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Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett

Synopsis:

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.

This is number 31 in the Discworld series, and one of the better ones 🙂 The star of this story is Polly, who has disguised herself as her dead brother Oliver so she could join the army. She wants to go fight in order to find her older brother Paul. She thinks she is the only girl in the regiment, but then someone gives her a pair of socks to use as an area of her anatomy, and she starts to suspect there is another girl amongst the men, but who is it? Along with that, Polly and her comrades have become feared, after taking out a group of bandits. Polly sets off to war, and learns many things along the way.

This book had me laughing most of the way through. Terry Pratchett wrote another book that is full of adventure, humour and imagination. This novel is all about girl-power, coffee and a pair of socks! There are several images that will stay with me for a long time I think – such as Malachai the vampire having caffeine withdrawal symptoms, which I found very funny!

Again, Pratchett wrote a book full of weird and wonderful characters. I liked Polly, she was headstrong and clever; and I loved her band of brothers. Working out who was female was fun, and they were all funny in their own ways. I don’t know how Pratchett came up with characters like vampires who like coffee not blood or Egors, who mend themselves with other people’s body parts. His imagination is incredible.

I really enjoyed this book. It is one of my favourite from the Discworld series and I would highly recommend it.