We are in the corrupt city of Ankh Morpork as we are introduced to the cynical cop Captain Sam Vines, whose unit is not doing the greatest of jobs, he is often to be found in a drunken stupor, that is until the newest recruit, an adopted over 6 foot dwarf, Lance Constable Carrot, turns out to be rather refreshingly keen on the idea of justice. Defending Ank-Morpork against this threat is the entire, underpaid, undervalued City Night Watch – a drunken and world-weary Captain, a cowardly and overweight Sergeant, a small opportunistic Corporal of dubious parentage…and their newest recruit, Lance Constable Carrot, who is upright, literal, law-abiding and keen. To date there are a total of 36 books in the Discworld series, of which four (so far) are written for children.

It is the first book in the subcycle focusing on the City Watch of Ankh Morpork (the Pearl of Cities¹ on the Disc); the book that really takes a look into the inner workings of this crowded, dirty and despicable and yet lovably tenacious urban metropolis: ¹ "Ankh-Morpork! This is a thought provoking and insightful satirical parody, with intelligent and clever perspectives on governments, injustice and humanity, delivered with oodles of hilarity, where there be dragons and threats to Ankh Morpork. Then you can go on to Wyrd Sisters and Witches Abroad, and fall absolutely in love with Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg.The Discworld is a lot of fun but it is also a comedic examination of humanity and civilization and it takes a master of Pratchett’s genius talent to pull it off successfully. Magari tra una risata e l'altra si ha anche il tempo per riflettere sulla tanta ironia con cui il buon Pratchett condisce la sua pietanza. Getting back into Discworld made me wonder how much of my love for it is how it influenced who am I now (I started reading these at 14), or is it speaking to my core as a person. Vimes arrests Wonse, as he tries to summon another dragon, telling Carrot to "throw the book at him".

In the end, the only thing that makes it possible to wake up in the morning is just a slight deviation from this depressing state of affairs that leads to the understanding and a bit of dignity and doing what's right - even when that's not quite expected. People who are rather more than six feet tall and nearly as broad across the shoulders often have uneventful journeys.

And although the space they occupy isn’t like normal space, nevertheless they are packed in tightly. I've usually got two or three books going anyway and I think I'm just always going to be reading a Discworld, they're so much fun and a good source of literary healing on a bad day.