Like all of Terry Pratchett’s books, Men at Arms doesn’t go a step too far. It goes sixteen steps too far, falls off the edge of the world, and lands on Great A’Tuin. We were a shade disappointed in this sequel to Guards! Guards!, but as always, Pratchett’s genius shines through.
In Men at Arms, the plot was based on what we’d been expecting: Carrot Ironfoundersson discovered as the true king of Ankh-Morpork. We were not expecting the mentally disturbed Edward d’Eath to try to restore his throne. As believable as any fantasy plot, interesting and tense in randomly overlapping ways, uniquely and blatantly unoriginal, Pratchett’s usual admirable plot had the subtlest plot twists and most mundane climaxes imaginable. We award a red star.
We were confronted with Pratchett’s usual risible cast, including several new recruits who served as a front to the ongoing dwarf-troll feud. Especially for a sequel, we thought there to be a good balance between interesting new characters and the development of old characters. However, we were unpleasantly surprised by the direction Carrot’s character took. While certainly interesting, we were disappointed by his loss of innocence and confused by Pratchett’s attempt to ‘have it both ways’. In typical Terry Pratchett style, an assortment of recurring minor characters showed up, including Lord Vetinari and Gaspode. We award a full star.
Men at Arms was set in Ankh-Morpork, so there was little opportunity for geographical worldbuilding, but as always, footnotes provided mini history lessons (among other things). Although the focus was mostly on the plot, we did learn a fair amount about gargoyles. We award a full star.
We admit that it is difficult to judge the pace of the book. Terry Pratchett has his own pace, and either one likes it or one does not. His normal plot rate, descriptions, action, and dialogue balance were present. We award a full star.
Dialogue, again, was traditionally Pratchett-y. Carrot got a bit more than his fair share of the talking, we felt, but it is hard to disapprove of any aspect of Pratchett’s dialogue except to point out the inappropriate uses of his genius. We award a full star.
The beginning was most intriguing, but the ending a little overwhelming as Pratchett tied up his loose ends. We were dissatisfied with the ending in part, but in most respects it was reasonable, although the resemblance to the first book’s ending was a little over the top. We award a full star.
Unfortunately, we did not enjoy this book as much as others of Pratchett’s. The writing was good, but not enough to cover events we’d rather not read about. Murder was an ubiquitous theme, the main romance made us uncomfortable, and far too much time was spent on the Fools’ Guild. We award no star.
Even more unfortunately, Men at Arms was quite indecorous. In addition to Pratchett’s ordinary levels of bad language and insinuations, there were several instances where immoralities were more heavily implied, with no saving rebuke or apology. We award no star.
We thought the message of the book, while polyvalent, was fair. It was consistent with the characters and plot, and made a good point. We award a full star.
Spiders were not mentioned; we award no star.
Although Terry Pratchett is truly funny, we hesitate to award him a full star for this final category because of his improprieties in the name of humor. Still, we cannot forget the footnotes. We award a half star.
In conclusion, Terry Pratchett’s Men at Arms earned 7 + 1/2 stars, putting it in the ‘Radiant’ category.
– 𝒯𝑒𝓂