Night Watch

(Discworld Novel 29)

By: Terry Pratchett

Narrated by: Jon Culshaw, Peter Serafinowicz, Bill Nighy

Brought to you by Penguin.

Over 1 million Discworld audiobooks sold – discover the extraordinary universe of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld like never before.

'Don't put your trust in revolutions. They always come round again. That's why they're called revolutions. People die, and nothing changes.'

For a policeman, there can be few things worse than a serial killer loose in your city. Except, perhaps, a serial killer who targets coppers, and a city on the brink of bloody revolution.

For Commander Sam Vimes, it all feels horribly familiar. Caught on the roof of a very magical building during a storm, he's found himself back in his own rough, tough past without even the clothes he was standing up in when the lightning struck. Living in the past is hard, especially when your time travel companion is a serial killer who knows where you live. But he must survive, because he has a job to do: track down the murderer and change the outcome of the rebellion.

The problem is: if he wins, he's got no wife, no child, no future...

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

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

© Terry and Lyn Pratchett 2002 (P) Penguin Audio 2023

Excellent narration

I think this is the best new narration of the Discworld books. I’ve always found Nightwatch to be one of the more, if not the most “mature” Discworld novels and Culshaw does a fantastic job distinguishing characters and setting tones for each scene. Very well done. I’m a huge fan of Nigel Planer and Stephen Bridges narrations but I’m also pleased with the new versions. They are done well and this one is the best one to me. Highly recommend.

My all-time favorite Pratchett and Vimes narrator

I have been waiting for ages for this revised narration to make it to Audible for sale in the United States. John Culshaw is simply brilliant in his interpretation of city watch characters, including in especially Sam Vimes. I first started reading the Disc World stories when I picked up this one in the supermarket. I had read Small Gods previously and just couldn’t get into it. But when I met Sam Vimes and Company, I was hooked. I tore through all of them plus the wonderful Stephen Briggs audio versions. But Culshaw reigns supreme in the City Watch stories. Incidentally, Indira Varma is absolutely wonderful as Tiffany Aching and the witches of Lancre insert Terry’s other brilliant story series. May he rest in peace, he died too soon, and no one, simply no one rivals him.

A beautiful book beautifully read

We can argue for eternity which is second-best, but -this- is the best book Sir Pterry ever wrote. Ive waited more than a decade for the audiobook and I can say without hesitation that performance is perfect. This book leaves me in tears evert time.

Possibly the best

Night Watch is possibly my favorite Discworld novel. Granted some of the humor of the others isn’t there and the story has a harsh ending. But STP had a harsh message to get across and no other author could have made it so immersive and compelling.

💜💜 Night Watch at last

Night Watch is my favorite Discworld novel, so I was ecstatic when I discovered it was finally released to the US from its region lock in mid-May.
This is a beautiful, well-acted re-recording for the audiobook. Compared to the older audiobook recordings, I feel the newer recordings strike an excellent balance between Pratchett’s humor and the severity of the concepts Pratchett discusses in his books and that this balance lends itself particularly well to the darker atmosphere and tone of Night Watch.
I’ve immensely enjoyed John Culshaw’s recordings for the rest of the City Watch audiobooks as well, so I’m so glad to now be able to appreciate his recording of Night Watch.

To steal from a cover blurb review from Guardian—“it has profound, moral complexity, hard emotional impact, careful plotting, gritty political insight and, best of all, raw, urgent humanity.”
It is a story for the times written with love and with anger. It reads quickly and does not waste space. It is a novel in conversation with Les Mis (to call it a direct, simple satire of it is an egregious disservice and understatement), but it is a practical, gritty conversation—there aren’t any catchy melodies or trajectories from earthliness to godliness or heroes—there is just history running its course and people doing a job they did not have to do, but did anyway because it was in front of them and because we are here, and this is now. It is an antidote to apathy and encourages consideration of when it’s time to light a candle in the dark or a flamethrower.