser and Men at Arms” | desertislanddiscworld.com |
| 2021-02-23 | The Compleat Discography | “Men at Arms” | compleatdiscography.page |
| 2021-04-12 | The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret | “Hyperbolic Until Proven Otherwise” (1/3) | thetruthshallmakeyefret.com |
| 2021-04-19 | The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret | “What Happens When Thing Happens?” (2/3) | thetruthshallmakeyefret.com |
| 2021-04-26 | The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret | “Clown Eggs” (3/3) | thetruthshallmakeyefret.com |
| 2021-04-12 | Who Watches the Watch | “For the Love of Rug” (1/3) | pinecast.co |
| 2021-04-26 | Who Watches the Watch | “Podcasting Equivalent of Truck Nuts” (2/3) | pinecast.co |
| 2021-05-07 | Who Watches the Watch | “Men at Arm EXPLAINED (no, really)” (3/3) | pinecast.co |
| 2021-07-25 | Pratchat | “Twice as Alive”[1] | pratchatpodcast.com |
| 2022-03-23 | Nanny Ogg's Book Club | “Men at Arms (and Theatre of Cruelty)”[2] | fireside.fm |
| 2022-06-02 | Fiction Fans | “Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett” | fictionfanspodcast.com |
| 2022-07-25 | Disc Coverers | “Men at Arms” | anchor.fm |
| 2024-04-16 | I’ve Never Read Discworld | “Book 15. Men at Arms” | spotify.com |
Other appearances
These are episodes which aren’t specifically about this book, but which feature significant or interesting discussion of it. In the case of Men at Arms, this will often be discussion of the “Boots Theory”.
| Date | Show | Episode | External link | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-03-04 | Everybody Hates Rand | “The 9/11 Episode of “Bones”” | everybodyhatesrand.com[3] | Compares boot metaphors for being poor (at about 39m25s) |
Adaptations
- There are three audiobook versions of Men at Arms. The abridged Corgi version is read by Tony Robinson. There are two unabridged audiobooks: the Isis version read by Nigel Planer, and the Penguin version read by Jon Culshaw, with Bill Nighy reading the footnotes and Peter Serafinowicz as Death.
- As well as a straightforward stage adaptation in 1997, Men at Arms was adapted by Stephen Briggs a second time in 2020 as Murder in Ankh-Morpork, which added characters and plot elements from Guards! Guards! and Feet of Clay.
External links
- Men at Arms at the L-Space Wiki
- Men at Arms on Wikipedia
Footnotes
- ↑ Special live episode recorded as part of Nullus Anxietas' "The Lost Con" event.
- ↑ Also discusses “Theatre of Cruelty”.
- ↑ There’s no page specifically for this episode; this link is to the index of episodes about the book Towers of Midnight. The episode is third-last in this season.