Jingo
1996
- fiction
- samuel vimes (fictitious character)
- discworld (imaginary place)
- fantasy
- discworld (imaginary place), fiction
- fiction, fantasy, general
- carrot (fictitious character : pratchett), fiction
- discworld (lugar imaginario)
- ficción
- vimes, samuel (personaje literario)
The story
It isn't much of an island that rises up one moonless night from the depths of the Circle Sea -- just a few square miles of silt and some old ruins. Unfortunately, the historically disputed lump of land called Leshp is once again floating directly between Ankh-Morpork and the city of Al-Khali on the coast of Klatch -- which is spark enough to ignite that glorious internationalpastime called "war." Pressed into patriotic service, Commander Sam Vimes thinks he should be leading his loyal watchmen, female watchdwarf, and lady werewolf into battle against local malefactors rather than against uncomfortably well-armed strangers in the Klatchian desert. But war is, after all, simply the greatest of all crimes -- and it's Sir Samuel's sworn duty to seek out criminal masterminds wherever they may be hiding ... and lock them away before they can do any real damage. Even the ones on his own side.
What it’s like
A sun-bleached, sand-gritted satire that turns the Discworld's desert stretches into a place of hot wind, blue-white glare and dusty tents, with the sharp contrast of Ankh-Morpork's grimy cobbles and smoky taverns never far off. Its voice is the real texture here: brisk, wry, full of footnote-style asides and barbed one-liners that make the pages move fast, while the comedy carries a steady undercurrent of unease about jingoism and the easy stories nations tell themselves before a fight. The mood is witty and warm rather than grim, a comic adventure with a thoughtful spine, and its people are a rumpled, decent police commander and the watch he has half-inherited, slowly learning how little a war has to do with the reasons given for it. Violence is present, mostly skirmishes and a few bloody but quick moments, handled with comic distance rather than lingering gore; no sexual content, and little real fear beyond tension. It suits a lazy weekend read, a long train journey, or a reread for anyone who loves clever, satirical fantasy with a human heart, and it especially rewards those who enjoy the Watch books and want a sharper, more pointed edge.
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