Igorina opening a gynaecology clinic on the basis that many women would prefer to see a female practitioner. Sometime later, despite the peace they had desperately fought for, conflict breaks out again. Polly, having received correspondence from Sgt Jackrum, leaves the tavern to seek new ways to fight a war using the influence she gained and finds herself in the role of commander of boy-impersonating young women who are marching off to war, reuniting with Maladicta. Characters Borogravians Grand Duchess Annagovia General Froc Major Clogston Lieutenant Blouse (of the Tenth Infantry) Private Lart Hubukurk the younger Private Joe Hubukurk the elder (retired) Sergeant-Major Jack Jackrum Corporal Strappi Polly Perks Igor Maladict Carborundum "Tonker" Halter "Shufti" Manickle "Wazzer" Goom "Lofty" Tewt Enid Zlobenians and other neighboring countries Prince Heinrich Ankh-Morporkians Samuel Vimes (of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch) Angua von Überwald Buggy Swires Reg Shoe Clarence Chinny (Consul to Zlobenia) William de Worde (of the Ankh-Morpork Times) Otto Chriek (of the Ankh-Morpork Times) Ronald Rust Reception The New York Times felt that Monstrous Regiment "had serious heft", comparing Pratchett's depiction of "the pity of war" to Wilfred Owen. The Chicago Reader, addressing the 2014 stage adaptation, considered it to be largely "a satire on the flimsiness of traditional gender roles", while Publishers Weekly noted its "astute comments on power, religious intolerance and sexual stereotyping". At Boing Boing, Cory Doctorow lauded Pratchett's "capacity for marvellous bathos", "epic" characterization, and "drum-tight" plotting, commending the "sprightliness" with which the novel's philosophical themes are integrated into the text. PopMatters felt that the book lacked subtlety, but was "more than one-dimensional", commending Pratchett for "manag[ing] to walk right on the edge of proselytizing without ever quite crossing over" and for showing that there is no "clear-cut solution" to the issues which led to the Borogravian conflict. BuzzFeed, however, was far more negative, calling it "clunky", and ranking it last among the adult-oriented Discworld novels published prior to the announcement of Pratchett's diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease. References External links Annotations for Monstrous Regiment Quotes from Monstrous Regiment Monstrous Regiment at Worlds Without End Milunka Savić Milunka Savič story 2003 fantasy novels 2003 British novels Cross-dressing in literature Discworld books Doubleday (publisher) books Novels set in fictional wars British comedy novels