Jingo is the 20th of Pratchett's Discworld novels, and the fourth to feature the City Guard of Ankh-Morpork. As Jingo begins, an island suddenly rises between Ankh- Morpork and Al-Khali, capital of Klatch. Both cities claim it. Lord Vetinari, the Patrician, has failed to convince the Ruling Council that force is a bad idea, despite reminding them that they have no army--"I believe one of those is generally considered vital to the successful prosecution of a war." Samuel Vimes, Commander of the City Watch, has to find out who shot the Klatchian envoy, Prince Khufurah, and set fire to their embassy, before war breaks out.

Pratchett's characters are both sympathetic and outrageously entertaining, from Captain Carrot, who always finds the best in people and puts it to work playing football, to Sergeant Colon and his sidekick, Corporal Nobbs, who have "an ability to get out of their depth on a wet pavement". Then there is the mysterious D'reg, 71-hour Ahmed. What is his part in all this, and why 71 hours? Anyone who doesn't mind laughing themselves silly at the idiocy of people in general and governments in particular will enjoy Jingo. --Nona Vero

2007-05-16 So well written, you'll never notice how clever it is

Our world has islands that sink; Discworld has an island that rises slowly back from the sea, "like a cat that's been away for a few days and knows you've been worried". And because the citizens of Ankh-Morpork have a fine, entrepreneurial spirit, and the people of Klatch are ruthless and greedy, with an eye for the main chance (or is that the other way around?), blows are soon struck, and, despite its lack of an army, Ankh-Morpork goes to war.

The resulting farce is one of the best things that Terry Prachett has ever written. Sam Vimes as a character goes from strength to strength, ably offset by the just-too-good Captain Carrot and the exceedlingly human werwolf Angua. Perhaps best of all, we get Vetinari out of the Oblong Office and at his scheming, magnificent Macchiavellian best (he'll be Alan Rickman in the film, I know it). And while the book has much to say about war and its pointlessness, honour and justice and the nature of imprisonment, these thoughts are so inextricably woven into the comedy that you'd never notice you were thinking at all. Magnificent.