New review: “Monstrous Regiment”
My review of Terry Pratchett’s “Monstrous Regiment
“Monstrous Regiment” shouldn’t work. The mix of fantasy, humor, war novel, social commentary (especially regarding the place of women in society), tying it in to the larger overarching storylines that have developed in the Discworld novels and creating a new setting and mostly brand new cast should have been a mess.
It shouldn’t have worked, but it did.
Borogravia is a small isolated backwater of a nation, with its only natural resources apparently being an infinitely deep well of hostility for its neighbors, flavored with the worship of a pugnacious (and increasingly strange) god and the cult of personality surrounding a ruler who has not been seen in decades and who never produced an heir.
And like all nations that can least afford a war, Borogravia is endlessly involved in them, typically as the aggressor. The nation is being steadily depopulated of men with all their limbs. Finally, Polly Perks has decided she’s had enough — her slow-witted brother has been taken off to war, and she has no idea whether he’s alive or dead, and she’s determined to find him and bring him back to the family inn. So Polly cuts her hair, disguises herself as a man (simple in a country where all women wear skirts or dresses, especially for a girl with a somewhat boyish figure) and joins the military.
Of course, it’s never quite that simple. This is war, after all, and a war that Borogravia has not just lost, but is apparently about to lose decisively, once and for all. Fortunatelly, Borogravians are both ignorant and pugnacious, and fighting for their horrible little country, because it’s THEIR horrible little country is what comes naturally. Despite overwhelming odds, including a massive coalition of foreign governments sick to the back teeth of the little country, Polly’s unit — which hides more secrets than just hers — blunders its way into history, fame and the possibility of transforming Borogravia forever.
In addition to telling a gripping adventure story of Polly’s unit roaming the wasteland that was once Borogravia, pursued by a very angry prince and his crack troops, and heading towards an impregnable castle that they have no chance to break into, let alone take, Pratchett is also making a very real examination of military life (one decidedly slanted in favor of the enlisted units, in Pratchett’s typical populist style) and, more importantly, what it means to be a woman in society and in the military. This is a lot for a little novel to be packed with, and it doesn’t always work — the Vietnam movie jokes that are tossed in are only mildly cute and probably should have been cut — and there’s probably too many interesting characters in her unit — as neat as trolls, Igors and the Discworld vampires are, we don’t need them in this novel, and certainly not both of them.
But overall, the book works, and works well, as an adventure novel, a military novel and even a novel that, in its own way, is an examination of modern female roles. In a lot of ways, its ambition helps elevate it — instead of just being a romp through the streets of Ankh-Morporkh (as fun as those may be), “Monstrous Regiment” is elevated to the level of “Small Gods” (with which it shares a bit of cosmology) and other “deeper” Discworld novels.
Strongly recommended for Discworld fans, and generally recommended for readers of military fantasy novels, including “The Black Company” and “A Song of Ice and Fire.” It’s surprising how much of a commentary “Monstrous Regiment” appears to be of those darker, more “adult” novels at times.
Go and vote for how swell a review you think it is (it really is!) as I have a pathetic need to cling to the Top 1000 Reviewers list, even as I enjoy upsetting true believers who found “Underworld” or “The Bourne Supremacy” to be great films. Yes, I have a sickness.
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