{"id":4567,"date":"2018-06-11T05:00:09","date_gmt":"2018-06-11T12:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4567"},"modified":"2018-06-11T05:21:31","modified_gmt":"2018-06-11T12:21:31","slug":"mark-reads-monstrous-regiment-part-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2018\/06\/mark-reads-monstrous-regiment-part-9\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘Monstrous Regiment’: Part 9"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the ninth part of Monstrous Regiment<\/i>, Wazzer is challenged, Blouse is infuriating, and war is nothing like anyone thought it would be. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, some context: this is not my best reading for a video. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t realize how long this section was going to be when I sat down to do it on the night of May 12, and as of writing this, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still fresh off finishing the Anger Is A Gift<\/i> audiobook. (Which I think should be out now??? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know how these things work!) I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get to talk about the actual recording much while it was happening aside from a few updates on Twitter, but y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all: it took me out<\/i>. I still feel like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m recovering from it. I only had three and a half days worth of studio time book to read all 39 chapters so it could be edited prior to release date, and I thought\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 I got this! I read to y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all ALL THE TIME. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been doing it for six years, how different can it be?<\/p>\n

Ha.<\/p>\n

HAH AHAH AHA AHa ahahhAHA<\/p>\n

Suffice to say it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very different and somehow even more draining<\/i> than what I do in my normal videos. I was in a tiny booth that was very warm with a tablet, the PDF of the final version of my book, and I just read. I took a break about once an hour and had lunch, but otherwise, it was like one long Mark Reads video, but with some important differences: mainly, I had to read SO DIFFERENTLY. My pace was much, much slower, far more dramatic for narration, and I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t do that thing where I normally am a few words ahead. So, returning to a regular Mark Reads video and<\/i> doing it at night and<\/i> it being a super long chapter\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 oh god, I kept losing my place, and misreading words and I HOPE TO NOT BE A MESS IN THE NEXT VIDEO. Sorry!!! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an adjustment, and I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expect it at all.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

ANYWAY, LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TALK ABOUT THE OTHER MESS, WHICH IS: everything happening in this book!\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wazzer<\/b><\/p>\n

I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help but feel bad for these characters, all of who have grown up under a repressive religious regime that has told them that practically everything that they do is evil. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s familiar to me as someone who had an upbringing that was\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 well, intense, to say the least. I know what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like to have to face a world where all the rules don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make any sense, but still be terrified of breaking them. These girls are realizing just how absurd the abominations are, but Wazzer still<\/i> clings to them. What else can she do? Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the problem I see, and I was able to pick up on it because it was the same issue I had: What is the alternative<\/i>? I had no alternative to the religion I was raised in or even the one I chose. There wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t an option, and whenever I came upon a contradiction or an absurdity, all I felt was distress. Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also add another layer of context to this: Wazzer is in the midst of a nationalistic war, so I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t begrudge them feeling like they need to cling to their faith, especially when their faith tells them that this terrifying war is just<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Difference<\/b><\/p>\n

Okay, so, let me acknowledge that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a dude reading a book by a dude, wherein girls who dress up as men realize that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re treated differently when read as a dude. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not exactly revolutionary by any means, but I did want to comment on two reveals. First: IGOR IS ACTUALLY IGORINA. The first Igor that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a woman!!! Holy shit, this is FUCKING GREAT, and this is MUCH-NEEDED. Then there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also Jade\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s whole bit about how she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153nat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122rally craggy\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but is pressured to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153polish\u00e2\u20ac\u009d themselves for men, and IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO COOL. Oh my god, the best part of Monstrous Regiment<\/i> so far is that all these characters are actually women in disguise. I feel like it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a stretch to believe that Maladict is, too, so PLEASE?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Jackrum<\/b><\/p>\n

You know, I used to like him a lot more, but he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 not so great anymore? Gods, who yells<\/i> as much as he does, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all??? I get that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s supposed to be the more qualified foil to Blouse, who is TERRIBLE at his job, but without Strappi around, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just so\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 authoritarian, if that makes sense? As Polly points out, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like he never sleeps, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always ready to criticize someone or remind them of their job. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, he really<\/i> loves this war nonsense, and it seems that as they all get closer to the front lines, he gets worse. Why<\/i>??? Why is he so into this? What are we missing??? Again, the guy was discharged and then just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 signed back up? Oh god, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a reason for this, right?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thalacephalos<\/b><\/p>\n

I just want to say that this is a great name for a horse. THAT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S ALL.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Fire<\/b><\/p>\n

WHO THE FUCK<\/i> IS BURNING DOWN EVERY SINGLE PLACE THE RECRUITS ARE LEAVING AND WHY<\/i>. I literally have not a single theory!!! It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t make any sense to me!!! Great, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not prepared again<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Light Clacks<\/b><\/p>\n

You know, when you live within a world like that of Borogravia, the Duchess, and Nuggan, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s amazing the mental gymnastics people go through to make an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153exception\u00e2\u20ac\u009d to the rules. Light clacks are the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153devil\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and an Abomination, but getting the information<\/i> from them? Ah, totally fine. Sneaking up on spies? Not an Abomination! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the act of sending light through the sky\u00e2\u20ac\u201dnot prayer!\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the unholy act. IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SO DETAILED AND RIDICULOUS, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. And I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m certain many of us with strict upbringings had to navigate nonsense like this. I mean, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve told stories of some of the funnier ones, like how all television was un-Christian and demonic, but then my mother was fine with us watching The X-Files<\/i>, which had LITERAL DEMONS ON IT.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sigh.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Skirmish<\/b><\/p>\n

Pride is a hell of a thing, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? Blouse is downright irritating here as he keeps asserting his authority as they try to ambush a clacks tower. EVERY TIME! He has<\/i> to be in charge, he has to give the orders, and he ignores that Jackrum is way more qualified. Regardless: BLESS THE UTTER CHAOS OF THIS SCENE. Even if Jackrum is qualified, no one else knows what they are doing<\/i>. Hell, Jade stops someone by literally just standing there, and the soldier dies from running into her. BLESS.<\/p>\n

So, they now control a clacks tower and<\/i> have the cipher. What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s next? Oh god, what are they going to discover while deciphering messages? IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S GONNA HAPPEN, I KNOW IT.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=QLQc1YHDOrM<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now available for pre-order!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"