Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3281 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 429 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The Monstrous Regiment in question is made up of a vampire, a troll, Igor, a collection of misfits and a young woman who shoves a pair of socks down her pants to join the army. Here you have the characteristically charming novel by Terry Pratchett.

Polly becomes Private Oliver Perks, who is on a quest to find her older brother, who's recently MIA in one of the innumerable wars the tiny nation of Borogravia has a habit of starting with its neighbors. This peevish tendency has all but expended Borogravia's ranks of cannon fodder. Whether Sergeant Jackrum knows her secret or not, he can't afford to be choosy as Perks and her/his comrades are among the last able-bodied recruits left in Borogravia. This collection of misfits includes the aforementioned vampire (reformed and off the blood, thank you), troll, and macabre Igor, who is only too happy to sew you a new leg if you aren't too particular about previous ownership. Off to war, Polly/Oliver learns that having a pair of, um, socks is a good way to open up doors in this man's army.

For those who haven't made this underrated author's acquaintance, Monstrous Regiment is as good a place to start as any. Readers will encounter Pratchett's subtle and disarming wit, his trademark footnoted asides along with a not-too-shabby tale of honor, courage and duty in the face of absurd circumstances. --Jeremy Pugh, Amazon.com

Review
'You take a bunch of people who don't seem any different from you and me, but when you add them all together you get this sort of huge raving maniac with national borders and an anthem.' So says a character in Pratchett's latest Discworld novel, which follows one Polly Perks on her adventures subsequent to joining up, disguised as a boy, to fight for her country. Pratchett being Pratchett, of course, this is no ordinary war, but it does allow him to reflect upon the actual conduct and nature of war through his distorting lens of fantasy, satire and irreverent humour, in a way which is almost topical. The humour may be as broad as a barn door, but at its best it is also hilariously sharp - Tolkien as rewritten by the Pythons.

From the Back Cover
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 is 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.

Customer Reviews

Laborious and not funny
I struggled to read this book. It started well and then the story seemed to get lost halfway through and then picked up again in the last 50 pages or so. However I was disappointed as a longtime Discworld fan, I did not find the book funny. I have felt that the Discworld series have been declining in recent years, although I thought Night Watch was a return to form but I felt that this novel did not live up to expectations.

Monstrous Regiment
As with 'Night Watch', this Discworld novel could probably be read apart from the others as no prior knowledge of characters or events is needed. New characters are introduced, some of which are hilarious... The plot itself is, in my opinion, excellent - and the execution as perfect as ever. It's (again, like 'Night Watch') slightly 'darker' than his previous Discworld novels, but is liberally laced with comedy nonetheless. Laugh? Don't read it with broken ribs... Buy it, read it, love it.

Pratchett's back on top form. War has never been so wild!
Monstrous Regiment, Pratchett's latest opus is everything we've come to expect from the master of humorous fantasy!

Tapping away like a demon, he's produced another slice of Discworld, and it's got cherries in it. And almonds on the top. In fact, it's dundee cake, AND it's served on a doily.

This book centres on a new character, Polly Perks, who marches off to war with a spring in her step, a new line in curses and a pair of socks in an interesting place.

The story follows her fate as she marches on, away from her home, through a lot of mud and rain and, hopefully, on into the history books.

There are lots of new characters (did anyone order an Igor????) and some great cameo's from staunch old favourites (don't look at me, I didn't invite them! !). There's also a generous helping of that old convoluted logic that confounds and amazes old Pratchettians!

Basically It's pure Pratchett at its best. I highly recommend it to any Pratchett fans, and even to those strange beings who have yet to fall under this writers spell - it's a great novel and very accessible to all readers, young, old or undead.

Happy reading!