Jingo

Rating:
Summary: Deft and Humorous Critique of Invasion as Diplomacy
Review: A mysterious island appearing in the sea is claimed by both Ankh-Morpork and Al-Khali, capital of Klatch. Features an assasination, investigation by Carrot and Angua, a really annoying Palm Pilot, and a parody of Leonardo da Vinci. Makes good use of the minor Watch characters like Nobby, and includes a a lot of silliness blended with deft touches of anti-war sentiment (this could easily have become heavy-handed and unpleasant to wade through). On the down side, there are too many simultaneous plot lines, and it will not work well if you haven't read at least one or two of the other books in this sequence.

Rating:
Summary: the so called war
Review: A not-so-new island coming up from the sea causes diplomatic tension between Ankh-Morpork and its powerful neighbor, Klath. The tensions soon lead to a military confrontation - and yes, there's a problem. Only one side of the conflict has an army. Moreover, the army in question is led by a competent general, Ashal. Ankh-Morpork armed "forces" do include surprisingly good soldiers (like Willikins), but it is more than clear that they have not even a single goodish officer. The only one that is not a complete idiot turns out to be... oh, read for yourselves.
Little wonder the Klathians consider the war as a huge joke arranged for their amusement.
There's only one way to stop the ultimate destruction of the biggest city on Disc - diplomacy. With some support of idiot actions taken by people who either never dreamed to be considered soldiers (Vimes) or those who thought it's their birthright to be called officers (Rust) the necessary steps are taken.
And it all leads to an ... interesting end!
I admit I personally tell the difference between an "interesting" and "potentially interesting" Discworld book by checking out how much space is given to Vetinari, and I find that "Jingo" is absolutely satisfying. Take the "donkey-minaret" thing.
For all those of you who don't like Carrot=Superman thing, read the book. Oh, he does turn out to be abnormally clever and nice, but at least it doesn't make a big difference. For the Vimes's fans - read it, too. The man never claimed to be a soldier, after all. Vetinari's supporters will find themselves overhelmed with pure joy and purring . And it is nice to meet the other old friends - Angua, Detritius, Dorfl.
I strongly recommend reading earlier Watch books before this one, you'll miss too many jokes if you start with Jingo.
A must-read. Pratchett at his best.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely one of my favorites
Review: As an avid Discworld fan, I'll acknowledge that the quality can ebb and flow from novel to novel. That said, this is one of the best. The humor depends more on familiarity with the characters than anything (though most of the books can be read in any order, I wouldn't recommend this one until you've gotten acquainted with the Guard; there are some priceless character interactions that would be lost on the uninitiated), and the story relies more on that than the usual spoofing of a real-world convention, although even that works far better in this story than it does in many of his other novels.

Rating:
Summary: Yay!
Review: Discworld is one of the few bookseries that seems to be improving as it goes along even after twenty something books, a real feat! It changed from random humor into parody into satire, and this is personally one of my favorite books, it's hilarious, while questioning the ideas of war. I won't bother describing the plot when everyone else has already done so.

Rating:
Summary: Please excuse the pocket dis-organizer....
Review: Jingo - a warm, heartfelt novel about the struggle between two nations...
hmm... maybe not.

It's really about an island that pops up between these two continents - and they both wanted to claim it.

Meanwhile, Commander Samuel Vimes of Ankh-Morpork is trying to keep his family life together (meaning - he and his wife always eat together. Well, at least dinner. Most of the time.) while keeping up with his never-ending chase of criminals.

And when the prince from the other continent (Klatch), on a diplomatic mission in Ankh-Morpork, is almost killed, war is started.

Vetinari goes on a little mission of his own, in a submarine (though it's real name is much longer) invented by one Leonard of Quirm, and Angua boards a ship heading for Klatch and has to get rescued by her boyfriend, Captain Carrot (who is quite calm about the whole thing, of course).
By Jingo!

Filled with the satire that could only be written down this way correctly by Terry Pratchett, Jingo is a fun story that takes you up in the spinning of the Diskworld.

Rating:
Summary: War comes to Discworld!
Review: Jingo is yet another book that takes place in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. It's the fourth book to feature the City Watch, which is the police force of Ankh-Morpork, a city on the Disc. It's also one of the best. The City Watch, in its initial incarnation, was an homage to those no-name soldiers, troopers and other various cannon-fodder that inhabit adventure and sci-fi movies. They're usually hapless, the hero runs right over them, and their survival rate is fairly low. Originally, it consisted of three people, Samuel Vimes, Nobby Nobs, and Sergeant Colon.

This was until Carrot joined. Carrot is a human who was raised by dwarves, thus he considers himself a dwarf. He's the ultimate innocent, but yet he has a way of getting people to listen to him and follow him. By the time of Jingo, he's been raised to Captain (no comic book jokes, please). This all happened in the first City Watch book, Guards Guards. In subsequent books, the Watch has grown almost exponentially. It now has over 50 members, with more joining all the time. In fact, Jingo jokes a couple of times about how Vimes, the commander of the Watch, doesn't know that somebody's joined. It's very common for him to say "Who's that?" and be told that he signed the paperwork.

Jingo involves an island that has suddenly appeared between Ankh-Morpork and the land of Klatch. Klatch is based on the Arab countries of our world, and there are quite a few jokes about how something that was supposedly invented in Ankh-Morpork has been used in Klatch for years. The people of Ankh-Morpork have a lot of the same stereotypes of Klatchians as exist in the real world about Arabs as well. Pratchett goes to great lengths to show just how stupid this is. He portrays the actual Klatchians very well, with no actual stereotypes that I saw.

Anyway, both Ankh-Morpork and Klatch lay claim to this island, and thus talk of war begins. There's an attempt on the life of a Klatchian prince and other sorts of violence start to break out in the city. Samuel Vimes is trying to deal with all of this. He's a simple cop who just wants to solve crimes, but sometimes the crimes are too big for one man to solve. Events start to spiral out of control and Vimes and some of his troops find themselves in Klatch trying to stop things before the war gets out of hand.

There are so many wonderful characters in these City Watch books, and this one even adds some more. The main new character is 71-hour Ahmed, a Klatchian who's more than what he seems. Vimes has to deal with him a lot, and while he starts out seeming stereotypical, but he eventually develops into a well-rounded character. There's Reg Shoe, who I understand is introduced in a non-City Watch book, but becomes a member of the Watch in this book. He's a zombie. Then there are the regulars, such as Carrot, Detritus (a troll), Constable Visit, Colon, Nobs, the Patrician (who, uncharacteristically, takes an active role in events after he's deposed from power), and finally Vimes himself. There are just too many of them to describe them all, but they all have their hilarious moments.

Vimes is who the books are essentially about, and he gets the most character development. He used to be a drunk who barely got by, and didn't have to do anything in his job. He wasn't required to, because nobody gave the Watch any respect anyway. Carrot gave him a sense of duty, though, and he's progressed well since then. Jingo continues this progression, as he tries to stop the madness. Vimes is always an interesting person to read about. He's not a violent man, and he's trapped in a violent circumstance. Watching him get out of it is very entertaining.

Discworld is known for it's humour, and this is a very funny book. Pratchett usually cloaks his philosophical points in the laughs. This book isn't quite as funny as the previous ones, though, and the philosophy sticks out even more in this one because of it. It basically points out the pointlessness of mindless militarism, nationalism and patriotism. The closest thing it is a parody of is the Falklands conflict, with a war over a worthless piece of land that nobody in their right mind would want anyway. Along the way, though, many jokes are cracked. The best thing about the City Watch books is that the humour seems to come from within the characters, which makes for very zany, yet almost believable, events. That's why I prefer them.

This book is definitely worth a read. You could start with it, but I would suggest that you read the first three: Guards Guards, Men at Arms, and Feet of Clay. There is a progression of character that you will miss if you start with Jingo. But don't miss this one. It's a keeper.

Rating:
Summary: Pratchett scores again
Review: Of all the series-within-a-series that the Discworld books include (Death, Rincewind, Granny Weatherwax, etc.), my favorite has to be the tales of Captain Vimes and the Ankh-Morpork Watch. "Jingo" continues their tales with an adventure that begins with a lost island arising from the sea. This, naturally, edges the city of Ankh-Morpork to the brink of war with Klatch for no apparent reason.

One of the things that made this book stand out, even from the other Watch books, is how Pratchett got to shine a spotlight on some lesser-used characters. Corporal Nobbs ("Nobby") gets a great, brilliantly funny subplot that starts with him wanting to find a nice girl and concludes someplace so wonderfully absurd I refuse to spoil it for you. Vimes is the level-headed leader of men we've come to expect. Even Lord Vetinari gets a chance to shine in this book like he hasn't in the earlier volumes. My personal favorite character, Captain Carrot, is pushed a bit to the background this time out, but he gets so much development in the other books it's hard to complain. Even here there are a few moments that show exactly how superhumanly rational Carrot is, rounding him out quite nicely.

Pratchett can blend satire, comedy and adventure in a way no one else can. If the day ever comes where I tire of the Discworld, you'll have to roll me away under a tarp.

Rating:
Summary: Jingoism
Review: Once again Terry Pratchett mirrors the irreverence of our own world with this charming little novel concerning a war between a very western Ankh-Morpork and a very middle-eastern Klatch. As usual the references from literature and the history of the real world as well as aspects of current events wormed their way through that beautiful dimensional portal in Pratchett's brain to give us a delightful romp and thought provoking look at one of the most basic and primal human events. It was written in the finest tradition of the City Watch series which seem to always show that true duty and realism tend to win out over the insanity that the majority of the world engages in. Watch out for 71-Hour Ahmed and the rest of the D'Regs, but they even seem weak next to the power of Corporal Nobbs in a dress. If you're a Pratchett fan, you're going to read it, and if you're not a Pratchett fan, become one.

Rating:
Summary: Pratchett Takes on Politics
Review: Terry Pratchett made it clear about a dozen books ago that when he is writing - no one is safe. Jingo focuses on the government control, or lack thereof, of Leshp - an island that has mysteriously surfaced between Ankh-Morpork (which is, of course, nothing like Britain) and Klatch (which is, of course, nothing like Northern Africa or the Middle East).
Making fun of politics both modern and medieval, Jingo showcases the City Watch from such books as Men At Arms and Feet of Clay. Commander Vimes, a constant adversary of the nobility, faces the daunting task of averting a war when the hilariously clueless noblemen of the city attempt to raise an army to fight the vastly superior forces of Klatch for control of Leshp.
This is one of the standout books of the series, especially if you have a disdain for politics in general. Pratchett is dead-on on his satirical commentary and even manages to squeeze in a plot among all the irony. Top notch!

Rating:
Summary: one of his best!
Review: This is one of my favorite Pratchett books! If you've never read Terry Pratchett before: Welcome to a thinly veiled version of London in which social classes and races are represented by various fanatic creatures: gargoyles, humans, trolls, dwarves, etc.-all trying to live together and get along. Uberwald is Germany. Klatch is something like the near east. You'll recognize other places. Disc World is basically earth with London at the center and a few weird twists.

For those who are familier with Pratchett: This is one of the books featuring the Night Watch, but it's a somewhat mixed media performance with a lot from the Patrician (who is my favorite) and Lenard of Querm, also a bit from the wizards. A mysteries island rises out of the sea and both Klatch and Ank-morpork claim ownership. Some people in each country are willing to go to war over the island...but do they have ulterior motives?

In the confusion of a visit from the Klachian prince, Angua is kidnapped (want to know how to kidnap a werewolf? Read the book!) and the whole Watch sets off after her to Klatch, where they unravel a cunning conspiracy. The book has plenty of depth, makes a number of valid points about war, politics, racial prejudice (both prejudice against a minority race AND prejudice in favor of a minority race), and is just superior all-round storytelling. This is one of the few Pratchett's I've read twice.