Monstrous Regiment is set in the highly conservative country of Borogravia, a land under law by the strange deity Nuggan whose teachings have imposed a huge series of bans onto the country. The country is in the midst of a war against an alliance of neighbouring countries, caused by a border dispute with the country of Zlobenia. The war seems to be going pretty badly for small Borogravia. Our story concerns young Polly Perks, who disguises herself as a man to join the army, in search of her mentally handicapped brother, who has disappeared in the war. She needs him back to run the pub their family owned and, because in Borogravia property is not allowed to be ...  Read the complete review

As the 28th novel of the Discworld series, I was a little disappointed with Monstrous Regiment. It had a good story, believable characters and a well-planned plot but felt a bit outside of the realm of the Discworld that Terry Pratchett fans adore. PLOT An unusual choice of subject matter, Monstrous Regiment is about a woman who wants to become a soldier during wartime in order to find her brother. She cuts off her hair, changes her name, dresses as a man and goes to seek her fortune. The rest of the members of the regiment (called the Ins and Outs) include a troll, a vampire, an Igor and various other creatures. Throughout their travels, the Monstrous ...  Read the complete review

I hate winter! There's virtually nothing I can find to say about it that's positive, and that includes Christmas. Bah! Humbug! I'm the kind of person, who at this time of year wonders if 'Rudolf' doesn't just mean 'blind reindeer' in Greenland or wherever (it would explain the red nose) and that's as far as my interest goes. It does however, have one redeeming feature and that is the release around this time of year (ready for Xmas) of the latest Terry Pratchett offering. Monstrous Regiment will no doubt have John Knox spinning in his grave (and no bad thing at that according to some), for it was he who coined the phrase. ...  Read the complete review