Rating: 
Summary: No one is to do the Stick and Bucket Dance ever again
Review: The three witches, especially Granny Weatherwax, have always been my favorite denizens of the Discworld, and they do nothing to disappoint the reader over the course of Lords and Ladies. Add in a few of Unseen University's highest-ranking wizards, and you're guaranteed to have one wild time in the kingdom of Lancre. This novel wasn't quite as funny as Pratchett's earlier witch novels, but it shows Granny Weatherwax in a whole new light and makes for a very entertaining read all the way around.
Lords and Ladies opens with the three witches returning home to Lancre after their encounter with the Godmother in the novel Witches Abroad. They arrive just in the nick of time. A group of young girls have started doing some witching of their own; dancing around (with or without their drawers on) some of the ancient stones up in the hills isn't good for anybody, especially when the barriers between the worlds are rubbing close together and beings on the other side are just waiting to pounce on anyone capable of weakening the borders a wee bit more. The Elf Queen has set her sights on crossing over into reality, but there just isn't room in this reality for Granny Weatherwax and the Elf Queen. Granny knows what regular people forgot long ago - all that glamour and beauty that Elves project is just a mask. Elves are really nasty little buggers who care about human beings only insofar as they can torture them for their own amusement. Things are really nip and go here, as Granny Weatherwax isn't her old self these days - she can't even see the future anymore, and that doesn't bode well for anybody.
Of course, the citizens of Lancre are all distracted by the upcoming nuptials of King Verence and Magrat Garlick. Wyrd Sisters tells the story of Verence's witch-assisted rise from the king's Fool to the King of Lancre, as well as the budding romance between Verence and Magrat. Magrat is of course the third member of the witches' trio, a young lass with eternally plain looks, great interest in the traditions and proper ceremonies of witchcraft, and a naivety and generosity of nature that frequently drives Granny up the wall. She and Verence are as shy as the day is long, but they are to be married on Midsummer's Eve. Granny and Nanny Ogg tend to treat Magrat as a child, and she finally gets so perturbed she abandons the coven and settles in to learning the ways of being a Queen - which mostly involves being incredibly bored.
All kinds of folks arrive for the royal wedding, including Giamo Casanunda, the world's second greatest lover ("he tries harder," a process which invariably involves the use of a stepladder), and a caravan of wizards from Unseen University. Archchancellor Ridcully is extremely excited about it because he used to live in Lancre. He goes on and on about this girl he once knew and wanted to marry, a girl who happens to be Granny Weatherwax. It's hard to imagine Granny as a young woman, but Lords and Ladies shows us a side of the old crone we've never seen before. Magrat really starts to come into her own, as well, after the Elves capture Verence. Of course, everything comes down to a big fight with the Elves, but that's the least exciting part of the novel, as far as I'm concerned. It's much more fun just watching Pratchett put all his players in place for the ending.
Pratchett is absolutely on fire in a number of passages here, especially when young Ponder Stibbons tries to explain his theory of parallel universes and multiple forms of existence to Archchancellor Ridcully. Granny and Nanny Ogg are always hilarious, the whole makeup of Lancre sets up many a joke, and Verence's dependence on book knowledge sets up one of the funniest bits in the whole Discworld series. Lords and Ladies is enough to get a new reader hooked on Pratchett's unique genius, but you won't truly appreciate this novel unless you read Wyrd Sisters and Witches Abroad first.
Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious
Review: I wont bother to summarise the plot, as all the other reviewers have done that before me. This is a hilarious book, the wizards made it better by a half. The serious bits are always my least favorate (probably because most of the other books I read are ALL serious) but I think the dramatic battle points in this book are rather better than Pratchett's usual ones. Maybe because the elves are more villianlike than his usual villians. (the withches always seem to get the best villians)
The only reason I gave it four stars rather than five was because I thought the elves weren't very convincing for Pratchett's realistic fantasy style. I mean, of course if cats where humanoid they would probably act the same way, but since they obviousely aren't*, theres less reality to the elves.
I'd still recomend this book, especialy to someone who likes the witches.
*most of the time
Rating:
Summary: Witch Queen and the Dolt Prince
Review: This is my first Terry Pratchett novel. I must admit that I was amused by the bizarre world he has created. While this is typically not the genre I read most, I would enjoy reading some of his other work after this one.
As I long suspected them to be evil, this book is centered on the evil of elves. Margat, one of the three witches, is about to marry the somewhat doltish prince. Before the wedding can occur, Discworld is overrun by evil elves. A large cast of characters battles the vertically challenged foes to rid the world of this evil menace and rescue the prince. One of the criticisms I would give the book, is that there and too many characters with to vague of descriptions to their characters. Because many of the characters recurr throughout Pratchett's work, I suspect I would not have this problem if I had some of the previous books. The menace of the evil elves is eliminate through a collection of remedies hinted throughout the book. This is not to say the plot if obvious or simplistic.
I enjoyed Pratchett's humor, particularly the references to hangovers. While I can not see myself reading all of his books, I would certainly read another. After all, there is nothing wrong with a book in which elves are slaughter. Take that J.R.R. Tolkein!
Rating:
Summary: Very Nice
Review: What's better than Pratchett? More Pratchett! "Lords and Ladies" sports a heftier page count than earlier Discworld novels, but our man uses the space well. The signs are ominous. Crop circles are appearing everywhere, including in Ridicully's hair. Bratty teenage witches are defying authority. Cold winds are blowing around that circle of gigantic stones. Granny Weatherwax knows it can only mean one thing. The Elves are coming. Not the Elves that most fantasy fans are familiar with. These Elves are based on the depictions in classic fairy tales and other traditional sources. They are not nice. And it will take quite a collection of strengths and talents to defeat them.Although it starts slowly, "Lord and Ladies" soon builds into one of the best Discworld novels. There's humor aplenty here, in enough varieties to satisfy anybody. There also a huge cast of characters, and the interplay between them is handled expertly. Even concepts that sound too farfetched, such as the great dwarf lover Casanunda, somehow get integrated into the story successfully. Throw in generational conflict, heavy Shakespeare allusions, lots of wordplay, and some rousing actions scenes, and you've got one of Mr. Pratchett's finest achievements.
Rating:
Summary: Not one of his best
Review: I found this Discworld adventure a little disjointed. Many of Pratchett's others -- in particular, WYRD SISTERS and MEN AT ARMS -- grew, sentence by sentence, chuckle by chuckle, into a delightful read. This one didn't quite match those, in hilarity or in coherency. However, I would still recommend it. I'm reading these in order, and am having great fun in doing so. That is, after all, the whole point.
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