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First, the new Low King is to be crowned all the way in Uberwald. For some reason, this event translates into a diplomatic holiday for our favorite City Watch Commander.
Interestingly enough, the famed Scone of Stone has just been stolen from the Dwarf Bread Museum. Luckily it's only a replica, although it is said to be a damn good one...



Secondly, Angua suddenly disappears without a trace, prompting Carrot to resign his post as acting commander of the Watch to follow her. Luckily he has just the companion to track her, Gaspode the wonder dog, in all its scruffy, smelly, not to mention rather unwilling, glory.

‘That’s hundreds of miles away! And dog miles is seven times longer! Not a chance!�
‘Oh? All right, then. Silly of me to suggest it,� said Carrot, letting go. ‘You’re right. It’s ridiculous.�
Gaspode turned, suddenly full of suspicion. ‘No, I didn’t say it was ridiculous,� he said. ‘I just said it was hundreds of miles away…�
‘Yes, but you said you had no chance.�
‘No, I said that you had no chance of getting me to do it.�

In the meanwhile, the City Watch is quietly flourishing under the capable command of the recently promoted Captain Colon. Though perhaps capable is pushing it a bit. And the flourishing part could use a bit of revising as well...

‘Afternoon, sergeant-�
‘That’s captain,� said Captain Colon. ‘See the pip on my shoulder, Reg?�
Reg looked closely. ‘I thought it was bird doings, Sarge.�
‘That’s captain,� said Colon automatically. ‘It’s only chalk now because I ain’t got time to get it done properly,� he said. ‘So don’t be cheeky.�

We get to find out a lot about Angua's background. Her and Carrot's relationship makes a huge progress by the end of the book.

But having a clearer picture of Angua and Gavin's relationship would've made things more satisfying. Though Angua keeps insisting that they're just friends, Gaspode's stray remark really makes us wonder. Obviously, in true Pratchett fashion, we don't really get more than just that sentence, which kept bouncing around in my mind.



Then there is Lady Margolotta, who makes for an awesome new character, most especially due to her romantic connection to Vetinari. If you're waiting for the juicy details however, don't hold your breath. All we find out is:

‘Oh, she was a very� unusual lady but, alas, rather older than me,� said Vetinari. ‘Much older, I have to say. But it was a long time ago. Life teaches us its small lessons and we move on.� There was that distant look again.

And last but not least, the entire story's rather lacking in the humour/one-liner department. As shallow as that makes me sound, it's a feature I've come to expect in all good Discworld novels.

Score: 3.51/5 stars

All in all, one of the better books in the series... and yet I'm not entirely sure if I liked it quite as much as I should've. It gets a 4 star rating, but only just.

I found the subject matter interesting enough, but there were too many parallel threads to follow, all of which ended up vying for my attention. I would've preferred to have just one main thread (the coronation) that didn't get interrupted quite so often.
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Other books featuring the Night Watch:
Review of the 1st book: Guards! Guards!
Review of the 2nd book: Men at Arms
Review of the 3rd book: Feet of Clay
Review of the 4th book: Jingo
Review of the 6th book: Night Watch
Review of the 7th book: Thud!
Review of the 8th book: Snuff