Monstrous Regiment
Discworld
By Terry Pratchett 

     Terry Pratchett does it again; the latest episode in the canon introduces the reader to the Ruritanian countries of Borogravia and Zlobenia, which are perpetually at war. Young Polly Perks has "a sudden strange fancy" to enlist as a solider and look for her missing simpleton of a brother, who had the same idea. She cuts off her golden ringlets and dresses up in his clothes and finds it very, very easy to join up and go off to war. The enemy is all around them and they haven't even had any training before they are sent to the front, but they do have Sergeant Jackrum on their side, a big secret, and the fact that the newspapers are calling them "The Monstrous Regiment". Having an Igor, a coffee-drinking vampire, and a mad visionary might have something to do with this…now all they have to do is win the war.

      This is, in my opinion, one of the good ones. Pratchett's work has been uneven in the past, but of late he has been, well, I guess very even, and this novel is a good example. It has a fine storyline and some enjoyable characters, sewing together elements of Sharpe, a certain folksong and many elements of the Discworld, to name a few parts. But it is the deeper satire underneath the comedy that makes this bird sing, and Pratchett is at his topical best with this basically very thought-provoking story about women's rights, religious fanaticism and pointless wars which only manufacture dead people. He manages a nice balance between the humor and the more serious parts such as the Abominations, the Girls' Working School and the casualties of war. When things start to get too sober, he turns on the comedy, and there is a certain thread of mystery here, too; it reminded me of a juggling act as comedy, satire and story were tossed in the air and each exchanged freely for the other. This is a distillation of the themes in Small Gods and Equal Rites, but with some maturity added for good measure showing that the Discworld and its inhabitants can grow and change. The comedy is still as present as ever and there is a lot to laugh at, but much to think over, too, taking it beyond mere comedy and making it one of his best.