Rating: 
Summary: A Must Read, Pratchett Fan or Not!
Review: Monstrous Regiment is one of the best works that Pratchett has written. Polly Perks disguises herself as a man to join the army of Borogravia, and we find out over the course of the book that she's not the only one. As usual, Pratchett draws upon a wealth of sources to bring us this glimpse into another facet of the Disc. Many would argue that due to the introduction of new characters and the setting being in a non-explored corner of the Disc this book would pale in comparison to many of the other more mainstream titles in the series. I for one feel that this introduction is refreshing and will undoubtedly inject new blood into the life of the series. I envision that one day the names of Perks, Maladict, and Jackrum will shine next to the familiar Vimes, Vetinari, and Weatherwax.
The Cheesmonger squad of Jackrum's Little "Lads" come together for various reasons and then clings together as a cohesive unit as they develop in a land that is actually mad. From the uncountable wars Boragravia engages in, to the madness of the Nugganite Law, we see that these women soldiers are the only sane ones involved. From the vampire, to Igorina, and from the pyromaniac to the Avatar of the Duchess we are treated to a roller coaster of fun and satire. This book deserves to be on the shelf of every Pratchett fan and will hopefully be a spring board for new adventures involving the cast of Monstrous Regiment.
Rating:
Summary: The Female Is Deadlier Than the Male
Review: Monstrous Regiment is the thirty-first novel in the Discworld series, following The Wee Free Men. This novel is set in the Grand Duchy of Borogravia. The national god, Nuggan, has a holy book, like most gods, but HE issues frequent and direct updates to the Abominations appendix in each copy of his book within Borogravia, so that it is a "living testament". Among other things that are an Abomination unto Nuggan are chocolate, garlic, cats, dwarfs, the color blue, and women wearing men's clothing.These Abominations have led to the Borogravians tearing down the clacker towers through the region, which greatly annoys Ankh-Morpork and the surrounding countries. Lord Vetinari sends Sam Vimes as his special envoy to the Alliance of nations invading Borogravia. His first priority is ending the war. In this novel, Polly Perks decides to go look for her older brother, who had enlisted in the Tenth Foot, his father's old unit, and hasn't written home for much too long. Paul is a bit simple, so Polly has been minding him since she was very young and she sees no reason to stop doing so. Polly cuts her hair short and dresses as a young man -- an Abomination unto Nuggan -- and travels to a small town where she is not known. She enlists as Oliver Perks in the Tenth Foot, the Ins-and-Outs, and several others enlist right after her, including a vampire, a Troll, and an Igor. Sergeant Jackrum cheerfully signs them up, has them kiss the Duchess' picture, and gives them an IOU for their shilling. Corporal Strappi, however, has misgivings about the whole thing. When the recruits reach Plotz, they discover that they are the very last to join up, so there is a shortage of uniforms and equipment and the available materiel has been scrounged from the dead and wounded. Moreover, their new officer, Lieutenant Blouse, informs them that they will be skipping arms training and going directly into battle. Strappi thinks this is funny until he learns that he will be accompanying them. Then the Lieutenant gives Sergeant Jackrum his discharge papers. At this point, the real fun begins. Strappi goes AWOL, Jackrum manages to nullify his discharge, the enemy sends a cavalry patrol to intercept them, and an Ankh-Morpork reporter shows up to cover their capture. Along the way, Polly learns that she isn't the only woman in the army under false pretenses. This novel satires the usual targets -- aristocrats, petty gods, snoops and busybodies, etc. -- but also takes aim at warfare and at the role of women therein. Although he exaggerates for effect, the author points out that it is a little too late to protect women from the horrors of war, for women have been just as much involved in war as men since time immemorial and some have even disguised themselves as men and served in the armies. As Polly observes, at least she gets to carry weapons and get some respect as a man. While military communal showers would probably make it difficult for women to successfully pass as men nowadays, the barrier has already been broken many times. This novel is not as farcical as many previous works, but it does have its moments, particularly when the women disguised as men pose as washerwomen. The Lieutenant provides a fair amount of comedy just by his romantic notions of warfare and dreams of glory, as contrasted to Sergeant Jackrum's pragmatic cynicism. The title of this novel apparently alludes to a misogynist pamphlet by John Knox, The Monstrous Regiment of Women; this disparaging view of women seems to be the main target of this satire. The ending of this novel is not really a termination, for the cycle of warfare continues and Polly is off on another mission. Possibly there will be a sequel! Recommended for Pratchett fans and anyone else who enjoys social satire and ironical comments in a fantasy setting.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing from a great author
Review: The challenging part of writing fantasy is making the unbelievable believable. Sadly, Terry Pratchett does not meet the challenge in "Monstrous Regiment". I have read and enjoyed previous Discworld stories, and was sorely disappointed in this book. I picked it up fully anticipating another great read, and kept anticipating the story to smooth out until the last few chapters. Unfortunately, every chapter got worse and it was with a heavy heart (and heavy eyelids) that I closed this book for the last time. The characters were only mildly interesting, and the many revelations about them were rather more grating than surprising. The overall theme of the book left me rolling my eyes and sighing, something I would not have expected from Terry Pratchett. My advice: if you are looking for a good fantasy novel, go back to some older Terry Pratchett, and leave this one on the shelf.
Rating:
Summary: A Few Words to the New Pratchett Reader
Review: There are a lot of books in the Discworld series. Believe me when I say that I am not overemphasizing the term "a lot". But someone who has never read any of the previous books need not fear that he or she will be lost and confused by diving into "Monstrous Regiment". Many of the characters have rich, personal histories that fans have followed over the course of several volumes. It's not necessary, though, to know all about Sam Vimes, for instance, because although he has been the lead character in other books, he plays a secondary role in this one and that role is quite clear without knowing heaps of backstory.
I highly recommend reading "Monstrous Regiment" but I don't think it should be the very first volume of the Discworld series a new fan picks up. It's really better to start with the first book, "The Color of Magic", and read through a few.
I say this because I view "Monstrous Regiment" as the second in a new Discworld series, of sorts. This book and the one before, "Night Watch", have a decidedly different, more mature tone. Some Pratchett fans might be disappointed by the writer's turn, but I say that everyone has to grow up sometime -- even authors. Frankly, although the first Discworld books were hilarious, it became quite clear to me that Pratchett ran out of steam. The later books weren't as funny and were sort of repetitive. In other words, after "Hogfather", I think the whole series goes a bit sideways.
"Night Watch" was really different and it shocked me. I didn't like it too much, but I appreciated that Pratchett was trying to do something different. With "Monstrous Regiment", I think he actually accomplished this. It's not only a brilliant commentary on how men treat women (and how women often treat other women) it's a scathing indictment of what happens to a country that is too war-like. I think, considering when it was written, he might have been talking about our own fair, US of A. But, I wasn't insulted; Britain's had plenty of blood on its hands over the centuries, so who knows who he was talking about, specifically.
Terry Pratchett has always been a good writer, but he's gotten better over the years, so I think the first books of the Discworld series are best for the new Pratchett reader so that they can be enjoyed on their own level. They don't have the gravitas or complexity of his newest books, but they shouldn't be missed.
Rating:
Summary: The army
Review: This book starts about a young lady trying to find her brother, and goining the army. The book is well written, shows the futility of war, plus the other suides of it, glory, doing what needs to be done etc. It also handles some other areas well such as desrimination against women ( after readibng the book most of the cvharcters are women). And some of the struggle faced by women in this world. Not just the disc world. I would reccomend this book to any in the military, as it shows good command structure and control of troops well, also is is a well presented book which is a good read.
Rating: 
Summary: No, I'm pretty sure it was Pratchett, all right!
Review: This is a flawed book, not quite up to NIGHT WATCH, which was one of his best. However, we must keep in mind -- lite Pratchett is better than no Pratchett!
I feel that one of the problems with this outing is an apparent unwillingness to quit. I couldn't find the ending! It seemed to reach several stopping points, and breezed on by them. The Sargent could have been left in the closet and nothing would have been hurt. Everyone didn't have to turn out to be a woman, frankly, although that was funny -- initially.
But, like I said, Pratchett lite is still Pratchett, and one can't be expected to knock it out of the park every time. I admit to giving it an extra star for nostalgia's sake.
Rating: 
Summary: terry pratchett's worst novel
Review: Warfare is the one subject that Pratchett's satire cannot handle. There was a foretaste of this in the disappointing Jingo, but Monstrous Regiment is a disaster. Pratchett can easily make us believe in a flat world carried on a giant turtle, but he can't make us believe in a world where a lot of otherwise normal girls decide to dress up as men and join the army, and, even more inexplicably, succeed in this transparent ruse. We find out, over and over again, that the soldiers are really women in disguise, and that is about all there is to the plot. What's the point of it? The author makes occasional nods to soppy pacifist cliches (war-never-settled-anything, etc.) but he doesn't believe these himself. Pratchett is at heart a realist, like his heroes Vetinari and Vimes. He knows that evil exists and that force is often necessary: the aggressor state Borogravia in this novel is a vicious theocratic tyranny, resembling the state of Omnium in Small Gods, but with clear echoes of Islamic fascism. The existence of such polities is enough to show that some wars are good, but Pratchett shrinks from connecting the dots, and concludes with a silly utopian fantasy that seems to have something to do with Women bringing Peace to the World. Pratchett's keen ear for cant deserts him when he turns to this subject. Maybe out of fear of offending the chattering-class lefties who control British publishing?
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