Wyrd Sisters

Rating:
Summary: The Continuing Story of the Witches
Review: Wyrd Sisters continues the story of Granny Weatherwax, who we first met in the Discworld novel Equal Rites. In this book, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg have joined with another witch, Magrat, new to the Discworld novels, to form a coven. Magrat has some odd ideas of what witchcraft involves, such as rituals, candles, and herbs, but the other two humor her. We also get a visit from our old friend Death. We also get introduced to some new characters. The old ruler of the kingdom, Verence, was murdered and is stuck being a ghost, bound to the stones of the castle. Hwel is a playwright given the job of writing a play to make the current evil ruler and his wife look better in the eyes of the people. The witches get involved in the royal intrigue, despite wanting to not get involved in matters outside of the coven. The land is unhappy with the new ruler, and the witches know it. Wyrd Sisters abounds with references to Shakespeare, namely MacBeth. Filled with witty dialogue and amusing parodies, the Discworld novels keep getting better and better.

Rating:
Summary: Among the Best of the Best
Review: Wyrd Sisters was the first of the Discworld series I happened to stumble upon. Pratchett, using his characteristic style of humor mixed with common sense and blatant attitudes, hooked me with the three witches, Verence the Fool, and, my favorite, Death. I would recommend it for anyone new to the Discworld series. With a plot that turns in on itself, it's sure to make for a searing read, bound to make impressions, and definitely going to leave you laughing.

Rating:
Summary: Something wickedly funny this way comes
Review: Wyrd Sisters, the sixth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, is a very funny take-off of MacBeth. The Shakespearean allusions were a bit above my head without reading the online annotations, but even without that I found I was laughing a great deal. Plus, it has an interesting story playing on the old "lost son of a king" cliché.

The three witches are my least favourite of the sub-series that Pratchett has in Discworld. Of course, that's because the other two (City Watch, Death) are so good, not because the witches are bad. They are still well worth the price of admission into their stories. Granny Weatherwax is a curmudgeon of sorts, often speaking of how the new people are "getting ideas" put in their head. "'Modern,' said Granny Weatherwax with a sniff. 'When I was a gel, we had a lump of wax and a couple of pins and had to be content. We had to make our own enchantment in them days.'" She doesn't understand a lot of new things, like theatre. In fact, one of the funniest scenes in the book is when Magrat and Nanny Ogg take her to the theatre and she tries to intervene in what's happening on stage.

Nanny Ogg and Magrat are wonderful creations as well. Nanny is old, but she's a lot more open-minded. She can understand a lot of the new ideas going around. She's also good at what she does. Another great scene is when Felmet and his wife try to torture her. Let's just say it doesn't quite work. Magrat is the young witch, who thinks that symbols are very important. When they try to summon a demon to help them, she's the one who thinks that they need the "proper" ingredients in order to do it, rather than the makeshift ones that the other two bring in. Together, the threesome is a very entertaining bunch.

The incidental characters are marvelous as well. There's the Fool, who only became a Fool because it was a family tradition. He really hates it. There's Hwel, the dwarf who never took to mining, so he became a playwright. Death makes a few appearances as well, also making his stage debut in a riotous manner. There isn't a wasted character in the bunch, and they are all well-rounded individuals who are interesting to read about.

The plot is excellent as well. The only thing that marred it for me was the extensive Shakespearean allusions, and that's only because I didn't understand half of them. There were times when I knew I was missing a joke, which became a bit frustrating. It's one thing to miss a joke and not even see it, but when you see it but don't understand it, it's a bit of a letdown. Still, if it encourages people to go back to the original plays and read them, then so much the better. The book doesn't suffer for all of this, though. It is still a very entertaining read without it.

This is a wonderful beginning to the Three Witches sub-series. I look forward to reading more of them. It's an excellent place to start your entry into Discworld.