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Terry Pratchett continues to address the seemingly infinite aspects of modern culture in his Discworld series. Jingo takes a look at war, land disputes, assassination, science and weapons development, and prejudice. Of course, Pratchett does it in his typical way, sneaking it in here and there and occasionally hitting you full in the face with it.

Jingo focuses on some of my favorite Discworld characters: Commander Vimes; Captain Carrot and the rest of the Ankh-Morpork Watch; and Lord Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork. The tale begins with the sudden appearance of the lost city of Leshp, rising up in the middle of the ocean between Ankh-Morpork and Klatch. Discovered simultaneously by fishermen from both sides, it is immediately claimed by both. Since neither side is willing to compromise, it is inevitable that war breaks out. The Guild Leaders of Ankh-Morpork don't seem to notice that they haven't had a navy or a standing army for over four hundred years (since Commander Vimes's ancestor led the city's militia in revolt). They decide to raise their own private armies and take what is theirs by force of might, against the wishes of Lord Vetinari.

In the meantime, someone attempts to assassinate the Klatchian Prince in Ankh-Morpork. Initially, the attempt seems to be the act of a lone Klatchian bowman, but Vimes soon discovers that there was a second bowman. There's conspiracy afoot in Ankh-Morpork. The city rulers proceed to force Lord Vetinari to step down and relieve Vimes of his command, then set off to make war with the Klatchians. Determined not to let the two nations come to all out war, Vetinari and Vimes both set out separately to stop it. Vetinari sets out with Sergeant Colon, Corporal Nobbs, and Leonard of Quirm, an absent-minded inventor, but not before conferring Knighthood on Commander Vimes. Thus empowered to raise his own army, Vimes and the rest of the Watch commandeer a ship and set out for Klatch. As you might expect, there is a lot of confusion, surreptitious action, and sheer bravado in the resulting adventure.

Of course, there is a lot more going on than just two nations setting out to wage war. Commander Vimes feels like he's out of touch and losing control of the Watch to Captain Carrot, who has been actively recruiting new guardsmen. Since Carrot joined the Watch, the number of guards has grown from three men to over forty men, or actually, creatures. Thanks to Carrot, the Watch now includes dwarfs, gargoyles, a golem, a troll, a gnome, a werewolf and a zombie. Carrot is, of course, totally oblivious to Vimes's concerns, as his only objective is to uphold the law and protect the citizens of Ankh-Morpork. He has the kind of charisma that lets him organize a football game between two armies poised at the brink of war, and make criminals beg to confess. As Vimes puts it:

"It's like hypnotism. People follow him to see what's going to happen next. They tell themselves that they're just going along with it for a while and can stop any time they want to, but they never want to. It's damn magic."

Todd is a plant molecular developmental biologist who has finally finished 23 years of formal education. He recently fled Madison, WI for the warmer but damper San Francisco Bay Area and likes bad movies, good science fiction, and role-playing games. He began reading science fiction at the age of eight, starting with Heinlein, Silverberg, and Tom Swift books, and has a great fondness for tongue-in-cheek fantasy àla Terry Pratchett, Craig Shaw Gardner and Robert Asprin.