Men at Arms

Another wild romp through Discworld! Corporal Carrot, a young dwarf, is newly
in charge of the recruits guarding Ankh-Morpork. Edward, the 37th Lord d'Eath,
has just discovered that Ankh-Morpork, kingless for generations, has a
sovereign ruler, who must be convinced that he is, in fact, the King. The fate
of Ankh-Morpork rides on a young man's courage, an ancient sword's magic, and
a three-legged poodle's bladder.

In his latest effort, Pratchett skewers the hard-boiled detective novel as
effectively as he's satired fantasy fiction all these years. Set on Discworld,
there are a few more gargoyles and exploding dragons than Sam Spade ever had
to deal with. But there's a trail of corpses and a hero named Carrot
determined to track down the killer. His partners-the token dwarf, troll and
werewolf on the police force-must overcome discrimination as well as the
occasional rampaging orangutan. Although Men at Arms isn't as consistently
funny as his earlier novels, the dialogue is hilarious, and Pratchett's take
on affirmative action is a whole lot of fun. There's not a lot of rational
narrative cause-and-effect here, but it doesn't really matter. As usual,
Pratchett provides enough bad-tempered clowns, bloodthirsty trolls and dogs
with low self-esteem to keep readers entertained.

Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.