Review: Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett.

[Marky Lazer]

My second "real" Discworld review.

Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms. New York: HarperTorch, 2000. Pp. 377. ISBN 0-06-109219-3, (paperback.) $7.99.

And again we dive blindly into a chapterless novel, set on a gigantic turtle that carries four colossal elephants that share the burden of the Discworld on their shoulders. But the elephants are not the only ones with a burden to carry in Men at Arms. In 377 pages the reader finds out Ankh-Morpork has a long-lost heir to the throne (who does not want to carry that burden). There is also Captain Samuel Vimes, Ankh-Morpork City Guard (Night Watch) with burdens of his own. Not only is he getting married to the Lady Ramkin and “become a Gentleman in the bargain” (Pratchett, book’s blurb), he also has to deal with “affirmative action” forced upon him by the city’s Patrician, Lord Vetinari, and that pretty much means he has to recruit species “he doesn’t like much” (Pratchett, 22) as observed by Corporal Carrot Ironfoundersson:
‘[W]e had to advertise for a troll recruit. And then we had to have a dwarf, otherwise they’d be trouble. I’m a dwarf, too, but the dwarfs here don’t believe it.”
“You don’t say?” said Angua, looking up at him.
“My mother had me by adoption.”
“Oh. Yes, but I’m not a troll or a dwarf,” said Angua sweetly.
“No, but you’re a w—” (22-3).
And if all that is not bad enough, the city ruled by Disorganized Crime, gets overflown with mysteriously killed citizens: a dwarf with a hole as big as his chest is first. Then a beggar’s girl, Lettice Knibbs, and a clown named Beano. The Assassin’s Guild says these murders are not of their doing and when the Patrician tells The Watch twice they are not allowed to investigate, it is obviously bound to happen they will do exactly that. In Men at Arms the Night Watch has to answer many a question: Who is responsible for these murders? Where is Leonard da Quirm? (186-93) And what exactly is a gonne? (93).
The reader meets some familiar characters. The main characters from The Watch: Carrot, Colon and Nobby (from Guards! Guards!) are present, but Death (Pratchett, 26) and the Librarian (Pratchett, 321-2) show up, too. And:
“Then she stirred the debris with her foot.
And then her gaze met that of a small, non-descript mongrel dog” (Pratchett, 52).
That is right! We meet one of our favourite cameo characters again (which was introduced in Moving Pictures, p. 84): Gaspode – the dog that looks like “halitosis with a wet nose” (52). And lastly, we have a newly added man of the Watch in the form of Angua, who is a woman and a fine addition for upcoming City Watch novels.
Besides familiar characters, the good old familiar satirizing of all troubles in our world is again present in the novel, mainly affirmative action (22), clown’s jokes (134-43) and the detective thriller. Pratchett pretty much wrote a hard-boiled detective novel, but “because the person murdered is a dwarf, it becomes a fantasy [novel]” the author “reassured” readers in The Sunday Times. The most interesting Pratchettism (a complete new wave in satire) in the novel is probably the argument about rich people. “The reason that the rich were so rich was because they managed to spend less money.” In other words, rich people can afford the cheap products that poor people cannot afford. It sounds illogical, but it is the truth if one was to think it through further – luckily Pratchett spelled it all out for us (Pratchett, 29).
Pratchett wrote a murder story, so get out a looking glass and start doing some investigating, Lance-Constable!
Sources

Appleyard, Brian. “Terry Pratchett, Lord of Discworld, fights to save his powers.” 8 Jun 2008. Times Online. <http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article4085858ece>.

Pratchett, Terry. Guards! Guards!. New York: HarperTorch, 2001.

Pratchett, Terry. Men at Arms. New York: HarperTorch, 2000.

Pratchett, Terry. Moving Pictures. New York: HarperTorch, 2002.

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[Marky Lazer]

And looking glass in the last line is of course a magnifying glass. You just misread that. No offense.

 

[Culhwch]

Moved to Reviews.

 

[Joel007]

Excellent Glad you've enjoyed yet another Pratchettism Marky!

 

[Marky Lazer]

Pasting it into messes up the format/lay-out a bit, but that can't be helped with my lousy Internet skills.

 

[Culhwch]

May I just say what a bizarre cover that is. Has nothing on the original.

 

[Marky Lazer]

I know! I got all these horrible covers. They're American mass paperback editions, and frankly, they all suck.

 

[Culhwch]

It just doesn't correspond with the story at all. Well, besides the cuffs. Looks like it's about a bunch of stoners who get arrested after Woodstock, or something. Horrid.

 

[Thadlerian]

May I just say what a bizarre cover that is. Has nothing on the original.

Unlike the original, though, it doesn't spoil vital plot elements. Still, utterly bizarre, however.