Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett has been on my radar as a soon-to-read Discworld novel, so when I needed a new audiobook and it was available–perfect! This turned out to be one of Pratchett’s more overtly satirical novels. It was still funny, but there were also some darker elements highlighted.
This one takes out of the familiar territories of Ankh-Morpork or Lancre, to Borogravia, a tiny country fighting a war against all its neighbors. Polly’s brother Paul went away to war some time before, and now Polly has decided to set out in search of him–by joining the army disguised as a boy, of course. She joins the last party of recruits heading for the front, a motley group including a troll, a vampire and an Igor (pretty much what you’d think). It become quickly clear that nearly all are girls in disguise, although their commanding lieutenant remains blissfully unaware of that fact. Meanwhile, Borogravia’s war is disrupting transcontinental communication for Ankh-Morpork, and Commander Vimes of the Night Watch has been sent to handle the situation.
Pratchett is at some of his gender-political satirizing best here. A thematic issue since the third Discworld book (Equal Rites) he’s fully engaging here. There’s much discussion of how the world feels different (and regards the girls differently) when they do something as simple as putting on a pair of trousers. I don’t think (I might be wrong) that Pratchett ever directly states that women are as capable as men (but not necessarily wiser or more interested in peace). He simply tells a story that shows equality between the genders in no uncertain terms. It’s far more effective that way. Continue reading “Book Review: Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett”
Sometimes I hear about a book and promptly put it on reserve at the library. Such was the case with Star Wars: Thrawn by Timothy Zahn. Thrawn is the charming, brilliant villain of the landmark Thrawn Trilogy, the three books that probably set the path of the Star Wars universe prior to the new movies—and are the major sticking point for me in not wanting to throw out said-extended universe. But this new book, after the demotion of the other books, writes Thrawn back into the official Star Wars canon, with a prequel set just before A New Hope. It wasn’t all I hoped for—and was an oddly un-Star Wars book—but was great fun to read all the same.
Appropriately enough, I stumbled accidentally onto Accidental Saints: Finding God in all the wrong people by Nadia Bolz-Weber. I have a thing I do when I want a type of book but don’t know what specifically–I look up a similar book in the library catalog, find that shelf, and see what else is nearby. That brought me to Accidental Saints, and after I loved that one, I went backwards and read Nadia’s first book, Pastrix.
Tales of the Marvelous 