I liked it, so I'll make an attempt at defending it. But first, to get this out of the way, we all have our opinions, and there's no reason everyone has to like each book.

Of course they were all girls. I'm not quite as bright as the rest of you, because I didn't actually guess that Jackrum was a girl. I was pleasantly surprised by that twist, and thought it worked well with the character. As for the rest of the squad, once we found out that more than one was a girl, it only made sense that the rest would be. It's a comedy. Not real life. It's a joke, which wouldn't have worked if only some of them were girls.

Maladict(a) would have made a better male vampire. Definitely. But in the context of the book, she had to be a she, to fit in with the rest of the gang.

I didn't see this book as "dark" (if I knew how, I would officially quote Mowgli), despite the war references. Thud, for me, was a lot darker, possibly because I could feel the humor in MR and knew it would turn out all right. It's definitely an anti-war book, and very timely. I loved the concept that the people of Borogravia didn't even know why they were at war any more (right up there with the equally common delusion that they were winning the war).

But besides war, it's also about self-awareness, and not letting other people define you. Most people are willing to accept the roles that they're set, but here's a group of girls that weren't going to settle for the status quo. And I may be reading a theme into it that wasn't intended by the author, but the feminist side of me rather enjoyed the girls taking on the establishment. Granted, with a little help from Vimes and company.

I'm not saying I want to go out disguised as a man (perish the thought), but I've been in situations where I know I'd get more respect if I had short hair and a pair of socks. So with that in mind, Monstrous Regiment is a small step towards changing the world. Polly doesn't want to accept being a girl, so she goes out disguised as a boy, but in the end, she's going to make her own way, on her own terms, armed with a cutlass and a skirt.

We all like different things, so I may not change anyone's opinion, but I'm going to take a stand and disagree with the majority. (And you're not going to change my opinion either.)