{"id":491,"date":"2007-12-29T21:12:37","date_gmt":"2007-12-30T02:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/491"},"modified":"2021-05-30T21:37:12","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T01:37:12","slug":"monstrous-regiment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/491","title":{"rendered":"Monstrous Regiment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monstrous Regiment<\/a><\/em> (2003) Terry Pratchett<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>I love Terry Pratchett’s books. However, I’ll frequently go long periods where I don’t read his books, despite his prodigious publication rate, because once I get started I frequently read a lot of his books, sometimes going back and re-reading much of the series. At which point I get tired of Discworld and don’t want to read any more about it for awhile. However, I’ve apparently reached thepoint where I want to read about Discworld again, and so picked up Monstrous Regiment<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This is, for the most part, a Discworld book with entirely new characters. Samuel Vimes and some of his Watch make a small appearance, but for the most part the story is focused upon Polly “Oliver” Perks and the others who also sign up to join the Borogravia army–an army in the middle of a war that no one wants to admit that they seem to be losing.<\/p>\n

If I hadn’t checked the copyright date, I would have assumed this book was written in direct response to the US and England going to war in Iraq. Terry Pratchett has a lot to obliquely say about governments and their willingness to go to war, regardless of the costs. However, it was published in 2003, to any relation to our current political fiasco is purely conicidental.<\/p>\n

As with all Discworld books, it’s hard to pin down what I liked best: Polly’s attitude, the rest of her regiment, or the socks. (Okay. It’s the socks.)<\/p>\n

I also like his attitude about women in the military–that they wouldn’t necessarily do things any better or even differently from the men. The status quo is something that has to be overcome, and it’s not necessarily easy to do so.<\/p>\n

As far as enjoyment, I wouldn’t say this is my favorite Discworld books. I liked Polly and the other characters well enough–enjoyed them even, but I didn’t really want to read all the political statements I found between the lines–not because I disagreed with them, but because I’m just a bit tired of war and politics right now.
\nRating: 7\/10 <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monstrous Regiment (2003) Terry Pratchett I love Terry Pratchett’s books. However, I’ll frequently go long periods where I don’t read his books, despite his prodigious publication rate, because once I get started I frequently read a lot of his books, sometimes going back and re-reading much of the series. At which point I get tired […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,291],"tags":[142,141],"class_list":["post-491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fantasy","category-paper","tag-discworld","tag-terry-pratchett"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-7V","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":494,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/494","url_meta":{"origin":491,"position":0},"title":"Going Postal","author":"Michelle","date":"January 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Going Postal (2004) Terry Pratchett Going Postal is the next Discworld book in line, and like Monstrous Regiment, the primary characters are new ones. Although other characters continue to make an appearence, and Lord Vetinari plays an important part in the story, like Monstrous Regiment, Going Postal requires no previous\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/01\/Going-Postal.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5400,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/5400","url_meta":{"origin":491,"position":1},"title":"Monstrous Regiment","author":"Michelle","date":"September 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Monstrous Regiment (2003) Terry Pratchett For some reason I got Monstrous Regiment stuck in my head and just had to re-read it. Like most of his books, it's a keen political satire (\"armies don\u2019t do much for agriculture except marginally raise the fertility of the battlefield.\") wrapped in a marvelous\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/Monstrous-Regiment.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14281,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14281","url_meta":{"origin":491,"position":2},"title":"Monstrous Regiment","author":"Michelle","date":"May 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Monstrous Regiment (2003) Terry Pratchett (Discworld) Forget you were ever Polly. Think young male, that was the thing. Fart loudly and with self-satisfaction at a job well done, walk like a puppet that\u2019d had a couple of random strings cut, never hug anyone, and, if you meet a friend, punch\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Monstrous Regiment","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/Monstrous-Regiment-e1511012807746.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":63,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/63","url_meta":{"origin":491,"position":3},"title":"The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents","author":"Michelle","date":"March 30, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents (2001) Terry Pratchett The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents is one of Terry Pratchett's young adult books, are set in Discworld. Talking cats, talking rats, and an appearance by Death (as well as by the Death of Rats). Aside from being slightly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1700,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1700","url_meta":{"origin":491,"position":4},"title":"Where’s My Cow","author":"Michelle","date":"May 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Where's My Cow? (2005) Terry Pratchett Children's Winner of the Ankh-Morpork Librarian's Award: OOK! Needed something to cheer me up after a particularly depressing mystery. Where's My Cow (click to read previous review) was the perfect palate cleanser. Except, of course, now I want to go read more Discworld books.","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Where's My Cow","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.klishis.com\/Books\/images\/wheres%20my%20cow.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1148,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1148","url_meta":{"origin":491,"position":5},"title":"Making Money","author":"Michelle","date":"May 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Making Money (2007) Terry Pratchett I always love Terry Pratchett's books. Which is why I'll never understand why I put off reading them. My guess is that I want to save them for a time when I want a new book to read that I know is going to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Fantasy"","block_context":{"text":"Fantasy","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/fantasy"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/Making-Money.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}