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ricksilva's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
It gets more ridiculous from there, and in the best possible ways, as the author pushes the Mulan trope to it's logical extreme while providing a fair share of commentary on war, religion, nationalism, and gender roles. All of this with a nicely twisting plot, a solid sprinkling of action, and some truly great characters. A few familiar (to Discworld fans) faces from the Ankh-Morpork Watch also make appearances in supporting roles.
The relationship between Private Perks and Sergeant Jackrum holds all of the disparate elements of the story together, and gives the book it's heart while the many subplots involving the rest of the regiment provide some legitimate laughs and some poignant moments. This was always fun, and surprisingly powerful in places.
Moderate: Sexism and War
Minor: Sexual assault and Violence
plume_de_renarde's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and War
Moderate: Religious bigotry
Minor: Child abuse, Rape, and Pregnancy
innastholiel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and War
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
crufts's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Polly Perks grew up working as a barmaid in the family tavern, where she heard the song Sweet Polly Oliver sung drunkenly many a time. So when her enlisted brother Paul goes missing, Polly disguises herself as a soldier boy, "Oliver", and joins the Borogravian army in order to find him.
But before long, this motivation is swept aside by the challenges of war. The forces of enemy countries Zlobenia and Ankh-Morpork are on the march, and the Borogravian army has already been decimated. Polly's squadron might be one of the few remaining. Can she keep up her disguise long enough to save her brother - and her country?
This summary doesn't do justice to the brilliance of this novel, which is a hilarious satire of sexism. It also pokes fun at intolerant religion via the conservative, sexist, censorship-happy religion of Borogravia, where more and more things are designated as "Abominations" each week. This was contrasted with the more enlightened culture of Ankh-Morpork, where they have such mysterious concepts of "free speech", female officers, and "newspapers" that aren't printed by the government.
There's also character development in spades. When we first meet Lieutenant Blouse, he's a street-dumb dandy who's hardly able to handle his own sword; by the time we bid him farewell, he's
Something else I loved about the book was how many twists it had. I'd expected it to follow the same basic plot as Mulan: "A woman disguises herself as a male soldier for some purpose. Through her hard work she gains the respect of her male colleagues, and keeps it even after her true gender is revealed."
However, Monstrous Regiment subverted this so thoroughly that it was hilarious. Firstly, there's a particular running joke (a series of reveals) which sent me into a fit of laughter when I realized what was going on, and which completely throws out the whole Mulan plot. Secondly, there's a scene near the end of the book (
Another thing I liked about the book was the endlessly intriguing character of Sgt. Jackrum:
Such an interesting character to read. He reminds me of Professor Quirrell as depicted in Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality - extremely intelligent, cynical, seems to be on your side, but it feels like his entire personality is a facade that he switches on or off as necessary (and indeed it is). For more about Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, see my review here.
You can read this book as a standalone, but there are also treats for serial Discworld readers. Sam Vimes makes a few appearances (having become
Was there anything bad about the book? Well, the plot did seem a little aimless at times, with the squadron just wandering through the wilderness and encountering various "random" challenges, but it didn't bother me too much.
Now, a comment on the book's themes. Wikipedia categorizes this book's topic as "transgender" (as well as the expected topics of "war", "crossdressing", etc).
This is simply not correct. The number of trans characters in the story is zero, so don't get your hopes up. Actually, it is continually assumed that everyone is cis and there is no such thing as being trans, in the sense that whatever is under a person's clothes reveals the truth.
For example, Polly makes a comment that she checks every day to see if she's still a woman under her clothes. And
Of course, there's nothing wrong with this - the characters have no reason to think any differently. But ultimately, you shouldn't get your hopes up: there are no trans characters and this is not a trans novel in any sense.
Overall, Monstrous Regiment is a very funny and insightful novel, and definitely worth a read.
Graphic: Sexism and Outing
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Violence, Religious bigotry, and War
Minor: Pregnancy
Outing: Several officers are unwillingly "outed" asSexism: This is the premise of the book.
War, violence: This is the premise of the book. Not super graphic.
Addiction: A character is addicted to coffee. Mostly played for laughs.
strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I was sucked in from the first line, “Polly cut off hey hair in front of the mirror, feeling slightly guilty about not feeling very guilty about doing so.” I remained attentive until the last. It truly was a great book.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Sexual content, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Torture
cmbohn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Minor: Forced institutionalization and Pregnancy
myfbusters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Sexism
jjjreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Deadnaming, Death, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Outing, Alcohol, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Bullying, Confinement, Deadnaming, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Rape, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment
littlecat's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.0
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
schillingtron's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Moderate: Addiction, Sexism, and Transphobia
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Abortion, and Pregnancy