Guards! Guards!

I am so tempted to give this a perfect score on the basis of that ending alone - it is a perfect summation of everything this book has been building towards, with the perfect amount of rancor and optimistic satire. One of the few times I felt like clapping at the end of the book for just how happy it made me feel, somehow turning all the bizarre circumstances that happened into the book into something poignant.

It's just that there is a lull in the middle - with pacing issues that really took away from my enjoyment. It feels as if there was a lot of wheel turning at the expense of characters. Some of the humor also really misses due to the cultural barriers, with the use of British slang and an overuse of Casablanca references (which I love, but man...). It has so much to say but at the same time, it gets a little lost in the plot.

However, if the rest of the books somehow surpass the quality of this - I am ready to read the rest of the series. It takes itself seriously just enough that it doesn't become a full blown farce, while keeping the levity needed for a story this absurd.