In the twenty-second and final part of Jingo<\/i>, Lord Vetinari has one last surprise for Vimes. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oh, friends, this was such a treat. The end of Jingo<\/i> brings some humor and a wonderful examination of Sir Samuel Vimes, the policeman who arrested an entire army just to stop a war. It’s kinda neat that this is so obviously a City Watch book, yet it unfolded in ways that were utterly unlike all the other books in this “series.” The fact that it was a very “international” novel, so to speak, certainly helped that. The scope of it felt so huge<\/i>. And it should! This is a book about Big Ideas: Xenophobia. Racism. War. Nationalism. Complicity. Perception. And in the end, it’s about the one guy who decided to do the absurd and try to fight all<\/i> of it.<\/p>\n
Home<\/b><\/p>\n
So yeah, it was really weird to start this section and be back at Sybil’s home. We’d traveled so far<\/i> during Jingo<\/i>, but life goes on, no? That includes awkward moments with Willikins, who only bit one<\/i> nose off, thank you very much. It includes lukewarm baths and interruptions and visits with Lord Vetinari… and yet it still feels<\/i> different. Vimes stopped a war! Everyone experienced one hell of a journey. How the hell do they continue on?<\/p>\n
A Change in Titles<\/b><\/p>\n
So, while Leonard willingly<\/i> returns to his cell in the Patrician’s Palace (because of course<\/i> he would), Vimes is summoned to Lord Vetinari’s office, along with Carrot. (Sybil is there, too, and I hope we get more of her in a future book. I really like her!) I figured that Vetinari just wanted to tie up loose ends, to make sure the Guild heads were satisfied and that Ankh-Morpork could run as smoothly as it had always run. Indeed, that’s what I thought<\/i> was happening at first. I learned that Prince Khufurah had taken over after Cadram had suddenly disappeared. (And been swallowed by the desert, I assume. You better believe that Ahmed went after him!) It was clear that Vetinari had, once again, planned for practically every possibility.<\/p>\n
Except that’s not really how he works, is it? It’s not that he has a plan for every possible outcome; he just gently manipulates events so that his<\/i> version of the world comes out at the end. That includes what he does here. His transition to talking about traffic enforcement is a way for him to thank Colon and Nobby in his own strange way, but it also makes it possible for there to be yet another aspect of Ankh-Morpork society for him to control. And when he suggests that he’d like to change Vimes’s title from “Commander” to “Duke,” that’s a deliberate thing, too.<\/p>\n
Even then? I think it’s the most sentimental I’ve ever seen Lord Vetinari be. Ever<\/i>. The title might be meaningless to Vimes, but the offer to have the historians re-write<\/i> the history of his ancestor, Old Stoneface, is just… really goddamn sweet? Yes, I’m sure all<\/i> of this serves a purpose. I can see how it mollified Sybil, since she’ll be less likely to complain about Vetinari always calling on Vimes. (He gave Sam the new title, which makes her a duchess<\/i>, which elevates her social standing.) The political implications of the statue work in Vetinari’s favor, and<\/i> there’s no way that Carrot would ever disagree with Vetinari’s choice in a duke. (If he ever becomes king, and that’s a HUGE if.)<\/p>\n
It all works out in the end. Sort of like the Dis-Organizer finding someone to organize, finally! The Goriff family comes back to Ankh-Morpork; Colon and Nobby are promoted, and realize how living among the Klatchians has changed their worldview; Sybil is pleased; and Sam…. ah, Sir Samuel Vimes. Never one for pomp and circumstance, he gets what I’d argue is the most satisfying ending for anyone in Jingo<\/i>. Because you know, at the end of the day, he’ll always be a member of the Watch. You can dress him up in fancy clothes, you can drop him in a parade, but when duty calls, that<\/i> is what defines him. The chase. The pursuit. The feel of the cobbles of the street under his feet.<\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zYr-CojKIsY<\/p>\n
Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n
– I am now on Patreon<\/a>! There are various levels of support, from $1 up to whatever you want! You’ll get to read a private blog, extra reviews, and other such rewards. I POST A LOT OF CUTE PHOTOS, OKAY. Think of it like a private Tumblr blog that only SPECIAL PEOPLE get to read.<\/b> In the twenty-second and final part of Jingo, Lord Vetinari has one last surprise for Vimes. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to read Discworld.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[451],"tags":[521,463,248],"class_list":["post-4030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-jingo","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-terry-pratchett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4030\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– I have updated my list of conventions and events for the remainder of the year and much of next year.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Check the full list of events on my Tour Dates \/ Appearances page.<\/a>
\n– My Master Schedule<\/a> is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often.\u00c2\u00a0My next Double Features for Mark Watches have been announced here.<\/a>
\n<\/b>-\u00c2\u00a0Mark Does Stuff is on Facebook!<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0I’ve got a community page up that I’m running. Guaranteed shenanigans!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"