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

[coraline]

i think "night watch" may be my favorite of the new pratchett... not that i don't love all of them, but there was something special about that one. maybe just because it was the first one that struck me as a departure from the less-directed silliness of the previous discworld books. (or maybe it's just that it's much less subtle.)

[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.

[rushthatspeaks.livejournal.com]

You did read the Tiffany Aching ones, right? The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky? They're wonderful. And did you read The Last Hero, which is the illustrated one that came somewhere after The Fifth Elephant? Last Hero is one of my two or three favorite Discworld books, and should be required reading for anyone interested in epic poetry.

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

Jingo is earlier than The Truth, and is some of the biting satire that he's written, as is Small Gods. Feet of Clay isn't hilarious, but it's grown on me - it has a quiet meditation on so much hidden behind the silliness, that each time I read it I see it a bit more. Lords and Ladies is also the best meta-novel (novel about stories and myths) he's written, with Witches Abroad and it's mediation on fairy tales a close second. He's been doing the serious stuff for a while - alongside silly books (like most of the Rincewind ones).

The Last Hero is worth getting, especially if you can get it on sale (it shows up in remainder sales, and Amazon mikght have it cheap). The story is definitely short, but the images are worth spending time with and looking at again and again.