So early next morning she softly arose

[sovay]

I am eight pages into Terry Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment* and already I can see that I may have to keep a sharp ballad lookout. Our heroine Polly has cut her hair, dressed in her brother's clothes, and enlisted as a soldier (in the Borogravian Army) under the name Oliver:

"Age?"

"Seventeen come Sunday, sir."

"Yeah, right," said the sergeant.

*I am convalescing on all the Terry Pratchett I've missed in the last several years. Yesterday was The Fifth Elephant, Thief of Time, and Night Watch. Today, I will be out of new Terry Pratchett. I may re-read Going Postal and Thud! anyway.

Comments

[skotodes.livejournal.com]

The funny thing is that the ballad actually exists in the Discworld also; several characters refer to it.

I'd say "Night Watch" is the best of the recent Discworld books, and one of the best Discworld books overall. I like the Watch, I like the more serious storylines, and I've gotten tired of the Discworld analogues of modern technology. (Which don't exist in "Night Watch", because it's set in the past.)

"Thud" was pretty good too. I wasn't impressed by "Going Postal", though I always like when we see the regular characters through the eyes of someone new. I'm a little iffy on "Monstrous Regiment"; there were some scenes that I really enjoyed, but near the end it got pretty ridiculous. I'll say more once you're finished the book; talk to me in 20 minutes.

[sovay]

I'd say "Night Watch" is the best of the recent Discworld books, and one of the best Discworld books overall.

I'd definitely agree with that second statement. I'm not sure it would make a good introduction, because you really need to know the modern incarnations of characters before you meet their younger selves, but it's right up there.

I'll say more once you're finished the book; talk to me in 20 minutes.

I'm halfway through (I had to take time out for housecleaning: I'm in Lexington and we're having relatives over) and I already have suspicions about the ways in which this plot could get pretty ridiculous: I imagine they'll be confirmed?

[kraada.livejournal.com]

*puts Night Watch on his to-get-soon list, mostly so he can stand up for Small Gods* :)

Also, I'll offer a trade: I'll clean and deal with relatives, you grade logic exams . . . sound good? Please?

[skotodes.livejournal.com]

"Small Gods" is why I said "Night Watch" is one of the best, not the best.

[kraada.livejournal.com]

For some reason I mentally added "if not the best" in there somewhere.

Nonetheless, it is worth reading one of the best in any case.

[sovay]

I'll say more once you're finished the book; talk to me in 20 minutes.

Janet and Mildred were a bit much.

[skotodes.livejournal.com]

I was most upset about the sergeant, myself. (Was he Janet or Mildred?) There were a lot of strange things about him. He was very old, and seemed to have been a sergeant to everyone in the army. He always wore red. He loved war. At one point they sang a song with a line like "And the devil will be my sergeant".

And it turns out he was...a woman. Which doesn't explain any of the things that made him interesting. Maybe the foreshadowing of him being some kind of Small God of War was too obvious, and only there as a red herring. But that was still a pretty lame secret.

[sovay]

Janet and Mildred were two of the generals. I had figured from about the midpoint of the story (where everybody's gender had been revealed except Maladict's) that Jackrum would also turn out to be a woman, but I was still expecting some kind of supernatural revelation: when it didn't happen, I figured that was just me, because my default for mysteries is myth.

At one point they sang a song with a line like "And the devil will be my sergeant".

I want to see if that song exists or if Terry Pratchett made it up.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_jb/]

I thought the Sergeant and the Generals were great, but I thought the vampire was too much. He had enough going on with the coffee.

[sovay]

I wasn't impressed by "Going Postal", though I always like when we see the regular characters through the eyes of someone new.

I think much of Going Postal reminded me of a certain kind of film from the 1930's and 1940's which may not exactly be a comedy, and may not exactly be a romance, but has elements of both and very snappy dialogue. Not so much the thread with Reacher Gilt, because the clacks are a much more modern analogue, but the whole relationship between Moist and Miss Dearheart and their respective pasts. And I like films from the '30's and '40's, so it worked for me.