How can one accurately express the experience of reading a Terry Pratchett book ? It’s like no other, unrivaled. His skill and mastery with words, the way he shakes witticisms and metaphores out of his sleeve like it’s nothing are unparallelled.

As is my wont, I highlight especially funny passages in the books I read, and it has gotten a bit out of hand again, with me highlighting multiple lines per page, or complete paragraphs. I even highlighted about an entire scene because it was so damn funny. (If you’re reading it, or have read it, it’s the scene where the dragon materializes on the square and Lady Ramtop decides to teach it lesson).

Apart from being funny as hell, he still manages to make the characters, cartoonish as they may be, grow on you. Just like in the Witches storyline, the main characters are so vivid in personality that you can’t help but fall in love with them. From the stern Captain Vimes, over the righteous tree-trunk of a man (dwarf?) Carrot up till the battleship of a woman, Lady Ramtop. Everyone of them a gem. I highly recommend the audiobook for this one too, as the narrator does the voices and accents absolutely perfect.

Some parts I found especially funny and had me laughing out loud with tears in my eyes.

“It’s not that,” said Colon. “It’s Carrot. He’s arrested the dragon.”

To his shame, Vimes realized that his legs were going to have nothing to do with any mad dash to drag her back. His pride didn’t like that, but his body pointed out that it wasn’t his pride that stood a very reasonable chance of being thinly laminated to the nearest building.

“It’s eyes were the size of really big eyes”

Up on the dais the High Priest of Blind Io, who last night by dint of elaborate ecumenical argument and eventually by a club with nails in it had won the right to crown the king, fussed over his preparations.

This book is the first part of the storyline of the watch, and I’m happily looking forward to reading more about them. 5 stars, without a doubt.