Maskerade (Discworld Novels (Audio))

Rating:
Summary: One of Pratchett's funniest to date
Review: I've read every one of the Discworld novels, and this one's my favorite. In a world that is sometimes nonsensical, very much like our own, the witches tend to provide a clear look inside the human mind. This novel is at once riotously funny and extremely thought-provoking, as Pratchett pokes his usual gentle fun at the establishment.
Agnes Nitt (alias Perdita X. Dream) is a girl from Lancre who moves to Ankh-Morpork to be an opera singer. When she gets a job in the chorus at the opera house, she immediately stumbles on some peculiar happenings (and some extremely peculiar people). The two Lancre witches also happen to be in town on some financial business, and they set out to find out exactly what's going on in the opera house.
This book is for you if: you like opera; you think opera is silly; you like fantasy; you like satire; you have a pulse.

Rating:
Summary: A true masterpiece of laughter
Review: If you've never heard of Terry Pratchett, you're clearly living on the wrong planet. So join the rest of us in Pratchett's Discworld and enjoy the antics of Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, the Disc's best-known witches. Visit Ankh-Morpork's Opera House with them (accompanied by their lunatic guests). You'll marvel at the amazing scenes of chaos that Pratchett can conjure up, seemingly without trying. And no matter what the topic, Pratchett is able to satirize it and make you question your former opinions - and you'll howl with laughter as you do so. I've read quite a lot of Discworld books and there are not many that have not held a chuckle a page and a full belly laugh a chapter. Maskerade lives up to its author's reputation in full, satirizing opera, theatre production, the lot - and all with a smile on his face. If, after reading Maskerade, you are in any doubt that Terry Prachett is not the most creative and funniest contemporary author around, you've obviously got a funny bone missing somewhere. Although it is not his best work, Maskerade is still hilarious and well worthy of five stars.

Rating:
Summary: Opera on the Diskworld
Review: MASKERADE by Terry Pratchett is not one of his best. Definitely funnier than SOUL MUSIC and quite entertaining to anyone like myself who likes opera and has some contacts into the running of an exceptional opera house.

Pratchett has spoofed many facets of modern life and this time he takes on the business of opera (readers get the feeling that Mr. Pratchett is not an opera fan).

Granny Weatherwax is back but it is not really her story.

An interesting twist on the Phantom of the Opera musical.

Rating:
Summary: Phantom of the Disc
Review: Maskerade, the eighteenth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, is a very funny parody of opera, and the Broadway show Phantom of the Opera more specifically. You can certainly tell that Pratchett doesn't like opera, as he skewers it to within an inch of its life. The parody of Phantom is right on as well, as Pratchett takes the story and turns it on its head in a most entertaining manner.

I'm not an opera fan, so I really appreciated how much Maskerade made fun of the whole genre. I laughed out loud when the characters would make comments about how the story doesn't need to make sense as long as it's sung well, and I especially enjoyed how the villain kept "coming back to life" to make another statement after he's been killed, much like how a person who's killed in an opera often has time to sing a death chorus before succumbing.

This book is just hilarious all the way through. I'm really becoming a fan of the Witches with the last two books (Lords & Ladies and this one). Perhaps it's because I enjoy the personality clashes between Granny and Nanny. They are so well written and so three dimensional that it's a joy to read about them. They argue a lot, but there's an underlying affection beneath all of that which makes the arguments superficial. It's Granny who instigates the trip to Ankh-Morpork after realizing what an unscrupulous publisher has done to her friend. She doesn't like to see a friend get cheated. There's also a compassion in both of them that is very touching. It's even more surprising from Granny because she has such a gruff exterior. Both of their interactions with Walter Plinge, the rather slow odd-jobs man who everybody at the Opera House ignores, are just brimming with this compassion. It's not just the compassion, though, that makes them great characters. They are very funny as well. Especially good is the stagecoach ride where, by implied witchery, they end up having the coach to themselves while everybody else sits on top.

The other characters, while not as fully developed, still do their job very well. Most of the opera players fill their assigned roles to a T. There's Christine, who the Ghost takes a liking to. Christine is excessively vain and dumb as a post, but everybody's fallen in love with her. Meanwhile, Agnes is the talented singer, but she's on the large side, and thus can't get anybody to recognize that. She's used to sing Christine's part for her, while Christine just looks good. The new owner of the Opera House wants it to start making money, which can't happen with all of the strangeness going on. There are many others as well. None of them are terribly well-developed, but it's certainly good enough for this book.

I know that this book has received lukewarm reviews, but I found it incredibly funny. The goings-on backstage at the Opera House were great fun, with intrigue and humour being mixed in liberally. The ending of the book is extremely fitting, with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. I know I was surprised by it. The rest of the plot is quite smooth, with no glaring plot holes to be found. I have found that the plots in the Witches books are a lot more straightforward then some of Pratchett's other books. There are always weird and zany things going on, but they don't have the outlandish twists that populate some of the other ones.

You will find yourself laughing a lot throughout the book, especially if you are familiar with the genre. If you live and breathe opera and can't stand to see it criticized, you may want to avoid this book. If you have a sense of humour about it, or if you can't stand it, then this is the book for you.

And keep an eye out for the chandelier! (Phantom fans will know what I'm talking about).

Rating:
Summary: Mid-Level Pratchett
Review: Mid-level Pratchett, not up there with INTERESTING TIMES or down there with ERIC. The somewhat claustrophobic action takes place entirely in the Ankh-Morpork Opera House, and Pratchett is mainly out to satirize opera, opera singers, and opera lovers, as well as all the variants of Gaston Leroux's PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. The hard-to-take Granny Weatherwax dominates the action, what little there is of it. The ostensible main character, "Perdita X Dream" as she calls herself, never comes to life for a second, or has much of anything to do in the novel's development.

There are walkons from several Discworld regulars, such as Nobby and the Librarian, but by and large this really isn't a Discworld novel--- that is, it could take place anywhere. It is difficult to figure out how Pratchett wants the reader to take some of the humor, and some of the apparently serious moments. For example the villain has a long, operatic death scene in which he berates opera virulently, in a perfectly straight tone. Is he speaking for Pratchett? Apparently so, since the omniscient authorial remarks about opera are in pretty much the same style.

Anyway, Pratchett is clearly having some fun with opera and it is unfortunate that the reader is not likely to have quite the same level of fun, to say the least.

Rating:
Summary: Another bullseye for Terry
Review: Yep, Terry Pratchett strikes again, this time with a hilarious parody on 'The Phantom of the Opera'. With Magrat Garlick finally settled nicely as the Queen of Lancre, the remaining witches, Esme 'Granny' Weatherwax and Gytha 'Nanny' Ogg, travel to the big city of Ankh Morpork to visit young Agnes Nitt - a promising potential witch from Lancre who went to Ankh to find her future in the Opera. While they're there, the witches help solve a series of mysterious murders at the Opera House.

The Witch books seem to get better every time, and the characters of Nanny and Granny are, on Maskerade, more full and charming than ever before. The new characters - Agnes, Senor Basilica, Walter Plinge and the rest - are all hilarious and very well-written. And let's not forget cameos by old favorites like 'Nobby' Nobbs, Sgt. Detritus and the Librarian.

One of Terry's most intelligent parodies, equals Lords And Ladies but much, much funnier - Maskerade is essential for Pratchett fans and Discworld veterans.