What aunt_zelda Thinks: Jingo (+ early thoughts on 'Going Postal')
That was awesome, hilarious, and just as good (if not better) than Feet of Clay.
Well, I take that back. I think it's actually impossible to compare one Discworld book to another. While Feet of Clay was more a "whodunnit?! ... oh, and Cheery's a woman" Jingo is a lot less easier to explain and/or summarize. I mean, you've got:
*The general plot of an island that rises up out of the ocean and has two countries (I still don't get how Ankh-Morpork counts as a country, I mean, is this like a city-state thing like they had in Renaissance Italy or what?) poised to fight a war over the smelly seaweed coated thing.
**Then there's Vimes being all kinds of badass and heroic and Genre Savvy and dragging most of the Watch along with him in his adventures.
***Then there's Colon and Nobby and Vetinari and Leonard who ... have quite possibly the best B-Plot in the history of fiction. I could go on and on about how much I squeed, laughed hysterically, and wanted to give Mr. Pratchett a hug for each and every one of those rocket-threatening, harem-pants wearing, randomly-juggling, and generally hysterical scenes.
****And there's also the bits with two fishermen squabbling stupidly about the island in an oddly Shakespearian kind of way. It brought to mind the scenes of the soldiers in Henry V talking about their lot in life, personally. Very meta. We've got kings and commanders and watchmen and madmen, and then we keep coming back to two stubborn guys in the middle of the ocean.
And I'm certain that I left some stuff out (my brain's been all over the place this week) so let's get to my main three thoughts:
1) Vimes is a badass.
When I read that scene where he throws down his badge (and all the rest of the Watch follows suit) I didn't even squee I was so awestruck. If it had been on TV I might have cried a little.
I love how the racism was really affecting him, despite him trying to emulate Gene Hunt so much of the time. (Well, not to Gene Hunt levels, he's more a watered-down Gene Hunt I guess ... argh, talk to me in the comments about this, I'm not making any sense.)
He saved people from a burning building. That fact might be forgotten in all of the hubbub in the book, but still, he rushed into a burning building to save people, and when he found out who started the fire he nearly killed them because there were people in the building. That's one of those things that is just so perfect for showing a character's character that I had to mention it.
He commandeers a boat with the power of his snark. And Detritus. (Who is, btw, swiftly becoming one of my favorite Watch characters.)
I loved Vimes' dealings with 71-Hour Ahmed, especially in Klatch. I could feel the tension, just reading it, and I loved how they were so very, very similar and so very, very different. Also: wall-slamming! *SQUEE*
Vimes arrests TWO ARMIES. HOW FREAKING INSANE AND BADASS IS THAT?! I mean ... wow.
He runs after a purse-snatcher in his silly outfit WITH HALF THE CITY AT HIS BACK. And that's THE END OF THE BOOK. Awesomesauce.
2) Vetinari, Leonard, Colon, and Nobby are my new favorite team.
I know they'll never get back together like that again, but it was so much fun while it lasted.
Leonard completely failing at kidnapping Colon and Nobby.
Vetinari being so. freaking. SEXY. BADASS.
Colon and Nobby trying and failing to be smart/blend in/do pretty much anything but be hilarious, which they succeed in time and time again.
The whole street-preforming bit ... good GOD ... *sporfleDIEZ* Nobby ... in harem pants. And Vetinari juggling. I don't know which one is the funnier mental image.
Vetinari IS SO BADASS THAT HE MAKES JUGGLING BADASS! (And I thought he hated street-performers? Doesn't he have them tossed into the scorpion pits?)
3) Slash. Slash slash slash slash slash.
Now, some of you might be a tad confuzzled about this last point of mine. Jingo is, by and large, not all that a slashy of book. (It's no White Night.) [Warning: do not click on that link unless you have read 'White Night' and are mentally equipped to deal with the hyperactive squee-fest I posted last year.] However, I would like to draw your attention to two facts we get in Jingo:
Vetinari is keeping Leonard, a mad scientist Expy Keet with a Heart of Gold (how many tropes is that?) alive when he really should have killed him to be on the safe side (how many people does Vetinari, Xanatos Gambit extraordinarie, let live when they're dangerous? Uh ... *scratches head*) and frequently visits him to have tea and look over his inventions. And have sex. I mean really, who keeps a mad scientist locked up in their house? (Ok, ok, that's more of a 'Leonard is useful to Vetinari because of his inventions' kind of thing, but it's not too much of a stretch to imagine that something happened between them at least once. 'Saddlery regions' and all ...)
Oh, and that exchange towards the end of the book about Vetinari asking Sam to handcuff him? And then insisting that Sam handcuff him? And then asking if they have shackles? And then saying that he's going to give the Watch a bigger budget to buy shackles? I ... I really have no words for that. I DARE YOU to read that bit and truthfully tell me that you see no slashiness there. I'm pretty certain that Vetinari has a thing for Vimes, which is annoying as a fanfic writer because Vimes kinda detests Vetinari and is oh-so-wonderfully-in-love with his badass, snarky wife. OT3? Do I DARE?
Anyhoodle, I picked up Going Postal today. (I really need to stop buying so many books, my shelves are overflowing and my money is running low ...) And I freaking love it. Why? Because Moist is an anti-hero you have to like in that 'awwww, lookit the little trapped con man, isn't he cute? *glomps him*' way and Vetinari is freaking awesome right off the bat and I love him. I loveloveloveLOVE Vetinari. *SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*
(Help, I don't know how to stop reading the Discworld books out of order! *falls asleep hugging Going Postal*)
Well, I take that back. I think it's actually impossible to compare one Discworld book to another. While Feet of Clay was more a "whodunnit?! ... oh, and Cheery's a woman" Jingo is a lot less easier to explain and/or summarize. I mean, you've got:
*The general plot of an island that rises up out of the ocean and has two countries (I still don't get how Ankh-Morpork counts as a country, I mean, is this like a city-state thing like they had in Renaissance Italy or what?) poised to fight a war over the smelly seaweed coated thing.
**Then there's Vimes being all kinds of badass and heroic and Genre Savvy and dragging most of the Watch along with him in his adventures.
***Then there's Colon and Nobby and Vetinari and Leonard who ... have quite possibly the best B-Plot in the history of fiction. I could go on and on about how much I squeed, laughed hysterically, and wanted to give Mr. Pratchett a hug for each and every one of those rocket-threatening, harem-pants wearing, randomly-juggling, and generally hysterical scenes.
****And there's also the bits with two fishermen squabbling stupidly about the island in an oddly Shakespearian kind of way. It brought to mind the scenes of the soldiers in Henry V talking about their lot in life, personally. Very meta. We've got kings and commanders and watchmen and madmen, and then we keep coming back to two stubborn guys in the middle of the ocean.
And I'm certain that I left some stuff out (my brain's been all over the place this week) so let's get to my main three thoughts:
1) Vimes is a badass.
When I read that scene where he throws down his badge (and all the rest of the Watch follows suit) I didn't even squee I was so awestruck. If it had been on TV I might have cried a little.
I love how the racism was really affecting him, despite him trying to emulate Gene Hunt so much of the time. (Well, not to Gene Hunt levels, he's more a watered-down Gene Hunt I guess ... argh, talk to me in the comments about this, I'm not making any sense.)
He saved people from a burning building. That fact might be forgotten in all of the hubbub in the book, but still, he rushed into a burning building to save people, and when he found out who started the fire he nearly killed them because there were people in the building. That's one of those things that is just so perfect for showing a character's character that I had to mention it.
He commandeers a boat with the power of his snark. And Detritus. (Who is, btw, swiftly becoming one of my favorite Watch characters.)
I loved Vimes' dealings with 71-Hour Ahmed, especially in Klatch. I could feel the tension, just reading it, and I loved how they were so very, very similar and so very, very different. Also: wall-slamming! *SQUEE*
Vimes arrests TWO ARMIES. HOW FREAKING INSANE AND BADASS IS THAT?! I mean ... wow.
He runs after a purse-snatcher in his silly outfit WITH HALF THE CITY AT HIS BACK. And that's THE END OF THE BOOK. Awesomesauce.
2) Vetinari, Leonard, Colon, and Nobby are my new favorite team.
I know they'll never get back together like that again, but it was so much fun while it lasted.
Leonard completely failing at kidnapping Colon and Nobby.
Vetinari being so. freaking. SEXY. BADASS.
Colon and Nobby trying and failing to be smart/blend in/do pretty much anything but be hilarious, which they succeed in time and time again.
The whole street-preforming bit ... good GOD ... *sporfleDIEZ* Nobby ... in harem pants. And Vetinari juggling. I don't know which one is the funnier mental image.
Vetinari IS SO BADASS THAT HE MAKES JUGGLING BADASS! (And I thought he hated street-performers? Doesn't he have them tossed into the scorpion pits?)
3) Slash. Slash slash slash slash slash.
Now, some of you might be a tad confuzzled about this last point of mine. Jingo is, by and large, not all that a slashy of book. (It's no White Night.) [Warning: do not click on that link unless you have read 'White Night' and are mentally equipped to deal with the hyperactive squee-fest I posted last year.] However, I would like to draw your attention to two facts we get in Jingo:
Vetinari is keeping Leonard, a mad scientist Expy Keet with a Heart of Gold (how many tropes is that?) alive when he really should have killed him to be on the safe side (how many people does Vetinari, Xanatos Gambit extraordinarie, let live when they're dangerous? Uh ... *scratches head*) and frequently visits him to have tea and look over his inventions. And have sex. I mean really, who keeps a mad scientist locked up in their house? (Ok, ok, that's more of a 'Leonard is useful to Vetinari because of his inventions' kind of thing, but it's not too much of a stretch to imagine that something happened between them at least once. 'Saddlery regions' and all ...)
Oh, and that exchange towards the end of the book about Vetinari asking Sam to handcuff him? And then insisting that Sam handcuff him? And then asking if they have shackles? And then saying that he's going to give the Watch a bigger budget to buy shackles? I ... I really have no words for that. I DARE YOU to read that bit and truthfully tell me that you see no slashiness there. I'm pretty certain that Vetinari has a thing for Vimes, which is annoying as a fanfic writer because Vimes kinda detests Vetinari and is oh-so-wonderfully-in-love with his badass, snarky wife. OT3? Do I DARE?
Anyhoodle, I picked up Going Postal today. (I really need to stop buying so many books, my shelves are overflowing and my money is running low ...) And I freaking love it. Why? Because Moist is an anti-hero you have to like in that 'awwww, lookit the little trapped con man, isn't he cute? *glomps him*' way and Vetinari is freaking awesome right off the bat and I love him. I loveloveloveLOVE Vetinari. *SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*
(Help, I don't know how to stop reading the Discworld books out of order! *falls asleep hugging Going Postal*)