Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett

In the twenty-eighth Discworld novel the Discworld goes to war.It began as a sudden strange fancy... Polly Perks had to become a boy in a hurry. Cutting off her hair and wearing trousers was easy. Learning to fart and belch in public and walk like an ape took more time... And now she's enlisted in the army, and searching for her lost brother.But there's a war on. There's always a war on. And Polly and her fellow recruits are suddenly in the thick of it, without any training, and the enemy is hunting them.All they have on their side is the most artful sergeant in the army and a vampire with a lust for coffee. Well... They have the Secret. And as they take the war to the heart of the enemy, they have to use all the resources of... the Monstrous Regiment.

The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.

It was exquisite. How I wish that more people would read Sir Terry; would learn from his perceptiveness. This one is full-on biting satire, yet also loving and kind in the way only Pratchett can manage. His targets here are many, and he hits hard against each one: sexism, jingoism, bellicosity, religious fanaticism, xenophobia, mindless obedience. (Know any political parties like that?) His protagonists are complex, conflicted, by and large honorable... and, also by and large, women. This makes me a little uncomfortable: it takes hubris for a male writer to attempt this. I will never know if he gets it right; I suspect my female friends will have differing opinions; I will listen to them. What I do know is that it rings true to me, and made me think and reflect and cheer..

A readable book with some good details and a few laughs, but he never really decided what he wanted to do with the story, which wanders around rather aimlessly towards the end. A perfectionist would have called this an intermediate draft and carried on working on it, but it seems that he was more interested in moving on to the next book.

Probably my favourite Discworld book I've read up until now! There is the expected razor sharp and sometimes goofy humour of Terry Pratchett very much present however what I enjoyed the most about this book is how serious i got at times. Despite all the shenanigans this is still a story about war and all its complications and tragedies. I like how Pratchett was able to weave these two tones, once light hearted and funny but also realistic and down to earth, so well together. Definitely a worthy read!!