Monstrous Regiment
Monstrous Regiment is one of the best Discworld books, though I'm not sure how well it's going to age. I think it will still retain value as a product of its time, but I think people are starting to do a better and more nuanced job of tackling some of these themes. Not that that's Pratchett's fault. Some of the language didn't exist fifteen years ago when he wrote this book. If he wrote it today (if he were alive today) I think it would be that much better. Which is saying something because, as I said, this is one of the best Discworld books.
The book follows young Polly "Oliver" "Ozzer" Perks, who joins the army in the final days of the war in the hopes of finding her brother and bringing him home safely. Polly is genuinely worried about her brother, who has always needed someone to look after him. But she's also worried about what will happen to her if he dies - as a girl she can't legally inherit her father's business. And so this starts as a straightforward tale about a girl disguising herself as a boy.
Except she quickly learns that nearly every other member of her regiment is also a girl, each joining the army for her own reasons. And then it becomes clear that her country's problems run much deeper than she could ever have foreseen.
This is one of the only Discworld books that really tackles gender and male privilege and the power and freedom that come with pretending to be a man. But it skirts up against some trans* issues that Pratchett really wasn't prepared to discuss. And I'm not sure he was aware of how close he got to that conversation or all the myriad ways he put his foot in his mouth.
That said, fifteen years ago this was one of the only books that even came close to positive trans* representation, and it's important for that reason alone. As well as for looking at all the ways society treats men and women differently, and the ways we can so easily become the things we despise.
But this is also, I think, a turning point in the series. Pratchett's interests shift after this one. There are a couple more books about Vimes, but most of the remaining books are either about Tiffany Aching or Moist von Lipwig. Discworld is changing, both the world and the series, and that begins here.
The book follows young Polly "Oliver" "Ozzer" Perks, who joins the army in the final days of the war in the hopes of finding her brother and bringing him home safely. Polly is genuinely worried about her brother, who has always needed someone to look after him. But she's also worried about what will happen to her if he dies - as a girl she can't legally inherit her father's business. And so this starts as a straightforward tale about a girl disguising herself as a boy.
Except she quickly learns that nearly every other member of her regiment is also a girl, each joining the army for her own reasons. And then it becomes clear that her country's problems run much deeper than she could ever have foreseen.
This is one of the only Discworld books that really tackles gender and male privilege and the power and freedom that come with pretending to be a man. But it skirts up against some trans* issues that Pratchett really wasn't prepared to discuss. And I'm not sure he was aware of how close he got to that conversation or all the myriad ways he put his foot in his mouth.
That said, fifteen years ago this was one of the only books that even came close to positive trans* representation, and it's important for that reason alone. As well as for looking at all the ways society treats men and women differently, and the ways we can so easily become the things we despise.
But this is also, I think, a turning point in the series. Pratchett's interests shift after this one. There are a couple more books about Vimes, but most of the remaining books are either about Tiffany Aching or Moist von Lipwig. Discworld is changing, both the world and the series, and that begins here.
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