They may be called the Palace Guard, the City Guard, or the Patrol. Whatever the name, their purpose in any work of heroic fantasy is identical: it is, round about Chapter Three (or ten minutes into the film) to rush into the room, attack the hero one at a time, and be slaughtered. No one ever asks them if they want to. This book is dedicated to those fine men.
- Terry Pratchet

It is such a joy to read a Terry Pratchet book. The atmosphere is casual, the satire is crisp and the characters are relatable. This book is about an unlikely team of heroes, the night watch. The lowest rungs of the city of Ankh-Morporkh are sent to the night watch as guards in a city where being a thief or an assassin or a charlatan is a more noble profession. Organized crime is legal and its members are ostentatious, it is the only way Ankh-Morporkh can sustain itself without crumbling into manic disarray. How could a city where crime is legal fall into any further disarray you may ask? What’s ironic still is that the antagonists are the ones who want to set things right, so they let loose a raging dragon into the city, for when there is a dragon, there is always a divine hero to slay it.

Terry takes us through a wild ride of our heroes saving the city from utter conflagration at the dragons behest whilst elucidating on pertinent topics of governance, duty, moral well being and the nature of polyfractal L-space. Terry is like one of the funny mirrors at the amusement park, you look at it and laugh at yourself, at your gait, at your stance, but then you go back home to your dressing room and you realize it’s not just funny, it’s true.

“If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn’t as cynical as real life.” - Terry Pratchett on Capt. Sam Vimes of the Night Watch