Guards! Guards!

I remember when I first started trying to keep this blog up, someone told me to try to vary my reading.  I imagine they meant for me to try to read lots of different genres and authors.  I then proceeded to mostly ignore them, because I'm doing this for fun.  Rereading Guards!  Guards! is a good example of how I would prefer to spend my time.

What's compelling about Terry Pratchett's Guards!  Guards!  is the way he turns the classic fantasy narrative of the one true king on its head.  There are certain expectations in the fantasy genre of the rightful king in exile.  He's got to have an ancestral sword or a birthmark or something by which he can be identified.  He's got to have some secret explanation as to how he came to turn up claiming his legitimate rule.  He's got to prove himself in some remarkable act of valor.

In the Lord of the Rings, there's Aragorn.  In the Song of Ice and Fire, there's a major spoiler for those who haven't finished the most current season of Game of Thrones.  In The Once and Future King, there's Arthur.

When you find this character in the story, you generally know that somehow he should come to power, and he will work hard to keep the people in his kingdom safe and happy.

This is not really how Discworld works, though the series generally celebrates these high fantasy ideas as much as it makes fun of them.  Guards!  Guards! is one of the strongest examples of this.

Guards!  Guards! is the first book that covers the Ankh-Morpork city watch as operated by Samuel Vimes, one of my favorite Pratchett characters.  Vimes is heavily involved in the series as a whole, and he is as developed and pragmatic as any fantasy character Game of Thrones could throw at you.  He seems to be more influenced by film noir detective stories than by high fantasy tropes.

The rest of the watch is equally colorful.  Corporal Nobby Nobbs, Sgt Colon, and Carrot Ironfounderson are unforgettable characters even in the Discworld with its great wealth of well developed characters.

While this isn't my favorite Discworld novel, I would consider it an essential read for people who like high fantasy.

Journey to the land of Xanth: Ogre, Ogre

This is the first Xanth book I've ever attempted to read, so I was in for some surprises.  I should start by mentioning that I'm only about a third of the way through this book.  The back cover says that the main character, "Smash," is going to escort seven girls through Xanth, and so far he's only picked up three.  Tandy, the Siren, and John are interesting enough, each going along with the quest for their own particular reasons.  Smash is certainly the most well developed character so far, an Ogre with a difference.  Early in the book, I was inclined to compare this character to Shrek, and they are very similar.  Smash is half human, and even his father was sensitive by ogre standards.

Things I didn't really like about the book so far:
There's quite a bit of plot going on.  I'm tempted to say this novel is too busy for my standards, with so much plot and subplot and so much complication in a short period of time.

The opening scenes with the demon attempting to rape Tandy are pretty repulsive.

Also, as this is my first excursion into the mythical kingdom of Xanth, I should mention my initial reaction to it.  I think it's a ridiculously silly place.  Lime soda trees and pillow bushes are too far off the deep end even for me.  I was completely overwhelmed with the author's desire to explore various words with the word cat in them and embellish them into a location.  Catfish, catamount, caterpillar, catacombs, catbird...  I'm sure some of them have escaped me.  Every step further he took that, the more incredulous I was about it.  Xanth is bizarre.

Things I liked about this book so far:
The Nightmares are really interesting, especially as a method of transportation.  That was creative and interesting.

There are a lot of really cool female characters in this book so far doing interesting, active things.

I like Smash as a character.  It's interesting to see that this existed before the Shrek films.

More to come...

Why yes, I sass that hoopy frood, and he does indeed know where his towel is.

I'm rereading the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which was among my favorite books from my youth.  So far, it's been very worthwhile.  I'm relating to Arthur Dent much more as a neurotic adult than I did as a neurotic teenager.  I remembered the book as very humorous and rich, and I was not mistaken.  I've read about five chapters aloud to my nephew, and he seems to be enjoying it.

I didn't remember how much alcohol is in this book.  I was a little surprised.

Anyway, I haven't read quite enough to discuss it in more detail.  I will say that I love the clever tone of the book, and yes I do in fact sass that hoopy frood.