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Jingo

Jingo

FantasyHigh Fantasy
Pages
464
Published
1997
Language
English

Synopsis

A small island emerges from the sea between Ankh-Morpork and Klatch, and both nations immediately claim it. As the drums of war begin to beat and Ankh-Morpork's leaders compete to outdo each other in belligerent stupidity, Sam Vimes — now a duke — finds himself trying to prevent a war that most of his superiors desperately want. A furious satirical novel about nationalism, militarism, and the way political leaders manufacture patriotism while others die for it. First published October 1997.

Prose complexity
6/10

Vibe

FunnySatiricalGrittyThought-Provoking
Anti-HeroMorally GreyCourt IntrigueSurvival

Genres

Fantasy High Fantasy Comic Fiction Humor Drama Horror Science Fiction

About the author

T
Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) was an English author best known for the Discworld series, a sequence of forty-one comic fantasy novels set on a flat world carried through space on the backs of four elephants standing on a giant turtle. Across four decades, the Discworld grew from a parody of sword-and-sorcery fantasy into one of the most sustained works of social satire in English literature, examining politics, religion, science, gender, race, capitalism, and the nature of stories themselves. Pra...

Characters

Sam VimesProtagonist

Now a duke, Vimes watches the city he loves being led into a pointless war by men who have nothing to lose from it.

Havelock VetinariSupporting

The Patrician — who manages the crisis with his characteristic combination of patience, manipulation, and a plan nobody else has understood yet.

71-Hour AhmedSupporting

A Klatchian detective — Vimes's counterpart on the other side — who is sharper and more principled than any of the war's architects.

Carrot IronfounderssonSupporting

Serves on the Ankh-Morpork side while Vimes takes a different path — his arc involves confronting the reality of armed conflict.

Nobby NobbsSupporting
All characters in Jingo

Frequently asked questions

  • When was Jingo published?

    First published on 1 October 1997 by Victor Gollancz. It is the twenty-first Discworld novel and the fourth City Watch book.

  • What is Jingo satirizing?

    Jingo is a direct satire of nationalist warmongering — the manufactured outrage over trivial territorial disputes, the way governments use patriotism to distract from domestic problems, and the complete indifference of those who start wars to the people who have to fight them. It was written at a time of continuing conflict in the former Yugoslavia.

  • What does the title mean?

    'Jingoism' is the term for extreme, belligerent nationalism — it comes from a 19th-century British music hall song ('We don't want to fight, but by Jingo if we do...'). Pratchett's title condenses the whole phenomenon to one word.

  • Is Jingo considered one of the best Watch books?

    Critical opinion varies. Some readers consider it Pratchett's most politically pointed Watch novel; others find it more polemic than character-driven. It is the Watch book where Vimes's anti-authoritarian fury is most directly expressed.

  • What happens to Vetinari in Jingo?
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