Monstrous Regiment
by Terry Pratchett · first published 2003
53% recommend35% neutral12% critical
Why HN recommends it
Sharp, funny satire of war, nationalism and gender roles, told as a standalone Discworld story with a polite but pointed heroine; recommended as a good entry point that doesn't need the rest of the series.
Common criticism: Some felt the later Discworld books lost their edge, with this one feeling less dark.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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 l
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…classic, beyond perhaps, but if kids today aren't learning from it then so long. For every new book that goes on the list, an old one is going to come off of it. I'd much rather see kids get something like Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett that they'll respond to. Fuck, give them Harry Potter or a goddamn Halo novel if the kids will actually read it.
on “Brave New World banned from High School curriculum” ↗I always tell people to start with Guards! Guards! because I'm a huge City Watch fanboy. But depending on the person I might recommend Small Gods or Monstrous Regiment instead. After reddit's hostility towards users became clear, I started reading Discworld books again. I think my all time favourite will always be Thud!
on “Royal Mail to Issue “Terry Pratchett’s Discworld” Stamps” ↗is sci-fi allowed as well? In that case "rainbows end" by Vernor Vinge (can be downloaded for free from his website) If just fantasy: "Monstrous regiment" by Terry Pratchett
on “Ask YC: Favorite fantasy novel(s)?” ↗…The Lipwig books are also quite excellent featuring a lot of most folks favorite characters but I think they work better if you're familiar with the setting. Lastly, I think a really good shout out is Monstrous Regiment which is absolutely hilarious, especially if you don't know the characters and just incredibly wholesome.
on “Discworld on Page and Screen, Part 1: Serious Comedy” ↗…Pyramids, Small Gods, Wyrd Sisters are the ones where you'll discover the real breadth of what he does. Later books can be less consistently original, but when you get to books like The Truth, Night Watch and Monstrous Regiment, there are some real gems. But don't let yourself not read any of them. That would be a real shame.
on “Sir Terry Pratchett has died” ↗Incredibly sad news. Plenty of people on this thread have recommended some of his best books(Small Gods, The Truth, Monstrous Regiment) but nobody has brought up Jingo yet. It's a wonderful satire of extreme war nationalism, it's part of "The Watch" series of Discworld books so it helps if you've read the previous books ( Guards! Guards!,…
on “Sir Terry Pratchett has died” ↗…read them in order (although there's several sets with the same protagonists). Personally, I'd always recommend Going Postal, maybe Night Watch (a bit of back story could help but is not necessary), or Monstrous Regiment.
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2018?” ↗Monstrous Regiment was my first one! It's nice as a standalone book and I think really shows off the compassionate satire that the essay is talking about
on “Discworld on Page and Screen, Part 1: Serious Comedy” ↗…matter how daft it looks now? I actually rather like the first two books - naiive? yes! Everyone has a favourite book because he attacked so many themes with alacrity. I see loads of calls for "read Monstrous Regiment" here - and it is an absolute belter. It is a very polite and beautifully handled feminist treatise with a hefty nod to the bloody nonsense that is civilisation in Europe. "Small Gods" is not polite…
on “Discworld on Page and Screen, Part 1: Serious Comedy” ↗The author Terry Pratchett collected a lot of material on this topic, and eventually wrote the novel Monstrous Regiment about it.
on “19th-century female husbands” ↗I'm reminded of the ending of Terry Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment, where a nation's god is revealed to have died, and 'his' recently announced additions to the list of banned things (rocks, ears and accordion players) was produced only by the collective anxiety of that…
on “Trump administration set to tie Tylenol to autism risk, officials say” ↗…right now. You can have some of that, if you like.” > The squad brightened up. > Thoundth good,” said Igor. “What’th in it?” > “Boiling water,” said the corporal. “It’s what we call ‘blind scubbo’" Monstrous Regiment, Terry Pratchett (GNU)
on “Bigos (Polish Hunter's Stew) Recipe Builder” ↗Monstrous Regiment by pratchett is basically this joke in novel form.
on “Old jokes” ↗…appropriate for, say, Roald Dahl than it does for Pratchett. Pratchett was, for the most part, a comedy fantasy author. Most of his writing was appropriate for younger audiences (with exceptions, like Monstrous Regiment), but I wouldn’t call it children’s books. The fact that his Tiffany Aching books are specifically aimed at the Young Adult market suggests that he agreed.
on “Terry Pratchett warns Bill Gates about fake news (1995)” ↗…discworld doesn't actually need all that much introduction - each book is pretty self-sufficient but learning more about the characters just adds more to when they show up as Cameos (except, I'd point out, Monstrous Regiment, where not knowing who the "Butcher of Ankh Morpork" is actually adds to the story)
on “Discworld on Page and Screen, Part 1: Serious Comedy” ↗