WITCHES ABROAD

WITCHES ABROAD

(Discworld #12)

- Terry Pratchett -

Those laughable Witches (Granny, Nanny, & Magrat) are back in another argumentative novel. Doesn't it seem like they are always arguing? Well, the battle of wills continues. Granny, aggressive. Nanny, passive aggressive. Magrat, confused aggressive. They all have such different personalities that it makes for great dialogue, which is the highlight (and bulk) of the book. Pratchett's strength is, no doubt about it, his ability to bring characters to life through their chitter chatter. He somehow manages to fill almost every sentence said with a joke. You can't help but chuckle when reading. I found Witches Abroad to one of the funniest books so far. Pratchett was really on his game when he wrote this one.

The overall story is pretty humorous, a parody of fairy tales. One of the witches inherits a fairy godmother wand and is supposed to fulfill a Cinderella type story (A maid marries a prince deal). Well, not all of the witches agree that this should happen (hence, the constant arguing). They all hop on their brooms and take a journey to a far away kingdom. From that point on the witches come across many (funny) takes on classic fairy tales. They do eventually end up saving a misguided kingdom and playing the role of fairy godmother, but, as you should expect from Pratchett, not in any normal way, shape, or form.

The ending left me with a couple of questions. Will Lily be part of future books? Will we see more Greebo (I sure hope so)?

RATING: READ