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Yer mom wears army boots!

Men and women, women and men. Men without women, women doing just fine without men.

Terry Pratchett’s 31st Discworld novel, first published in 2003, is somewhat of a departure from the other series. We see Sam Vimes and some members of his watch and there are distant grumblings about Ankh-Morpork, but this is for the most part a stand alone about the small, proud truculent nation of Borogravia.

This struggling nation state is foundering after decades or centuries of warfare, attacking and “defending�� against the aggression of its neighbors. But Pratchett draws a picture of a population and culture bent and warped by a ridiculous religion and the near worship of a monarch. Blind faith and mistaken loyalties are two of the elements that Sir Terry has fun with in this very well done novel.

Told in a more lineal manner than many of his eclectic stories, this one has more a more somber tone than most, this being about war, but it also had some of the most laugh out loud scenes of any of his books. Perhaps Pratchett, taking on a serious subject, realized the need for some uproarious comic relief. His sense of timing is impeccable.

I always like it, whether in a film or a book, when a supporting character takes over and steals the show. While the protagonist here is a young girl who cuts her hair and surreptitiously joins the army, Sergeant Jackrum takes over and is by far the most interesting player.

This one took a while to get moving for me but then it really took over and I thoroughly enjoyed this. Pratchett asks some serious questions �� in his enjoyably non-serious way �� and leaves the reader with some thought provoking ideas about war and peace, about ourselves, and the value of tradition against common sense.

*** 2024 reread -

A ubiquitous theme in Pratchett’s work is women acting in ways that are not “woman�� like. Terry’s description of Dwarf culture is the most obvious in this category but there are others, namely with the witches, but really throughout his canon.

But here’s the thing, this is not just about feminism and how that can positively effect our world, but more than that, it’s about humanism and the primacy of the individual. Sir Terry was himself a member of and a prominent supporter of the British Humanist Association. From the writings of another of my favorite writers, Kurt Vonnegut, we can see that humanism is all about individualism, promoting the agency of individuals over the external and arbitrary rules from institutions that would diminish the importance of everyone’s self governance. Whether it is from a church, a system of government, the traditions of a country or region, or a domineering philosophy or ideology, Pratchett reminds us to be vigilant against what would undermine our intrinsic value and autonomy.

There were scenes that reminded me of Bertold Brecht’s 1939 play Mother Courage and Her Children. We have women surreptitiously standing against a corrupt and hostile system of war that chews up children and societies and is kept alive by perpetual indignation and propped up patriotism. While Pratchett is a comedic virtuoso, he follows the vision of Brecht to rightly vilify what is villainous.

This also made me think about China Mieville’s The City & The City for its absurdist but provocative tone. Pratchett pokes wicked fun at the hypocrisy in such a scenario and there are some scenes that were golden.

The forced perspective influence of government propaganda also made me think of the writings of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. One quote that kept coming up while I read this was the old one that goes something like, “They Lie To Us, We Know They’re Lying, They Know We Know They’re Lying But They Keep Lying Anyway, and We Keep Pretending To Believe Them��

### - Apparently this is not attributed to Solzhenitsyn but rather Elena Gorokhova. However it is consistent with his writings.

“Do you think it's possible for an entire nation to be insane?”��

Pratchett describes the Discworld country of Borogravia where they are in perpetual war. Orwell wrote, “we were at war with East Asia, we had always been at war with East Asia�� except Winston remembered that they had once been at war with Eurasia. But to question this simple fact is seen as treasonous, or blasphemous. The citizens of Borogravia are stuck in a ridiculous, farcical dystopia that is unsustainable but no one can question or fight against the nonsensical and murderous regime for fear of retaliation from not just the ruling Duchy but generations of Borogravians who worship an executive and a system that they mostly know is false. The prevarication is further supported by an informal system of enforcement of patriotism. There is a scene where a non-commissioned officer begins to sing the national anthem and everyone dutifully and minimalistically joins in for no other reason than they are supposed to join in and there is the suggestion that to not publicly sing along will get them in trouble.

While I considered that this could also be an allegory poking fun at the North Korean regime, this could be satirically applied to any oppressive system.

While this is treated by Pratchett in humorous tones, this is one of his most plaintive admonitions and one of his most scathing satires. Many of my favorite ŷ������ reviewers have gushed over this book, and I get it, this novel is not just one of the best Discworld books, but a demonstration of some of his most potent writing.

I knew that Sargent Jackrum had stolen the show when I read this the first time and even though this is Jackrum’s sole entry in the Discworld chronicles, Jackrum is a great character.

Finally, all my musings aside, the surface story is about women in the military. Let me say here and now for any and all to see that I am a retired Veteran and I know for a fact that women can be and frequently are excellent soldiers.

Perhaps not a good introduction to his writing for new readers, this is still excellent and I cannot recommend this higher.