Book · 1989
Guards! Guards!
by Terry Pratchett
A drunk night-watch captain and a hulking, oblivious new recruit are the only thing standing between Ankh-Morpork and a secret society summoning a dragon.
What does Reddit think of Guards! Guards!?
Ask r/Fantasy where to start Discworld and Guards! Guards! wins by default more than by acclaim. One reply is blunt that The Last Continent is a bad first pick and steers newcomers here instead, citing a clearer setting and a tighter plot. Another recommendation comes hedged: strong classic fantasy riffing, sure, but the cast "aren't especially progressive people," worth knowing going in before you hand it to someone. The dedication page gets quoted as a favorite on its own, ahead of anything the actual plot does, and one commenter admits they would have listed any Discworld book here, laughing too hard to stay objective about which one. r/suggestmeabook runs cooler than r/Fantasy does on this, treating it as one satisfactory answer among several rather than the answer. Reading order stays a live argument nobody in the sample settles. Start with the Watch, start with the wizards, start wherever, is roughly where it lands.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · Discworld's unresolved reading-order debate
- · The City Watch framed as the accessible entry point, not the deepest book
- · Jokes and one-liners quoted ahead of plot or character
- · A cast whose 1980s attitudes get flagged, not glossed over
Common praise
- + One reply recommends it specifically over The Last Continent, citing a clearer setting and a tighter plot for newcomers.
- + A reader says they had to stop reading several times from laughing too hard.
- + The dedication page alone gets quoted as a favourite, ahead of anything in the actual plot.
Common criticism
- − The same recommendation that praises its 'classic fantasy riffing' also flags the cast as 'not especially progressive people,' a caveat worth knowing going in.
- − The laughing endorsement immediately hedges that any Discworld book would have worked just as well, which undercuts this one specifically.
- − r/suggestmeabook treats it as merely one satisfactory answer among several, cooler than r/Fantasy's read on it.
Who it's for
Start here if you want the Discworld argument settled for you by someone who's already ruled out the bad entry points: r/Fantasy steers newcomers away from The Last Continent and toward this one instead. Fine with dated gender and class attitudes sitting inside the jokes rather than around them? That's flagged directly, not hidden. If you want the funniest possible Discworld book specifically, the data hedges. Any of them might have gotten the same laugh.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for Guards! Guards!?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
““Noble dragons don't have friends. The nearest they can get to the idea is an enemy who is still alive.” ― Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards! “Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life.” ― Terry Pratchett, Jingo
“I would say "Guards! Guards!" by Terry Pratchet.... I literally had to stop reading several times because I was laughing too much 😂..... Amazing book. Although I would just put any Discworld book here.... That one is just my favourite of the bunch
“The Last Continent is one of the worst books to start with - it’s is far better if you understand more about the Wizards or Rincewind. And it’s really just an excuse to make lots of jokes about Australia Would recommend Guards! Guards! as a starter - it’s got a much clearer setting and a more focu…
“Discworld with some careful selection? Small Gods might be pushing it (Terry is very angry about the evils of organised religion) but Guards! Guards! has some strong classic fantasy riffing, the main characters aren't especially progressive people with the way they think about other people/groups, a…
“It wasn’t even technically a part of the book but the dedication page in Guards! Guards! By Terry Pratchett. “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, around chapter three (or ten minutes…
“My favourite quotes always seem to be from Terry Prachett's Discworld books: "What can the harvest hope for, if not for the care of the Reaper Man?" - Reaper Man "Words in the heart cannot be taken." - Feet of Clay "I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are good people an…
“There are so *many* places you can start! I don’t recommend reading them in publishing order. There are some gems for starting, and it’s not there. The wonderful thing is, while the books all fall in a certain place in the timeline, they all stand alone well on their own. The standard consensus f…
“Guards! Guards! Is a **strong** contender for me, but I'm also not done reading Discworld for the first time and it's already hard to pick just one..
“Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. Start with Mort or Guards! Guards! Guards!
“The first two Discworld books are really just a serious of jokes about fantasy and sci-fi from the 70s with a wafer thin plot of Rincewind showing a tourist around. If you're familiar with what he's parodying it's pretty funny, but most people advise starting Discworld a bit later, maybe with *Guard…
“# DISCWORLD Some blame The Embuggerance for a supposed change or decline in quality for the last few books, but personally, I don't see it. Start with "Guards! Guards!" and enjoy!
“Guards! Guards! By Terry Pratchett. Had me laughing a lot. One of the best books I've read in a while.
“It really isn't. TCoM is basically a direct satire of a particular type of sword-and-sorcery setting, the Discworld people mean when they talk about the Discworld starts at *Equal Rites* and really hits its stride around *Mort* or *Guards! Guards!*.
“Probably my all time favourite series is Discworld by Terry Pratchett. The books are only loosely related so you don’t need to start with the first one. In fact, most people including the author suggest not starting with the first one. A popular suggestion is to start with Guards! Guards! or Wyrd S…
“*Guards! Guards!* by Terry Pratchett. As a middle-aged, perpetually angry drunkard with vague aspirations to someday marry into wealth, Commander Vimes has become an aspirational role-model for myself.
Convinced? Pick up Guards! Guards!
Readers also mention
Books that share discussion threads with Guards! Guards! — counted from the comments, not curated.
Guards! Guards! — frequently asked
Is Guards! Guards! the best place to start with Discworld?+
It's a strong candidate, not a unanimous one. One reply rules out The Last Continent as a starting point and recommends Guards! Guards! instead for its clearer setting and tighter plot, but other replies in the same thread keep the reading-order question open rather than closing it.
Does Guards! Guards! hold up, or is it dated?+
Both, according to the same comment. It calls the book strong classic fantasy while flagging that the cast 'aren't especially progressive people' in how they think about others, a caveat offered alongside the recommendation rather than instead of it.
Is Guards! Guards! the funniest Discworld book?+
Reddit won't commit to that. One reader who laughed hard enough to stop reading multiple times admits they would have said the same about any Discworld book, which means the laugh isn't necessarily specific to this one.