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Men At Arms By Terry Pratchett

__Men At Arms__ is one of Terry Pratchett’s humorous fiction novels that take place in his mystical Discworld.

When I first started reading this book I couldn’t understand it very well, so after about 20 pages I gave up. I picked it up about a month later and started from the beginning again. Slowly, it began to make sense. I read it every now and then, but it didn’t pull me in till half way. Then I was glued. I was reading the book at every chance I had till unfortunately, it finished.

What I liked about this book was that it made me think because the story was so complex that it kept me on my toes. Terry Pratchett’s writing is very obscure. Reading Terry Pratchett you have to be ready for anything to happen at any time.

For example, once a scene has started and he has built up a few characters, then the story switches to a completely different scene happening somewhere else. Sometimes there would be 4 or 5 scenes going on at the same time. The book will then begin another scene, as one scene drifts into another and more and more emerge.

The book was funny and made lots of witty references, that not many writers do. For example, at one point in the book he draws you into a detailed description of a wardrobe. Then, at the end of the description, Pratchett fantasizes: maybe if you walked through all the old coats at the back of the wardrobe, there would be a mystical land where animals could talk and time didn’t move.

Most of Terry Pratchett’s books are about Discworld which is a world full of werewolf’s, trolls, dwarfs, humans, vampires and much stranger things. There are guilds in the city of Ankh-Morpork for thieves, assassins, clowns, fools, and almost anything you can think of, or not think of for that matter.

In Discworld ,if you were a member of the thieves guild, you got a thieving licence, and therefore you could steal without it being illegal. In the town of Ankh-Morpork they have a “Watch “ to keep things under control (not that it helps much). This watch is something like a policing system. __Men At Arms__ revolves around the watch and the characters in it.

I really enjoyed the book and every aspect of it because it was a different style of writing with a weird but funny sense of humour. Terry Pratchett is very witty. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy intertwined plots, complexity, fantasy, and absurdity presented with humour, in an unexpected and hilarious way. Not recommended for readers under 12.

Written By Raj O‘Brien

References: The book and my impression on it

Great report Raj and well done persisting with it. Sometimes the best things come with a little work first. You should try some of his other novels now that you have found you like his style.

Gerard