‘IT WAS SO MUCH EASIER TO BLAME IT ON THEM. IT WAS BLEAKLY DEPRESSING TO THINK THAT THEY WERE US.’

War is brewing on the Discworld.

An island has appeared from the ocean depths, right in the middle of the sea which separates the proud empires of Klatch and Ankh-Morpork. Of course, no one would dream of starting a war with the neighbours without a perfectly good reason . . . such as a ‘strategic’ piece of old rock, for instance.

But when a Klatchian Prince is almost assassinated, peace talks break down and violent nationalism begins to spread. Ankh-Morpork prepares to fight. Only thing is, they don’t have an army. Or much in the way of weapons.

Commander Sam Vimes and the ‘officially disbanded’ City Watch get caught up in a deadly political game where the enemy appears to be on both sides and no one will listen to reason.

And if they don’t stop this absurd war, no one will . . .

‘Generous, amusing and the ideal boarding point for those who have never visited Discworld’ Sunday Telegraph

Jingo is the fourth book in the City Watch series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order.

‘IT WASN’T BY ELIMINATING THE IMPOSSIBLE THAT YOU GOT AT THE TRUTH, HOWEVER IMPROBABLE; IT WAS BY THE MUCH HARDER PROCESS OF ELIMINATING THE POSSIBILITIES.’

Commander Sam Vimes of the City Watch is used to trouble. There’s always trouble in Ankh-Morpork.

But this is new: people are being brutally murdered and there’s no evidence of anything alive having been at the crime scene. At the same time, the most powerful man in the city has been poisoned and is clinging on to life by a thread.

It’s a conundrum of a case. With the help of Captain Carrot, the only watchman who knows the law inside-out; Corporal Cheery Littlebottom, an unconventional dwarf with an eye for forensics; and Constable Angua, a werewolf with an excellent sense of smell, Vimes tries to solve the mystery.

But time is of the essence, for something extremely dangerous is loose in the city, its red eyes glowing in the night …

‘Fantastical, inventive . . . laughter waiting to be uncovered on each page’ Observer

Feet Of Clay is the third book in the City Watch series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order.

‘WELL, HE THOUGHT, SO THIS IS DIPLOMACY. IT’S LYING, ONLY FOR A BETTER CLASS OF PEOPLE.’

Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch is a long way from home.

Sent as reluctant ambassador to Uberwald, a mysterious region inhabited by dwarfs, vampires and werewolves, Vimes must learn the art of diplomacy. Fast. But when he uncovers a mystery with ties back home, the policeman in him can’t help but investigate. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, quite a lot actually. Vimes finds himself on the run through the frozen forests of Uberwald, armed with only his wits and the trousers of Uncle Vanya (don’t ask). And if he doesn’t make it, there’s going to be a terrible war.

But there are monsters on his trail. They’re smart. They’re fast. They’re werewolves.

And they’re catching up . . .

‘Precisely balanced . . . a cracking comic thriller’ The Times

The Fifth Elephant is the fifth book in the City Watch series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order.

‘DON’T PUT YOUR TRUST IN REVOLUTIONS. THEY ALWAYS COME ROUND AGAIN. THAT’S WHY THEY’RE CALLED REVOLUTIONS. PEOPLE DIE, AND NOTHING CHANGES.’

The twenty-fifth of May is an important, sombre day in Ankh-Morpork – the anniversary of one of the city’s bloodiest rebellions.

But crime stops for nothing, as Commander Sam Vimes of the City Watch knows. When a notorious serial killer emerges from hiding, the chase leads the Watch to the roofs of Unseen University where a magical storm is brewing. It’s a case of wrong place, very wrong time.

For Vimes finds himself back in his own rough, tough past with only a killer for company and a city on the brink of revolution to contend with. But he must survive, because he has a job to do: track down the murderer and change the outcome of the rebellion.

And get back to the future before his wife gives birth, of course.

All in a day’s work …

‘The best Discworld book in the whole world ever. Until next time.’ SFX

Night Watch is the sixth book in the City Watch series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order.

‘FOR THE ENEMY IS NOT TROLL, NOR IS IT DWARF, BUT IT IS THE BALEFUL, THE MALIGN, THE COWARDLY, THE VESSELS OF HATRED, THOSE WHO DO A BAD THING AND CALL IT GOOD …’

In the city of Ankh-Morpork, tension is rising between dwarf and troll communities.

A dwarven fanatic has been stoking the flames of an old hatred born of the Battle of Koom Valley -an ancient war between the races that neither side has quite got over. When the dwarf is murdered, with a troll the only witness, Commander Sam Vimes of the City Watch must solve the case before history repeats itself.

With his beloved Watch crumbling around him and war drums sounding, Vimes must unravel every clue, outwit every assassin and brave any darkness to find the solution. But darkness is following him …

And at six o’clock every day he must go home to read a bedtime story to his son. There are some things you have to do.

‘Consistently funny, consistently clever and consistently surprising in its twists and turns’ SFX

Thud! is the seventh book in the City Watch series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order.

This is the countryside, after all. Everyone sees where you go and you never know who is behind a hedge.

And if you’re very unlucky, the person behind the hedge could have very unfriendly intentions. It may look idyllic, but the countryside isn’t all flowers and thatched cottages and bracing walks in your best tweed. Beneath the greenery lies a dark underbelly, and there’s something about rambling country houses that attracts dastardly plots and grisly murder. A challenge for any detective, but especially for one bred in the city who doesn’t understand the Way Things Are Done. In the countryside, people know their place, and everyone else’s place too, especially if it’s beneath their own. And they have some rather old fashioned ideas about people who are different from them.

A set of 8 paperback books from the City Watch Series, starring: Guards! Guards!, Men At Arms, Jingo, Feet of Clay, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, Thud! and Snuff

Meet Commander Sam Vimes and the City Watch

Sam Vimes is an old-fashioned copper. He, and the City Watch he commands, started in the gutter (one outside a pub), and Vimes takes care not to forget it, wearing extra thin boots so he can feel the streets of his city as he proceeds along them, cigar in hand, gimlet eyes peeled not just for crime, which being extremely cynical he suspects everyone of, but also injustice, which makes him very angry.

The Discworld books can be read in any order, but this is a particularly good place to start.