Quick book note: Monstrous Regiment

[redbird]

I just read Terry Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment. It's a good book, and I like Polly and Maledict and Sgt. Jackrum, but I'm wondering whether it's me or Pratchett who's changed: I only laughed out loud once, and that was at one of the footnotes.

This time out, we get a religion that's stupid even by Discworld standards, with a god whose list of Abominations includes the color blue, leading his followers to try not to look at the sky. Vimes and Angua turn up, briefly, but I get a feeling Pratchett may be tired of Ankh-Morpork.

Comments

Spoilers Ahead

[wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com]

I had mixed reactions to Monstrous Regiment. I thought Night Watch was spectacularly good, dark as it was, but this felt -- less compelling, less focused. Then I realized that that's a big part of the point of the book. It's a sideways look at what makes a Joan of Arc, or rather a look at the people who don't get to be famous and/or burned at the stake. It also has a sad, sympathetic god -- the Duchess changes from a symbol of patriotic madness to someone almost pitiable to a force for actual good. The final fifth of the book is just sheerly, painfully beautiful to me.