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Lords and Ladies

Lords and Ladies

List Price: $6.99
Your Price: $6.29
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: pratchett surpasses himself
Review: Eventually a humorist must either stop being funny or pass through humor to transendendance. Pratchett has taken the latter road. Humor is actually the process of telling the truth so bluntly that people laugh to keep from crying.This novel takes on elves, fantasy, youth movements, marriage, history, shakespeare, and a few other sacred cows. Pratchett is involved in the tast of making readers of escapist literature think...... good luck ...Forget bitter old Kurt, Pratchett is the new Twain

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I laughed until I cried
Review: I love him! He has got to be one of the funniest authors today. This book is most definitely one of his best. I was reading it in school-Algebra, to be exact, and I almost bit through my lip trying not to laugh!! Tears were pouring out of my eyes, and I was just dying. Nanny Ogg is my favorite character, and the whole world is nuts!!!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Winner of the Not-Quite-As-Good-As-His-Other-Books-Award
Review: Let me start out by saying that I read Pratchett's books for two reasons. The first is that they are FUNNY. The second is that I enjoy the way he presents a twisted, cynical view of our world through the Discworld's crazy characters. Bearing that in mind, I can't agree with the other reviews of this book here... Lords & Ladies just isn't that great. It is well-written and has a decent plot, but I have read every one of Pratchett's Discworld novels, and this is the most disappointing one (with the exception of the slender Eric). I think Pratchett is suffering from the same "disease" that Douglas Adams caught... once the reader expects the unexpected, then it is no longer funny. If you've never read Pratchett, start at the beginning, with The Colour of Magic. Mort and Sourcery are good as well. When I shell out my 5 bucks for a Pratchett novel, I expect to laugh out loud while I read it. This time I didn't

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hysterically funny, extraordinarily human
Review: Pratchett has the rare gift of writing humor that is not only funny, but literate, well-crafted, and sneakily wise and compassionate. Unlike many authors, he says the serious things he wants to say not by inserting a lecture, but by a deft turn of phrase, or simply by telling the story of what happens to his characters, A reader will not only end up rolling on the floor laughing, but thinking. In this story, elves (who have a power to control human thinking that puts even television and public relations execs to shame) take over the small kingdom of Lancre, while Magrat and King Verence are uneasily stumbling towards marriage. Magrat, Granny Weatherwax, and Nanny Ogg, together with such assorted characters as Casanunda the lecherous dwarf and Jason Ogg, the smith whose head is about as thick as his anvil, fight to stop them. Granny Weatherwax, who knows that there's no point making a big entrance unless you're also prepared to make a mess, is also involved in a battle of wills with Diamanda, who thinks that witchery is something you do, rather than something you are. You'll definitely laugh. Guarantee. You might cry if you happen to feel like it or if you get so distracted reading it that you let someone drop something heavy on your foot. Or, of course, if the elves start eyeing _your_ life as a good thing to muck about with.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: There is no evidence in mythology that elves are nice.
Review: Lords and Ladies is a warning about fiddling with mythologies you know nothing about. Mythology is about life, living and death, not some saccrine coated Disney recreation designed to "protect children" and get you to spend money. Life is dangerous, and the current neo pagan trend to rewrite mythologies to suit some politically trendy slant will not make it any less dangerous. At no time does the original lore indicate that fairies and elves are anything less than vicious,cunning creatures who have a disregard for anything other than their species. I liked Lords and Ladies because it showed how dangerous it was to interpret something to suit yourself rather than dealing with reality. That Pratchett manages to get everyone to giggle every third line makes him a genius.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Perhaps Pratchett's best Discworld novel
Review: In "Lords & Ladies" Pratchett returns to the characters and tone set in "Wyrd Sisters" and "Witches Abroad", but ties in the most interesting characters from the Unseen University books ("Moving Pictures", "Mort"). The book has all of Pratchett's trademarks: literate references, puns, jokes developed over the course of pages or chapters... This book gives Pratchett an opportunity to observe and comment on the human nature as well, in a fashion only he could.. If you've enjoyed several of the Disc novels, this is definately a distinct treat. If you're new to Pratchett, you'd probably be happier starting with one of the more introductory novels like "Wyrd Sisters", "Equal Rites", or "Witches Abroad".

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Elves are beautiful, kind and loving, right? WRONG!
Review: We have always thought of elves as enchanting, cheerful, andplayful creatures, right? Well they are, only not the wayyou might think. They're enchanting because they can charm you into obedience, they're cheerful because they like what they're doing--and what they're doing is playing; playing with your body and your mind, seeing how far each can go before it snaps.... If you're tired of the standard elves-as-better-than-men portrayal, read this and see where we all got it wrong.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Another great Discworld book
Review: This is the fourteenth book in Terry Pratchett's series on the Discworld - a flat world, supported on the backs of four massive elephants riding on the back of a planet-sized turtle. Anything hilarious can happen here, and eventually does.

With Magrat's marriage to Verence, King of Lancre, coming up, what could possibly go wrong? Actually, a lot! The border between realities is getting thin, and someone is trying to come through - the elves. Everyone remembers elves - beautiful, regal, powerful, etc. - but what they don't remember is that they are also vicious, murderous and completely unscrupulous. But, the witches remember; they remember a time when men went out hunting and never returned, and when babies disappeared from cradles. And now it is up to Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, plus any help that they can recruit to save the (disc)world!

This is another *great* Terry Pratchett book, one of his best! I have been a fan of this author for a long time, and this book does not let you down. As is often the case in Discworld books, a couple of "regulars" put in an appearance (Archchancellor Ridcully, the Librarian, Casanunda the World's Second Greatest Lover, and of course DEATH), but this is definitely a witch book. This is a great story, one that will inexplicably keep you on the edge of your seat and rolling on the floor laughing, both at the same time! This is a great Discworld book, one that I highly recommend.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hysterically funny, extraordinarily human
Review: Pratchett has the rare gift of writing humor that is notonly funny, but literate, well-crafted, and sneakilywise and compassionate. Unlike many authors, he says the serious things he wants to say not by inserting a lecture, but by a deft turn of phrase, or simply by telling the story of what happens to his characters, A reader will not only end up rolling on the floor laughing, but thinking. In this story, elves (who have a power to control human thinking that puts even television and public relations execs to shame) take over the small kingdom of Lancre, while Magrat and King Verence are uneasily stumbling towards marriage. Magrat, Granny Weatherwax, and Nanny Ogg, together with such assorted characters as Casanunda the lecherous dwarf and Jason Ogg, the smith whose head is about as thick as his anvil, fight to stop them. Granny Weatherwax, who knows that there's no point making a big entrance unless you're also prepared to make a mess, is also involved in a battle of wills with Diamanda, who thinks that witchery is something you do, rather than something you are. You'll definitely laugh. Guarantee. You might cry if you happen to feel like it or if you get so distracted reading it that you let someone drop something heavy on your foot. Or, of course, if the elves start eyeing _your_ life as a good thing to muck about with.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not the Best of the Witches Books
Review: This Discworld novel, part of the Witches subset, plays off of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Lancre is invaded by elves, and the only good elf is a dead elf. (In other words, they are uninteresting, unconvincing characters). This book features Magrat and Nanny Ogg; Nanny is very funny in this one. The elves show up too late in the story, and the subplots tend to derail the action. The wizards show up in Lancre along with the Librarian (in orangutan form). The dwarf Casanunda has a candlelight dinner with Nanny Ogg and the Arch-chancellor has a heart-to-heart talk with Granny Weatherwax: these parts are very funny, but they can't make the whole book work well. Still, it is part of the Witches sequence, and these, along with the City Watch sequence, are some of the better Discworld books, and Pratchett should get credit for bringing in the wizards, who work better as minor characters than they do as the protagonists of the Rincewind books.


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