"Guards! Guards!" by Terry Pratchett

A book about dragons and law and order.

I am often questioned over my reading habits, especially the seeming madness in the variety of the books I choose to read. For instance, a cursory look at some of the posts of this newsletter will reveal how an academic collection of essays on literary criticism is cushioned between a retelling of myths by a comedian and a book on productivity by a computer science professor. A bit random, I know.

But of all the questions I get, the one that bemuses me the most is about my love for fantasy and science-fiction. I understand that it is not everyone’s cup of tea (or saucer of aliens, for that matter), but I am a sucker for them.

Enter Terry Pratchett who manages to blend everything great about the genres and add to it classic British humour. I may not convince everyone of my love for fantasy but it is Pratchett who makes me see the real joy of the genre. I have found that I read his works only during holidays, almost like a comfort read, but each time I finish a book from his incredible Discworld series, I ask myself why I do not read him more often.

Satire: Things are like other Things

When teaching literature, it becomes difficult to define genres and styles of writing as singular airtight compartments as you would do to say gravity or the value of pi (I wonder if my colleagues from the physics department would disagree). Thus, it is easy to see how satire gets confused for allegory, fables are interchanged with myths, and fantasy gets blurred with science fiction.

Here’s a definition I once came across and quite enjoy: Things are like other Things.

For real.

Metaphors and ideas can be best contained when you figure out that Things are like other Things and a lot of sonnets will begin to fall flat when you realize the poet’s secret that Things are like other Things.

But with Pratchett, as with most fantasy and science fiction authors, the Things compared take on a beautiful reality. More often than not I find that it is through the Things of the books like this one, set in imaginary worlds where an entire universe is carried by elephants on the back of a large cosmic turtle, that I get a deeper understanding of the various Things on my own cosmic rock hurtling through space.

Pratchett’s Equal Rites (he loves puns) for instance, was a more clarity-filled take on feminism for me when I first read it, than some of the seminal texts in the academic field. Likewise, I appreciate existentialist philosophy so much better after having read Douglas Adam’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

There you go. Things are like other Things. This book may be about guards of a corrupt city that is suddenly plagued by a dragon, but it is really about monarchy, racism, law and order, and the corruption that plagues justice systems across the world.

It is also about dragons and how they represent nuclear weapons, maybe.

Dragons and the New World Order

Game of Thrones and The Hobbit may have reignited the love for dragons which has always sat latent in the hearts of most content consumers. Surely the winged beasts of fire (having either two legs or fours, the Wyvern-Dragon conundrum is for another day) are a lasting metaphor.

However, this excellent video essay by Nerdwriter perhaps best captures the real-world comparison to dragons.

As beasts of immense power and utmost authority, dragons, like nuclear weaponry, unfairly end conversations. It is sad that we today function in a world where the delicate nuance of international diplomacy can be shut down by the forced polemic of “I have a red button that can end this planet and I will not hesitate to press it.”

Dragons are an enduring metaphor for nuclear warfare, in my opinion. Feel free to disagree with me, it is not like I will torch you with flames.

You need not call the Guards to arrest the looming word count of this post, I will do so of my own free will. Do read the book and use it to understand the reality of your own society, if possible.

Books seldom elicit a visible reaction in me be it tears or laughter, but Pratchett has never failed to make me laugh and outright guffaw and I hope the same is true for you. Do share this post if you found it rewarding and follow the newsletter for more offerings in the future.

Keep reading, by lamplight or by dragon-fire, keep reading.