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Night Watch (Discworld)
''Night Watch'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the 29th book in his ''Discworld'' series, and the sixth starring the City Watch, published in 2002. The protagonist of the novel is Sir Samuel Vimes, commander of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. A five-part radio adaptation of the novel was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. ''Night Watch'' placed second in the annual Locus Poll for best fantasy novel. Plot summary On the morning of the 30th anniversary of the Glorious Revolution of the Twenty-Fifth of May (and as such the anniversary of the death of John Keel, Vimes' hero and former mentor), Sam Vimes — whose wife is in labour with their first child — is caught in a storm while pursuing Carcer, a notorious criminal who has murdered several watchmen, to the roof of the Unseen University's Library. He awakens to find that he has somehow been sent back in time. Vimes's first idea is to ask the wizards at the Unseen University to send him home, but before he can ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first novel, ''The Carpet People'', was published in 1971. The first ''Discworld'' novel, ''The Colour of Magic'', was published in 1983, after which Pratchett wrote an average of two books a year. The final ''Discworld'' novel, ''The Shepherd's Crown'', was published in August 2015, five months after his death. With more than 85 million books sold worldwide in 37 languages, Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours. In 2001 he won the annual Carnegie Medal for ''The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents'', the first ''Discworld'' book marketed for children. He received the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to an antenna which radiates the waves, and received by another antenna connected to a radio receiver. Radio is very widely used in modern technology, in radio communication, radar, radio navigation, remote control, remote sensing, and other applications. In radio communication, used in radio and television broadcasting, cell phones, two-way radios, wireless networking, and satellite communication, among numerous other uses, radio waves are used to carry information across space from a transmitter to a receiver, by modulating the radio signal (impressing an information signal on the radio wave by varying some aspect of the wave) in the transmitter. In radar, used to locate and track objects like aircraft, ships, spacecraf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
M*A*S*H
''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. The franchise depicts a group of fictional characters who served at the fictional "4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (M*A*S*H)" during the Korean War, loosely based on the historic 8055th MASH unit. Hawkeye Pierce is featured as the main character, played by Donald Sutherland in the 1970 film ''M*A*S*H'' and by Alan Alda on the television series also titled ''M*A*S*H''. Later spin-offs involve characters who appeared in the series, but were set after the end of the war. Almost all versions of the series fit into the genre of black comedy or dramedy; the lead characters were physician, doctors or nurses, and the practice of medicine was at the center of events. However, to relieve the pressures of duty in a field hospital close to the fron ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Colour Of Magic
''The Colour of Magic'' is a 1983 fantasy comedy novel by Terry Pratchett, and is the first book of the ''Discworld'' series. The first printing of the British edition consisted of only 506 copies. Pratchett has described it as "an attempt to do for the classical fantasy universe what '' Blazing Saddles'' did for Westerns." Plot summary Setting The story takes place on the Discworld, a planet-sized flat disc carried through space on the backs of four gargantuan elephants – Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon and Jerakeen – who themselves stand on the shell of Great A'Tuin, a gigantic star turtle. The surface of the disc contains oceans and continents, and with them, civilizations, cities, forests and mountains. Summary The story begins in Ankh-Morpork, the biggest city on the Discworld. The main character is an incompetent and cynical wizard named Rincewind, who is hired as a guide to naive Twoflower, an insurance clerk from the Agatean Empire who has come to visit Ankh-Morpor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Fifth Elephant
''The Fifth Elephant'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the 24th book in the ''Discworld'' series. It introduces the clacks, a long-distance semaphore system. Plot summary The Ankh-Morpork City Watch is expanding; there is now a Traffic department with traffic cameras implemented using iconograph technomancy and a wheel clamping team, and the clacks is beginning to replace homing pigeons for communications between officers. The Watch is also investigating the theft of the replica Scone of Stone (a parody of the real-life Stone of Scone) from the Ankh-Morpork Dwarf Bread Museum and the murder of Wallace Sonky, the inventor of preventatives. Samuel Vimes, Commander of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch and Duke of Ankh, is sent to the remote region of Überwald as an ambassador to take advantage of the coronation of the Low King of the Dwarves to negotiate for increased imports of fat. (Underground fat deposits are abundant in Überwald as a fifth Discworld-supp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comic Fantasy
Fantasy comedy or comic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy that is primarily humorous in intent and tone. Typically set in imaginary worlds, fantasy comedy often involves puns on and parodies of other works of fantasy. Literature The subgenre rose in the nineteenth century. Elements of fantasy comedy can be found in such nineteenth century works as some of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales, Charles Dickens' "Christmas Books", and Lewis Carroll's Alice books."Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle,ed, ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'', (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. The first writer to specialize in the subgenre was " F. Anstey" in novels such as ''Vice Versa'' (1882), where magic disrupts Victorian society with humorous results. Anstey's work was popular enough to inspire several imitations, including E. Nesbit's light-hearted children's fantasies, ''The Phoenix and the Carpet'' (1904) and ''The Story of the Amulet'' (1906). The United States had several writers of fanta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guards! Guards!
''Guards! Guards!'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the eighth in the ''Discworld'' series, first published in 1989. It is the first novel about the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. The first ''Discworld'' point-and-click adventure game borrowed heavily from the plot of ''Guards! Guards!''BBC - h2g2 - Terry Pratchett's Discworld - the Computer Game Retrieved 2009-05-9 Plot The story follows a plot by a secret brotherhood, the Unique and Supreme Lodge of the Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night, to overthrow the of Ankh-Morpork and install a |
Havelock Vetinari
Lord Havelock Vetinari, Lord Patrician ( Primus inter pares) of the city-state of Ankh-Morpork, is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series, a series of forty-one books describing a parallel universe whose main world has reflections of our Earth. He is depicted as the ruler of the city-state of Ankh-Morpork. Vetinari has written an unpublished manuscript known as ''The Servant'', the Discworld version of ''The Prince'' by the Italian statesman and diplomat, Niccolò Machiavelli. Fictional biography Early years Lord Vetinari was born into the extremely powerful Vetinari family (a pun, or play on words, on the real-life family of the Medici and on the word "veterinary") and raised by his aunt, Lady Roberta Meserole. As a youth, he enrolled in the Assassins' Guild which, apart from teaching its students how to kill other people for money, also gives them an excellent academic education. Lord Vetinari was particularly interested in the classical arts ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thief Of Time
''Thief of Time'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the 26th book in his ''Discworld'' series. It was the last Discworld novel with a cover by Josh Kirby. Plot summary The Auditors hire young clockmaker Jeremy Clockson to build a perfect glass clock, without telling him that this will stop time and thereby eliminate human unpredictability from the universe. Death discovers their plans, but cannot act against them directly, so he instead sends his granddaughter Susan Sto Helit. Meanwhile, Lu-Tze of the History Monks leads gifted young apprentice Lobsang Ludd in a desperate mission. Characters *Myria LeJean *Death – the anthropomorphic personification of Death, or Grim Reaper, a recurring and popular character in the Discworld series. *Jeremy Clockson – a master clockmaker tasked with creating the perfect clock (whose name is a pun on British broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson.) *Susan Sto Helit – Death's granddaughter. *Lu-Tze – a powerful member of the Hist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Serjeant-at-Arms
A serjeant-at-arms, or sergeant-at-arms, is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin ''serviens'', which means "servant". Historically, serjeants-at-arms were armed men retained by English lords and monarchs, and the ceremonial maces which they are associated with were originally a type of weapon. Origins The term "sergeant" can be given two main definitions; the first being a military rank and the other a governmental role. Whereas technically the two roles were not mutually exclusive, they were very different in roles and duties. The soldier sergeant was a man of what would now be thought of as the 'middle class', fulfilling a junior role to the knight in the medieval hierarchy. Sergeants could fight either as heavy to light cavalry, or as well-trained professional infantry, either spearmen or crossbowmen. Most notable medieval mercenaries fell into the 'sergeant' class ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lu-Tze
This article contains brief biographies for characters from Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series. This list consists of human characters. For biographies of noted members of the Discworld's "ethnic minorities" (dwarfs, trolls, undead, etc.), see the articles for those races. Some character biographies are also listed in articles relating to the organisations they belong to. For further Discworld character biographies, see the table below. Characters are listed alphabetically by name. 71-Hour Ahmed Adora Belle Dearheart The daughter of Robert Dearheart, founder of the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company, Adora Belle Dearheart appears in ''Going Postal'', '' Making Money'' and ''Raising Steam'', she is a cynical, angry heavy smoker. Adora's family is conned out of the Grand Trunk by Reacher Gilt, forcing Adora to be employed at the Golem Trust. In ''Going Postal'', Adora begins a tentative relationship with Moist von Lipwig; by the time of ''Making Money'' they have become engage ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unseen University
The Unseen University (UU) is a school of wizardry in Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series of fantasy novels. Located in the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork, the UU is staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and inept old wizards. The university's name is a pun on the Invisible College, and many aspects of the university are references to Oxford and Cambridge University. The exploits of the head wizards of the Unseen University are one of the main plot threads in the long-running fantasy series, and have played a central role in 13 novels to date, as well as the four supplementary ''Science of Discworld'' novels and the short story, '' A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices''. Motto and Coat of Arms The official motto of Unseen University is "Nunc Id Vides, Nunc Ne Vides", loosely translated as "Now you see it, now you don't". The unofficial motto is "η β π", or "Eta Beta Pi" ("Eat a Bit of Pie" or "Eat a Better Pie" (according to the novel ''Hogfather'')). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
