skygiants

The other thing I wrote this year for Yuletide was A Soldier's Return, a pinch-hit fic for Pratchett's Monstrous Regiment about Polly and Maladicta in the aftermath of canon, and in the course of writing it I rediscovered all my old Monstrous Regiment opinions and turned up some new ones.

( This is under a cut because it's probably only really interesting to people who already care about Monstrous Regiment )

Three years ago I really liked Unseen Academicals, and it is sort of a relief to find that I still feel exactly the same way. Yes, it is still a book that is constructed sort of awkwardly and goes off in approximately twelve different directions, and I still . . . don't really care?

I mean, I don't know how I would feel about this book if I cared about football. Because Unseen Academicals isn't really about football; the whole Wacky Wizard Playing Football line is as much a MacGuffin plot as Wacky Wizards Fight the Shopping Mall in Reaper Man or Wacky Wizards Rock Out in Soul Music --

-- and actually, now I'm writing this, it strikes me that Unseen Academicals is really quite a lot like a Death book in construction, and a bit thematically, too. Because the theme of the difference between human and Terrifying Other and whether love and friendship can transcend that boundary has always run through the Death books; it's certainly one of the most important emotional themes here.

And it's not that I'm particularly into Beauty and the Beast stories, generally -- or at least not the traditional Beauty and the Beast story, in which the Beast generally acts like an awful ass until Beauty comes along to sort him out. What I do have a soft spot for are stories about monsters, or people who are somehow monstrous, who are genuinely and consistently kind, who genuinely and consistently want to help people, and who do not allow their manpain to force them into the role of a raging angsty douchebag even under extreme provocation. Nutt fits this archetype for me; Randel Oland and Alphonse Elric are a couple others I can think of. I'm sure there are more.

On a totally different thematic note, but one that I also really like, there's the Glenda-Juliet dynamic. And at first glance this looks like your standard Pratchett plain-smart-girl vs. dim-pretty girl -- Agnes vs. Christine!!! all over again -- except it's not a vs., because they're never rivals and instead are friends and allies, but more importantly than that, the dichotomy is actually false one. Juliet is more than Glenda thinks she is, or has let her be; Glenda's arc is about letting Juliet become something bigger, and letting herself become something bigger too. And unlike Agnes, Glenda gets to ACTUALLY WIN. Maskerade is one of Pratchett's cruelest books; Unseen Academicals is probably one of his kindest.

And speaking of Glenda -- okay, so there's a throwaway line when Glenda first turns up at the Patrician's palace when he wonders what would happen if she went into politics. Three years ago I seized on this with unholy glee and decided that Team Glenda-Nutt had my vote to take over a post-Vetinari Ankh-Morpork. Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, it is TIME TO CAST YOUR BALLOTS . . .



I would have put "democracy" as an option here but hahaha we all know that's not going to happen.

I am so close to the end of my great Discworld reread! Three more books and then I'm ALL CAUGHT UP.

But today it is time to talk about Thud, which . . . hmmm. I remember really liking Thud when it first came out, especially after being less than one hundred percent impressed with Going Postal -- I think because it fit my impression of How Discworld Books Went for comfort reading, which Going Postal did not at the time -- and now my feelings appear to have switched?

It's not that I didn't enjoy Thud, but -- well, and maybe this is a function of reading all the books so soon after each other, because it's like . . .

THUD: Guess what! Dwarves have wacky fundamentalist customs and don't want to integrate with Ankh-Morpork society!
BECCA: Oh, wait, again?
THUD: No, I mean different and EVEN MORE fundamentalist customs!
BECCA: I repeat: again?

Like, without even attempting to look at the Dwarves vs. Trolls Isn't Racial Hatred Terrible storyline through any kind of critical lens, I'm just kind of tired of dwarvish customs and society being retconned for use as the Metaphor Of The Week! I realize it is an exercise in futility to complain about continuity in Discworld, but NONETHELESS.

I am also -- and I never thought I would say this -- a little tired of The Power of Vimes' Internal Policeman, because, yes, okay, we know.

Which is not to say the ending doesn't work, because yes, the image of dead kings playing board games is super powerful, FINE, Terry Pratchett, you got me there. And it's not that I don't enjoy Angua, Sally and Cheery's Night Out, although that basically feels like extended fanfic about The Watch Girls Having a Night Out, but I'm okay with extended fanfic, I guess. And every time Sybil appears onscreen and/or reveals an undiscovered talent I am sent into a spin of wild delight. So I enjoyed Thud, there are lots of things I enjoyed, but . . . I'm okay with almost being out of Watch books.

Okay, Monstrous Regiment is incredibly interesting in the context of all the discussion about Night Watch the other week -- because one of the things we were talking about then, and that comes up in Night Watch, is that Pratchett doesn't really seem to believe in the effectiveness of collective social action. He believes in people. But groups of people are silly at best, and scary at worst.

And Monstrous Regiment reinforces that, absolutely -- witness Vimes at the beginning thinking about how countries can be mad even when everyone in them is perfectly sane -- but it also sort of almost contradicts it. There's this one moment when the reveal comes -- and since it is a legitimate reveal, I'm going to ( put it under a spoiler cut )

And -- like everything in this book -- it's sort of half-followed up on, in the end, and also sort of weirdly puts the blame on women for upholding the social structure instead of the social structure for existing. But that's still better than I thought it was, and better than we've ever seen in Discworld before, so apologies are due; Pratchett, I did not quite do you justice.

I really like Monstrous Regiment, and I like it much more now than I did when I was a teenager; I think I didn't quite know what to do with it then, because I knew how a Discworld book went, and I knew how cross-dressing-girl stories went, and this didn't match either of them. But then, it's a weird book, structurally. It's built out of a bunch of different things that don't necessarily go together; "Sweet Polly Oliver" and World War I and American foreign policy are all kind of wrapped up in it, and those threads are all tugging in different directions. And at first the cross-dressing premise seems like a joke that goes on too long, and then it turns into a sort of surrealist social critique, and then there are about three false endings, and then the actual ending isn't an ending at all. It's also grim, more grim even than Night Watch. Tonks and Lofty's backstory, especially -- there's no lighter side to that.

And I still have no idea why ( more spoilers )

There are other things I could talk about -- Tonks and Lofty, Jackrum vs. Blouse, and how outright creepy the whole book is in places -- but I think I'm going to leave it there for now. But I really want to know what you all make of it, because, as I have already repeated about three or four times, it's such a strange book!

It took me ages to read The Last Hero, which was next up in my Discworld read, because it's super short but also SUPER HEAVY. When your alternate reading makes Les Miserables look light, this is sort of a problem!

I mean, the heaviness is justified by the art. The art is lovely! I am not complaining about all the art. It just makes it more of a challenge, that's all.

Anyway, The Last Hero is the only Discworld book (other than Snuff, which is to be my triumphant reward at the conclusion of this reread) that I had not previously read! You would think this would mean I have a ton to say about it, but I don't really. Possibly because it is basically a sequel to Interesting Times and I feel like I got MORE THAN enough Cohen-and-Rincewind in Interesting Times.

I mean, the premise of Rincewind, Carrot, the Librarian, and Leonard of Quirm trapped in a spaceship does sound potentially hilarious! But execution did not, alas, fully live up to the concept. Maybe if there had been more time to sit around playing cards, less time panicking.

. . . but the art was very nice!

-- also the Patrician gets to prove the benefits of a liberal arts education, I deeply enjoyed that.

The Truth is the first Discworld book that I own in hardcover, which means that it officially marks the point in my childhood where I caught up with Pratchett!

What it also means now is that it marks the point where my Pratchett books don't fit neatly in my tiny designed-for-paperback P-Z bookshelf and my roommates judge me for valuing an alphabetical cataloging structure over proper storage of my books. ANYWAY. The Truth is one of the ones I'd forgotten how much I liked! An incomplete list of things of reasons why:

- William de Worde, a dude who was raised with a lot of privilege and a lot of prejudice, and is aware of that and is trying really hard to be a better person than he was raised to be -- and often screws up precisely because he is trying so hard, and because no matter how hard he tries there are still ways in which he doesn't get it. And he gets called on that a lot, and keeps trying, and does not expect cookies for it, and I appreciate that enormously.

- Sacharissa Cripslock, INTREPID LADY REPORTER, emphasis on both 'reporter' and 'lady', who learns over the course of the story that if a naked man runs through your sewing circle meeting it is always very important to get his name for the paper. I like lady reporters. I also like that William is the tender-hearted, anxious one who is concerned about the morals of what they are doing, and Sacharissa is the one who points out that newspapers need to make a profit.

- Otto von Chriek, vampire photographer. I don't actually know why I like Otto so much, I just do.

- continuity! This is so relatively rare in Discworld I feel it deserves an extra pat on the back. Someone did die in the war with Klatch!

- the fact that no one actually develops into a better person over the course of the book -- in fact, they might well actually develop into worse people -- but they do develop into better reporters.

- the fact that the Watch are antagonists in this book. I love when authors let major characters dislike each other! It is the opposite of the thing I have dubbed Irritating Person Syndrome, that rule wherein anybody who dislikes the protagonist is automatically a bad person and will inevitably turn out to be a traitor, spy, or other variety of miscreant. (Mercedes Lackey loves Irritating Person Syndrome.) I love William very earnestly going out of his way to be annoying to Vimes and blow up Angua's scent of smell and so forth. It warms the cockles of my heart.

I am actually really sad that there are no more Plucky Newspaper Adventure Discworld books; I would gladly have seen this be the start of a sub-series. (I would much rather William than Moist, to be honest, although perhaps I will feel differently once I have re-read the Moist books. Sorry Moist!)

Is Carpe Jugulum the first Witches book that's not primarily about stories? I think it is.

I mean, it's about narrative tropes in the same way every Discworld books is about narrative tropes. But the power of stories is not what makes vampires (sorry, vampyres) dangerous. Being evil mind-controlling bloodsuckers who want to farm humans like cows is what makes vampires dangerous. It's surprisingly straightforward! Which is fine, though it's still no Lords and Ladies. (But then, what is?)

It's also notable for being a vampire-book parody that was written before the vampire romance-splosion, which to be fair does not make it any less satisfying when Agnes' interactions with Sexy Vampire Vlad repeatedly follow this pattern:

VLAD: Agnes! I find you irresistible! Be my queen of the night!
AGNES: GROSS.
VLAD: But as an unconventionally attractive plus-sized lady, aren't you even a little bit won over by the way that only I sexily see through to your inner beauty?
AGNES: Not when weighed against the fact that you are A CREEPY BLOODSUCKER, no, I THINK I DESERVE BETTER.

And she does! In general Agnes gets to win a little bit more here than she did in Maskerade, or at least not lose as actively -- I mean, for once, it's just nice to see her be the one doing the rejecting -- but she still doesn't really get a Moment of Triumph, which made me a little wistful. There are all these hints at the beginning about the development of a super interesting dynamic between Magrat and Agnes that then aren't really followed up on because other stuff gets in the way. I would read the Magrat and Agnes Do It On Their Own book in a heartbeat.

But really, as always with Lancre stuff, it's Granny Weatherwax's book as soon as she chooses to make it so. And since she spends pretty much every single minute she's onscreen being pure distilled Essence of Granny at her most awesome, it's hard to even resent her for it. I laughed and laughed when Mightily Oats took a moment to wonder if even the Prophet Brutha would have lost his patience carrying Granny Weatherwax across the desert. Brutha carried Vorbis across the desert! And yet I have to agree, in some ways Granny Weatherwax possibly does present even more of a challenge.

(Also, I have great affection for Mightily Oats. He's pretty adorable.)

I enjoyed Jingo! It's certainly not a bad book. It is absolutely a much better book about racism than Men at Arms was; I mean, it is certainly not a perfect book about racism, but it's trying hard in a much better direction than Men at Arms was. It's also just about as subtle as a pile of bricks to the head.

Here is a brief summary of the experience of reading Jingo:

NATIONALISM IS STUPID

NATIONALISM IS STUPID

*pause for some wacky comedy Nobby and Colon*

BREAKING NEWS BULLETIN: NATIONALISM, STILL STUPID

*pause for Carrot to do something ambiguously too-perfect-to-be-true in a way that is terrifying*

NATIONALISM IS STUPID AND LEADS TO WAR, WHICH IS ALSO STUPID, NOT TO MENTION SCARY

*pause for some more wacky comedy with Nobby and Colon and Leonard of Quirm*

HEY GUYS SO ABOUT WAR: IT INVOLVES PEOPLE DYING

IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS MESSAGE, HERE IS A SPECIAL ALERT: WAR IS THE BIGGEST CRIME OF ALL

SO HOW ABOUT WE AVOID IT BY NOT BEING STUPID ABOUT NATIONALISM

GUYS?

GUYS . . .?

*time for Vimes to come home and make out with Lady Sybil onscreen*

*this is a big enough deal to merit its own line because this is the first time since Guards, Guards that Sybil has gotten even a glimmering more of a chance to do anything than fill the wife-shaped box in Vimes' story*

PS NATIONALISM IS DUMB

So at this point I feel a little bit like I have a "Nationalism Is Stupid"-shaped bruise on my head from having been hit with it so much over the course of the novel. But, I mean, that's okay! There are certainly much worse messages to have written on your head in bruises. And I enjoyed the process . . . of getting hit in the head . . .? . . . okay this metaphor may be breaking down. But you know what I mean!

(Also I had forgotten that there's a bit in this book where Vimes just flat-out pulls a Granny Weatherwax. "Here is the hot coal I am holding, because I am more badass than you." "Obviously that coal is not ho--OW!" "Yeah. It's hot. HEADOLOGIED. VIMES OUT." And now I want the book where they meet more than ever!)

I have to admit I was a little bit nervous, after my reaction to Men at Arms, about rereading Feet of Clay. Because Feet of Clay has always been one of my favorites, and what if I didn't love it?

Fortunately it turns out that I still feel totally okay loving Feet of Clay. Because DORFL and CHERI. I mean, other things too, but: DORFL and CHERI.

So let's talk first about Dorfl!

So the golem theme in this book is about freedom and humanity and is basically Discworld's chance to do the extremely beloved sci-fi theme of 'sentient robots! are they human? should they have rights? does using them . . . make us assholes . . .? WHAT ABOUT IF THEY ARE EVIL KILLER ROBOTS DO THEY STILL HAVE RIGHTS THEN?'

And I generally like the stories that go 'pretty much yes' to all these questions, and Discworld does not fail me here. Feet of Clay is I think really the book that drives home how important it is, and how important it is to Vimes, that people are thought of as people. It's not just a class thing anymore. It's a freedom thing. And that works, in the way that the race thing did not in Men At Arms.

But while we're talking about things: so the gender thing!

( I guess this is spoilery? Does anybody not know about Cheri? )

But I am also really curious to see how other people read this stuff! Tell me your thoughts!

In other news: I think this is the last book where Carrot does not outright terrify me? I mean he's even starting to terrify me here, but I can still be like, 'aw, Carrot, you're sweet.' BUT THIS MAY WELL BE THE LAST TIME.

In other other news: still not enough Sybil.

So I am about a month late in reading Interesting Times for my big Discworld read project, but in my defense, a.) finals, and b.) ARGH, Interesting Times! One hundred percent the Discworld book I was least looking forward to rereading, and it was worse than I remembered.

So the plot of Interesting Times is this: Discworld Chinajapan is much too repressed, conformist, and instinctively obedient to have a revolution, even though one book about Ankh-Morpork made them all realize how much better the West was and therefore made them really want one! What these people need is some white dudes! Like Rincewind! And also Discworld GENGHIS KHAN to be the new Emperor and overthrow all of Chinajapan's ridiculous and pointless and outdated customs!

AW YEAH oh wait no.

There are also a lot of high-larious rape jokes around Cohen's army of octogenarians but this is really just the cherry of fail on the icing of racism on the cake of please Terry Pratchett never try to write about Asian countries again.


PS: but this book did give us one good thing, which is Rincewind pondering that there is no particular reason to think of the Luggage as male, even though the Luggage finds a lady Luggage and spawns tiny Luggages, so I am down with the Luggage being a lesbian.

PPS: okay this book also gave us Twoflower being adorable and sad but that doesn't fix ANY OF THE PROBLEMS.