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larsdradrach 's review for:

Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett
4.0

3.5 Stars rounded up as it is a Discworld novel after all.

A somewhat unconventional novel in a unconventional series.

We have all the usual characters from a watch novel, Vimes, Otto the vampire, De Word and Angua, but they are not the main story and somehow don’t act according to character.

Set in a small backward country in continuous conflict with all its neighbours and plagued with a very extreme religion forbidden more or less everything, we are following polly who joins the army disguised as a man to find her missing brother.

The main themes in the novel are, war as a political instrument, raising the interesting question “can a whole nation be mad ?” and minorities in the army or other institutions (even though the novel are about women it could easy be seen as a commentary on the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy regarding homosexuals )

There are some funny and absurd parts but it’s like the serious topics makes the novel more serious than the other Discworld novels.