A Book Review: Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #31)

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

- Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

The title for Terry Pratchett's 31^th Discworld novel, Monstrous Regiment, is inspired by the name of an infamous book, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, written by John Knox, who was an influential figure in the protestant reformation.

At this point you may be wondering, why did Terry Pratchett name a Discworld novel after a religious book that promoted gender discrimination? What was Terry Pratchett brewing up? Remember, Terry Pratchett is an excellent satirist. So you can bet that Sir Terry had a very good reason for borrowing the name of John Knox's infamous book – to cook up a storm of parodies and then challenging the status quo!

Our story began, when a girl called Polly joined Borogravia's army to find her brother Paul. Boro what? Ok, let's rewind a little bit. Borogravia is a small, backward country on Discworld. Borogravia follows the gospel of the god Nuggan, who dedicated a lot of time coming up with laws against abominations.

A sizable chunk on Nuggan's list of abominations have to do with women not acting “women-like”; such as women joining the army, which was a big No No according to the infallible Nuggan. So why and how did Polly join the army? Because Borogravia is constantly at war with someone, after years of war a lot of Borogravian men are either dead or have gone missing, including Polly's brother, Paul. This also means Polly cares nothing about war, money, or patriotism. She just wanted to find her brother and go home.

Risking Nuggan's wrath, Polly dresses up as a man and joined the army. She was enlisted by Borogravian army's living legend, Sergeant Jackrum, who took her into his regiment, alongside a vampire, a troll, a zombie, a religious fanatic, and two unusually close friends. As Polly marched into war and secretly searching for her brother, she soon discovered that most of her comrades were more than meets the eye...

Monstrous Regiment concludes the “Industrial Revolution” sub-series in Discworld. This book tells a wonderful story about wars, and it is full of witty and funny moments. On the other hand, this book is also a social commentary, and if I may suggest, I think Sir Terry really loaded his gun this time and blasted, full force, at the things he wished to criticize against. Things like bigotry, discrimination, prejudice, and jingoism in disguise as patriotism, all got what they deserved by Sir Terry's biting bullets. Gone are the subtle critiques found in earlier Discworld novels. In its stead, Sir Terry opted for a more direct, blunt way of engaging the hot problems in our world. Mind you, Sir Terry still presented these issues in the form of satires, and this book is just as humorous and funny as previous Discworld novels. However, some readers may complain about the heavy handed way in which Monstrous Regiment passes on its messages. Personally, I vote in favor of this book because I love that Terry Pratchett did not shy away from asking uncomfortable questions.

I think Terry Pratchett's writings are treasures in the fantasy genre. This is because Sir Terry was among the very few male fantasy authors who have consistently depicted female characters as real, believable human beings without relying on stereotypes and caricatures. In this book, all female characters, including the protagonist, Polly, are portrayed realistically. But then, this is a trademark and one of the greatest virtue of Discworld; just like in our world, life on Discworld is made up of stories of small folks.

The second avenue of Sir Terry's critique was aimed at religious fundamentalism. In this book, Borogravians have a certain way of interpreting their holy scripture, and they are absolutely sure they are right – for them, it was all or nothing. Through the eyes of Polly and her comrades, readers are shown how Borogravian's all-or-nothing mentality inflicted a whirlwind of harms, suffering and injustice on anyone who was involved in the story. Meanwhile, a bagful of twists and turns await readers as the story unfolds. As these twists and turns slowly greet the readers, we begin to comprehend the connection between the name of this novel, Monstrous Regiment, to John Knox's infamous book. Let me just say as this understanding dawned on me, I came to full appreciation for the marvels of Sir Terry's parody. I am in full agreement with Terry Pratchett's assessment on religious fundamentalism. I like Discworld novels, and I especially enjoy the ones that criticized religious fundamentalism. Terry Pratchett has a knack for making sharp and accurate observations about challenges facing our society. In this case, Monstrous Regiment nailed the problem of religious fundamentalism on its head.

The ending of this book tastes bittersweet. Ok, don't freak out, I am not about to spoil the story for you. I just want to note my appreciation for its ending, because it illustrated the point that progress is made by taking baby steps, that changes do not come overnight but rather they arrive one step at a time as people slowly change their beliefs and prejudices. The key then, as Terry Pratchett illustrated in this fine tale, is to never loose hope, persevere, and continue to challenge the status quo. Challenge the status quo with uncomfortable questions instead of treating them as rules carved in stones.

Post Script:

In Monstrous Regiment, Ankh Morpork sent Samuel Vimes to intervene in the war between Borogravia and Zlobenia. Being Vimes, he put a grin on my face when he spoke the following line:
"Oh well, the interests of Ankh Morpork are the interests of all money-lov... oops, sorry, all freedom-loving people everywhere."