Some time ago I finished my re-listen of the Discworld books' City Watch subseries with Night Watch, narrated by Stephen Briggs. When I first read this, I didn't think the time-travel sections had a coherent plot. Audio helped me pay better attention to the narrative flow and understand the way the two versions of the past were in tension. Time-travel plots still make my head hurt, but at least now I comprehend the past events.
It strikes me that this and Thud! are the culmination of the books about Vimes, in the same way that Lord and Ladies and Carpe Jugulum are the culmination of the books about Granny Weatherwax. (I was going to say that Thud! was superfluous, but it contains Vimes as a father.) Unless something highly unexpected happens in Ankh-Morpork, I predict that Vimes will be a supporting character at most in subsequent Discworld books.
Comments:
#1 :: Michael I wrote on September 24, 2007 at 7:04 AM:
#2 :: Kate wrote on September 24, 2007 at 7:40 AM:
Important, yes, but in the way Granny is to Tiffany; supporting and/or opposing, not central.
#3 :: MIchael I wrote on September 25, 2007 at 6:54 AM:
Unless Pratchett decides to make Vimes the successor to Vetinari.
I sometimes suspect that Vetinari may actually be grooming Vimes for that job.
#4 :: Kate wrote on September 25, 2007 at 10:01 AM:
I doubt it. The skills and tendencies needed to be a successful Commander of the Watch are not congruent with those needed to be a successful Patrician, and it would surprise me if both characters didn't know that.
#5 :: Michael I wrote on September 26, 2007 at 11:41 AM:
It's more a matter of "who else is there?"
Carrot, perhaps. Although he might be even more reluctant than Vimes to actually take the job.
Naq lbh fhttrfgrq fbzrbar V unqa'g gubhtug bs va lbhe erprag erivrj bs Znxvat Zbarl.
Still, Vetinari might well have decided that his best bet is to try to give Vimes, through experience, as much of the right skills as he can and hope that (along with Carrot's support and Sybil's advice) will be good enough.
#6 :: Kate wrote on September 26, 2007 at 12:44 PM:
I don't what Pratchett is going to _do_ with Carrot, but I would lay even more money on not making him Patrician than I would on not making Vimes.
But, we'll see. Or not--perhaps Pratchett isn't interested in writing that. Just have to wait . . .
#7 :: Michael I wrote on September 30, 2007 at 8:37 AM:
For what it's worth, Pratchett gave a talk at the National Book Festival in DC yesterday.
One of the things he said (if I'm interpreting him correctly) was that he DIDN'T generally have long-term arcs planned out for the Discworld series and that it mostly goes where it goes novel by novel.
#8 :: Kate wrote on September 30, 2007 at 10:04 AM:
Thanks. That doesn't really surprise me, but I can ignore authorial intent for already-published books. =>
#9 :: arlene koniecki wrote on August 17, 2008 at 4:55 PM:
Hi, can you tell me whee to buy the audio version of Night Watch narrated by Stephen Briggs? Thank you, Arlene
#10 :: Kate wrote on August 17, 2008 at 5:27 PM:
Arlene, I got it from Audible.com, though I don't know why it doesn't seem to be available from them now.
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At the very least, I'd expect that Vimes will be very important in any books about the immediate post-Vetinari era in Ankh-Morpork.
Assuming Pratchett ever writes any such books, of course.