Guards! Guards! cover art

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.

The audiobook of Guards! Guards! is narrated by impressionist and actor Jon Culshaw, best known for BBC Radio 4’s Dead Ringers, and for the Doctor Who audiobooks and dramas. BAFTA and Golden Globe award-winning actor Bill Nighy (Love Actually; Pirates of the Caribbean; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) reads the footnotes, and Peter Serafinowicz (Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace; Shaun of the Dead) stars as the voice of Death. Featuring a new theme tune composed by James Hannigan.

'NOBLE DRAGONS DON'T HAVE FRIENDS. THE NEAREST THEY CAN GET TO THE IDEA IS AN ENEMY WHO IS STILL ALIVE.'

The city of Ankh-Morpork is in turmoil, its citizens revolting. Again.

A shadowy secret brotherhood has summoned a dragon to spread terror throughout the city, intent on overthrowing the Patrician and ruling in his place. Too bad the dragon has ideas of its own...

It's up to Captain Sam Vimes and the ramshackle Night Watch to stop it. Only problem is, the Watch are more used to dealing with mobs than dragons.

And if they can't bring down this fire-breathing tyrant and reinstate their own, slightly less dangerous one, Ankh-Morpork might be lost. For ever...

With an afterword by Ben Aaronovitch.

Guards! Guards! is the first book in the City Watch series, but you can listen to the Discworld novels in any order.

The first book in the Discworld series - The Colour of Magic - was published in 1983. Some elements of the Discworld universe may reflect this.

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

Critic Reviews

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

What listeners say about Guards! Guards!

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  • Overall
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Better than I’d hoped for ❤️

The Watch is my favourite discworld series, and Vimes is my favourite character(as many others would no doubt attest, too), so I had quite a high bar set for these, especially after the stellar job Coyle had done with the von Lipwig books. When I saw Jon Culshaw was narrating, I breathed a sigh of relief(love his work), and he outdid himself here. Thank you Jon, for doing absolute justice to these characters that are so important to so many of us.
The Watch can stand proudly alongside the new Witches and Industrial Revolution series’ as the best of the bunch.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Exceptional Story, delivery mixed

Great listen, but at times the voice choices just didnt feel right for the characters

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Really enjoyable

I’ve been on tenterhooks wondering who would be voicing these characters in these new recordings. I’ve been reading these books for a couple of decades now so the voices in my head are really embedded. Thank goodness for the voice characterisation skills of Jon Culshaw. Once I had played with the playback timing (made it a little faster) I sat back and enjoyed every minute. And thank goodness, finally, that Lady Sybil is voiced as a person rather than a pantomime dame.

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Guards Guards

Not what I was expecting, but really enjoyed it, was a lot more real in the characters themselves.

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Good work!

Well narrated, really enjoyed listening, read the book a long time ago and enjoyed the audiobook just as much.

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An amazing book and narration

I loved this book for all of its clever dialogue, engaging characters and of course Terry Pratchett’s keen style for imaginary plot lines plus twist and turns. The narration was top notch and a pleasure to listen to. Highly recommended!

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Narrator brought the characters to life

This is one of my favourite Discworld books but I hesitated to buy it because I already had the hard copy. Boy I'm so glad I did! The character voices were just spot on, easily distinguishable and capturing the essential personalities of each individual. The narrator really hit the sweet spot with pacing and expression to bring out the humour or emphasise the serious moments. Loads of fun and made me fall in love with Sam Vimes all over again.

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Amazing

An amazing journey in and out, this story really took me for a ride and was my very first fantasy novel, I would highly recommend this for anyone who like fantasy

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Worth the wait

People have been telling me for more than three decades to read a Pratchett novel. Now that I finally have I can appreciate the hype.

Unlike many books people enjoyed in their teen’s which then fail to age with you into adulthood I think this one is timeless.

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a superb rendering of a Pratchett classic

A typical Pratchett book of whimsy, insight and belly laughs is excellently translated to audio with a great cast.

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