Disc World Group Read: Witches Novels

Planned read order:

January: Equal Rites, by Terry Pratchett
March: Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett
May: Witches Abroad, by Terry Pratchett
July: Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett
September: Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett
November: Carpe Jugulum, by Terry Pratchett

Only a few days left until the start - I'm in!

I enjoyed the Death book discussions last year. I am happy to join this year's reading group. I probably won't have time to start until after Jan 4 when family departs.

Thanks for setting up the thread in this group! Makes everything so much easier. I’m partway through Witches Abroad right now so will mostly just read everyone’s thoughts on Equal Rights and Wyrd Sisters and then join the group reads in the latter half of the year (time permitting).

Found my copy of Equal Rites and pulled it out.

I decided to go for audiobook, as I got woefully behind last year. I have 1 hour left of my current listen, then will jump right in to Equal Rites a few days early.

thanks for setting this up! Last time I read it was after Sir Terrys passing, when I went through all of his books. It will be fun to repeat it and discuss it with you all!

I lost track of my phone battery and the phone died midread yesterday so I picked up Equal Rites while I waited for it to charge!

Just found this and as a long term Pratchettite I would love to join, the Witches are awesome!

I finished Equal Rites last night. I really enjoyed this introduction to Granny Weatherwax. I love the exploration of the Unseen University library, also.

I can only agree, it was a wonderful start to the 2024 reading year.
Now I have to wait until spring finally arrives and the next book in the series can be read.

Great start! I am still catching up with myself, having been on vacation since Dec 22. Just getting the titles in hand so I can look on my shelves when the opportunity presents itself will be a big help. Looking forward to the 2024 journey!

Heres the schedule for the books:

January Equal Rites
March Wyrd Sisters
May Witches Abroad
July Lords and Ladies
September Maskerade
November Carpe Jugulum

we are looking at reading the Tiffany Achine books in 2025

Loving this book all over again, esp when Esk is learning about borrowing Granny Weatherwax. Looking forward to the rest , but I remember my disappointment when Esk never appears in another discworld book. I wonder why Sir T decided not to do that

Who knows which character would have been neglected if he had focussed more on her.
I'm far from familiar with all his books, but at least she appears in I shall wear midnight.

she does? I havent read that book in decades, ill have to read it and see

Eskarina does appear in I Shall Wear Midnight.

excellent, Ill have to read that soon. I did finish this one; you know how sir t usually fills the mid od the book with craziness in plot? I didnt mind it much this time l like I did decades ago. , He only had a few footnotes that surprised me. I cant remember if he had them in his earlier books

I'm on the 3rd day of reading about 25 pages a day and will jot dawn a few quotes as I go.

"Mist curled between the houses as the wizard crossed a narrow bridge over the swollen stream and made his way to the village smithy, although the two facts had nothing to do with one another. The mist would have curled anyway: it was experienced mist and had got curling down to a fine art."

oh yes, thats sir terry to a T

"But," he said, "if it's wizard magic she's got, learning witchery won't be any good, will it? You said they're different."
"They're both magic. If you can't learn to ride an elephant, you can at least learn to ride a horse."
"What's an elephant?"
"A kind of badger," said Granny. She hadn't maintained forest-credibility for forty years by ever admitting ignorance.

"Esk, of course, had not been trained, and it is well known that a vital ingredient of success is not knowing that what you are attempting can't be done. A person ignorant of the possibility of failure can be a half-brick in the path of the bicycle of history."
Page 132 of my old Corgi paperback with the awesome Josh Kirby art.

"One reason for the bustle was that over large parts of the continent other people preferred to make money without working at all, and since the Disc had yet to develop a music recording industry they were forced to fall back on older, more traditional forms of banditry." p 134.

I love the quotes >23 bryanoz: !

I finished Equal Rites a couple days ago. I thought I'd read it before, but it all seemed very new to me. I loved every minute of it.

Hi Rachel, there’s more quotes to come as I slowly read the story, also loving every page.

Ooh, what a fun group! I never got around to reading any of the Discworld books, so this is a good opportunity for me. I saved a copy of the reading guide graphic years ago to help me get started and then didn't act on it.

The wait times for Equal Rites on Libby preclude the January timeline. I might have to go look for a physical copy. That creates a significant barrier.

>26 justchris: If you think you'll be interested in more Discworld and have the budget, there's a Humble Bundle of 38 titles for $18 which includes Equal Rites, which also has a 9 book bundle ($10), and a 3 book bundle ($1) both of which have Equal Rites in them.

https://www.humblebundle.com/books/terry-pratchetts-discworld-harpercollins-book...

>27 elorin: Thanks for the suggestion! I was concerned it wouldn't work because I don't use Kindle, but I see they work with Kobo, which works for me.

This was fun. Pratchett pretty well kept the story on track rather than dropping in half a dozen sub-plots, and graced us with dozens of wonderful one-liners.

I especially enjoyed the comparison between witch-magic and wizard-magic, which dug down pretty deep without ever losing the humor. Interesting to see if Esk continues to be a major character in the Witches sub-set. Loved seeing Granny Weatherwax center-stage.

> justchris Hope you enjoy the Discworld books, for many of us the humorous and wise nature of Sir Terry's books are a joy that can be read over and over.

> Lynda I agree and think Equal Rites is a step up from the earlier two books, and there is more adept writing and stories to come.
It is interesting to see Sir Terry's first incarnation of Granny Weatherwax, one of the pivotal characters in the Discworld saga, and about to become much more formidable in future books.

"Granny looked blank, but only a fraction of a second. The witchmarks on the doorpost had said that the housekeeper welcomed witches and was particularly anxious for news of her four husbands; she was also in random pursuit of a fifth, hence the ginger wig and, if Granny's ears weren't deceiving her, the creak of enough whalebone to infuriate an entire ecology movement." p. 185

"I look at it like this," he said. "Before I heard him talk, I was like everyone else. You know what I mean? I was confused and uncertain about all the little details of life. But now," he brightened up, "while I'm still confused and uncertain it's on a much higher plane, d'you see, and at least I know I'm bewildered about the really fundamental and important facts of the universe."
Treatle nodded. "I hadn't looked at it like that," he said, "but you're absolutely right. He's really pushed back the boundaries of ignorance. There's so much about the universe we don't know."
They both savoured the strange warm glow of being much more ignorant than ordinary people, who were ignorant of only ordinary things." p 216

"Cutangle stood with legs planted wide apart, arms akimbo and stomach giving an impression of a beginners' ski slope, the whole of him therefore adopting a pose usually associated with Henry VIII but with an option on Henry IX and X as well." p 224

Somebody laughed. it was the sort of laugh-
Basically, it was p'ch'zarni'chiwkov. This epiglottis-throttling word is seldom used on the Disc except by highly-paid stunt linguists and, of course, the tiny tribe of the K'turni, who invented it. It has no direct synonym, although the Cumhoolie word 'squernt' ('the feeling upon finding that the previous occupant of the privy has used all the paper') begins to approach it in general depth of feeling. p 236

gosh how did I miss that one!

Granny and Cutangle are reminiscing about the old days:
"Everything was a different colour in those days."
"That's true."
"It didn't rain so much in the summer time."
"The sunsets were redder."
"There were more old people. The world was full of them," said the wizard.
"Yes, I know. And now it's full of young people. Funny, really. I mean, you'd expect it to be the other way round." p 253

around that same page "esk floated through the mists of the world noticing with a curious impersonal feeling the precise way she passed through solid matter" this could have been Douglas Adams writing. One of my fav sections of the book is coming up soon.

I have finished my re-read. It is always interesting to compare original Granny with the Granny of the later books. For example, in this one she hates cats. But later she is devoted to You.

She is one of my fav characters of all time.
btw, I happened on your profile (was curious about cateyegree coz I have green eyes saw this and howled with laughter:

what book blurbs really mean

Enchanting – there’s a dog in it
Heart-warming – a dog AND a child
Moving – child dies
Heart-rending – dog dies
Thoughtful – mind-numbingly tedious
Haunting – set in the past
Exotic – set abroad
Audacious – set in the future
Award-winning – set in India
Perceptive – set in north London
Provocative – infuriating
Epic – editor cowed by author’s reputation
From the pen of a master – same old same old
In the tradition of – shamelessly derivative
Spare and taut – under-researched
Richly detailed – over-researched
Disturbing – author bonkers
Stellar – author young and photogenic
Classic – author hanging in there
Vintage – author past it

>40 cindydavid4: That all sounds about right.

>27 elorin: I just purchased the Humble Bundle. My first time trying out that service. Thanks for the rec!

<40 Brilliant definitions of book blurbs and hauntingly accurate!

"Perhaps more importantly, the ants used all the sugar lumps they could steal to build a small sugar pyramid in one of the hollow walls, in which, with great ceremony, they entombed the mummified body of a dead queen. On the wall of one tiny hidden chamber they inscribed, in insect hieroglyphics, the true secret of longevity.
They got it absolutely right and it would probably have important implications for the universe if it hadn't next time the University flooded, been completely washed away."

So ends Equal Rites, the third book in the Discworld canon.

Some rambling observations:

This book introduces Granny Weatherwax and the place of witches on the Discworld, and headology!

Granny is a main character in the series and her character is developed significantly in the next witch book Wyrd Sisters (one of my favourites!).

From The Ultimate Discworld Companion in the article on Unseen University:
"With one exception (during the Archchancellorship of Cutangle), UU has never admitted women. Usually this is said to be on the grounds of plumbing problems, but probably the real reason is an unspoken dread that women, if allowed to mess around with wizardry, would probably be embarassingly good at it. And less likely to do what they're told."

I've enjoyed reading the book and sharing quotes and thoughts with you all, thank you and happy reading, hope to see you in March for Wyrd Sisters.

>44 bryanoz: great quote and too true. now I have to check out their link

I did manage to finish Equal Rites in January. It was an interesting enough introduction to Discworld, and I definitely enjoyed some particular turns of phrase and memorable quotes. But I also couldn't keep engaged with the story and took several timeouts to read more engaging ebooks between starting and finishing the book. Also, the Humble Bundle was quite affordable, but the ebook has no chapters--it's just hundreds of pages of undifferentiated prose. And that's a bit of an accessibility problem for me. I got through it, just was a little more challenging. I look forward to Wyrd Sisters in March.

>46 justchris: It seems to me that several of Pratchett's early Discworld novels had no real chapters in them. I can remember reading The Light Fantastic -- my first Pratchett read -- giggling all the way through and promising myself I would put it down and go do mundane things like make the bed and start dinner, as soon as I got to the end of the current chapter.

>47 LyndaInOregon: Thanks for that info. Maybe I should spot check some later books then, and it's the source material not the ebook source. That lack of breaks in the narrative flow was one of the reasons I struggled with The Old Man and the Sea, along with utter lack of dialogue and not caring about the religious allegory and finding it the most boring story ever.

yeah his first 2 or three were like that; but then it picks up with mort which we read last year for our Death challenge. and wyrd sisters is one of my fav books of the series, think youll enjoy it

Does Discworld have chapters at all? I know I've heard, though not made, complaints, but I've come to not expect them in Terry Pratchett's works.

Moving Pictures has breaks between some paragraphs, like extra line breaks to show emphasis, but no chapter breaks

“He’s a complete amateur, he doesn’t even write in chapters!” Tom Paulin’s humorous review of Terry’s writing. Thankfully there are plenty of paragraph breaks.

wyrd sisters "the duke had a mind that ticked like a clock, and like a clock it reguarly went cuckoo"

Time for Wyrd Sisters! I have a book to finish first, so will probably start in a couple of weeks.

Yay, it is March!
I think I'll start earlier...

Im almost through (this is like my 5th or 6th reread but still love it) I wont say much till people are reading it

I just ordered it through ILL. Should be here next week some time.

I'm reading an LTER right now, and prefer to make those my only-reads while reviewing, but it won't take long to wrap it up.

Starting my reread tomorrow, 10-20 pages a day. One of my favourites!

I found my copy of Wyrd Sisters. It's bound in two rubber bands - well loved!

Does a book like These Witches Don't Burn count as a witch novel?

>60 Owltherian: This thread is for a subseries of a specific series of books - the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett. This month the group is reading Wyrd Sisters.

Thanks for the reminder! Happy March! I'll start on my ebook this week! It's another one without chapter breaks, but y'all have explained it. I'll just have to remember to bookmark every time I pause in reading so I can find my stopping point (the app kept opening on the first page for a while there).

On the title page of my paperback:
Starring Three Witches, also kings, daggers, crowns, storms, dwarfs, cats, ghosts, spectres, apes, bandits, demons, forests, heirs, jesters, tortures, trolls, turntables, general rejoicing, and divers alarums.

>61 elorin: Ohhhh, okay thank you

Three gifts from witchy godmothers:
Make friends easily, always remember the words, be who he thinks he is

What gifts would you bestow? What gift do you wish your witchy godmother had granted?

May you always walk in light, may you always find joy in doing, and may you always have the strength to share.

And now that we've got all those high-sounding wishes out of the way ... I always wanted to be taller, better coordinated, and blessed with a metabolism that would burn up calories rather than hoarding them as if it were the Tooth Fairy and they were six-year-olds' bicuspids.

I like your high minded wishes, but Id really wish for coordination, be extroverted, and not lose any one while Im growing old

I wish to lose another 20-30 pounds. Selfish, I know.

just finished; I do love 'the plays the thing' where characters are getting confused with their actual real world role; even real Death gets in to the act, I always wondered if tomjon regrets turning down the crown and wonder if he changes places with the fool from time to time

I'm only up to page 24 but I have already noticed that Sir Terry's writing has reached a new level.
The inevitable quote,
"The storm was really giving it everything it had. It had spent years hanging around the provinces, putting in some useful work as a squall, building up experience, making contacts, occasionally leaping out on unsuspecting shepherds or blasting quite small oak trees. Now an opening in the weather had given it an opportunity to strut its hour, and it was building up its role in the hope of being spotted by one of the big climates."

oh yes

Finished my re-read of Wyrd Sisters and enjoyed it as usual.
The obvious nods to Shakespeare are great fun. I note that there is a start of the fairy-tale meme that Sir Terry developed in the next book, Witches Abroad.
The characters of Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg are beginning to settle, they are looking like the people they will be in the later books.
So much fun to read.

The three witches sat alone on the edge of the stage.
"I wonder how they get all them kings and lords to come here and do this?" said Granny, totally unabashed. "I'd have thought they'd been to busy. Ruling and similar."
"No," said Magrat, wearily. "I still don't think you quite understand."

Just got my copy today, and will be ready to start as soon as I finish the current read -- probably by the weekend. And since I am constitutionally incapable of putting down a Pratchett Discworld novel for anything short of lapsing into unconsciousness, will probably be finished by Monday....

Finished it, loved it.
Have to wait until May to continue the series.
They say the joy of anticipation is the greatest joy, but it's hard...

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it led me on a wandering journey to suss out the meaning of some (most!) of the words in The Fool's first riddle, which eventually led me to a discussion forum that inadvertently included a spoiler for the book.

Oops!

No, I'm not going to spill the beans here, but it's been interesting to see the way Pratchett is scattering information here and there which will ultimately make The Big Reveal both surprising and -- with hindsight -- inevitable.

I really love it when an author can truly surprise me with a plot twist which, on reconsideration, was skillfully set up far in advance. It then becomes one of those "Well, of course!" moments, and you realize "That's why the cook burned the dinner" (or whatever the set-up was that you didn't recognize at the time).

>76 LyndaInOregon: thats what I love about Sir Terry, I can sometimes think I know whats coming, then Wha? Love it

Finished the book this afternoon, and I must note that even the "spoiler" I thought I had found has a twist to it.

As noted on my thread, I enjoyed it, but there are others in the series that I definitely liked better. This one feels almost like a stand-alone novel. While it's definitely set on Discworld and features some of Pratchett's recurring characters, it just lacks the inspired zaniness of some of the other Discworld books.

I did love the sideways Shakespearean references, and loved the notion of Death first deciding to step in for a terrified actor ("next night on your dressing room, they've hung a star"...) and then himself succumbing to stage fright.

Too many wonderful throwaway lines to count.

>78 LyndaInOregon: well it was early in the series, but you can certainly see magic here, and there were times the zaninness in latter book were over the top at times. Nice to have a less crazy plot! and yes to the lines.....

"The duke leaned closer until his nose was an inch from Granny's face.
"Get back to your cauldrons, wyrd sisters," he said softly." Page 155.
A spooky moment!

>80 bryanoz: I always love the eponymous moments! This book is keeping me engaged better than Equal Rites.

>81 justchris: I agree justchris, beginning with Wyrd Sisters I think Terry’s writing is on another level (higher, just to be clear:).
I am also really enjoying Magrat and the Fool’s burgeoning romance, just lovely!

I think the Fool's trip to rescue Greebo is one of the funniest moments in this book. Iconic even.

Agreed!

I finally finished my other book and started Wyrd Sisters. I had a bit of a reading slump this month

The Discworld will lift you out of the slump!

"Would you care to share our lunch, old . . . good wo . . . Miss?" he said. "It's only salt pork, I'm afraid."
"Meat is extremely bag for the digestive system," said Magrat. "If you could see inside your colon you'd be horrified."
"I think I would," muttered Hwel. Page 264.

My reread of Wyrd Sisters is complete and it is still one of my favourites, with some of Terry's finest humour and most touching writing, with Shakespearian tones!
It also helps that Nanny Ogg is one of my favourite characters, the perfect foil to the stern Granny Weatherwax, and the endearing Magrat Garlick is also important.
Just in case some Discworld fans are not aware, the witches appear in a couple of recent works-
Tiffany Aching's Guide to being a Witch by Rhianna Pratchett and Gabrielle Kent, lavishly illustrated by Paul Kidby, published the end of 2023; and The Shakespeare Codex by Terry and Stephen Briggs.
Happy reading!

>87 bryanoz: oh I have been waiting for that Tiffany book,Yay! cant wait t read it

I didn't quite finish Wyrd Sisters in March, but I'll finish it this week. I'm enjoying it and appreciated the appearance of the orangutan from Equal Rites.

The new book tiffany achings guide to being a witch is out in the states! im so looking forward to getting this. If you are interested there is an interview with with Rhianna Pratchett and Gabrielle Kent in the British Library talking about writing the book. Its lots of fun to l watch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-psp5Q--EPI

That Youtube video with Rhianna and Gabrielle looks fantastic and I'll watch it over the next few days, thanks Cindy!

I finished it! I loved the Shakespeare references - a little mixup between Hamlet and Macbeth (mostly Macbeth). It had a satisfying end.

>92 The_Hibernator: I too enjoyed the Shakespeare refs and the philosophy on truth and the role of performance in creating it.

Im early but wanted to start witches abroad which reads like a totally different novel than I remember. I must have skipped over alot because I appaarently missed so much hilarity

also enjoying the new tiffany aching guide to being a witch. beautifully designed and illustrated by Paul Kidby its worth its price for that alone, the short sections descibing what you need to know to be a witch such as such topics as cottages, equipment,witch magic,gods and other monsters familiars, and life and death. Included in the margins are editorial comments from the Disc witches, which provide much amusement .

This book is written for young readers but if your a fan you probably wont care. It enjoyable to look at and browse though for any reader. its fun reading the sections, so many with Sir Terrys humor. Think hed be very proud of his daughter!
4.5*

About time to resurrect this thread, hope everyone has sourced a copy of Witches Abroad and are getting ready!

read and done. will wait tho to comment

Of course - and the countdown is on...

Looking forward to a re-read. This is one of my favorites.

"It seemed an easy job... After all, how difficult could it be to make sure that a servant girl doesn't marry a prince?
But for the witches Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick, travelling to the distant city of Genua, things are never that simple...
Servant girls have to marry the prince. That's what life is all about. You can't fight a Happy Ending.
At least - up until now...

Happy May! Time to download the latest book to my phone!

Got it on order - should be here late this week!

Started it yesterday. Giggling at my desk on break and at lunch. Foreign parts and Nanny Ogg's cosmopolitan patois are highly giggle inducing.

Agreed!

"We start tomorrow," said Granny Weatherwax firmly.
"Look," said Magrat desperately, "why don't I go by myself?"
"Cos you ain't experienced at fairy godmothering," said Granny Weatherwax.
This was too much even for Magrat's generous soul.
"Well, nor are you," she said.
"That's true," Granny conceded. "But the point is ... the point is ... the point is we've not been experienced for a lot longer than you."
"We've got a lot of experience of not having any experience," said Nanny Ogg happily.
"That's what counts every time," said Granny. p. 39.

"Greebo rode on Nanny's shoulder as though he'd just eaten the parrot."
P 187

Just finished and mulling over my favorite parts. Placed summary/review on my thread.

"The wages of sin is death, but so is the salary of virtue, and at least evil gets to go home early on Fridays."

I think I need a T-shirt with that on it.....

>105 LyndaInOregon: I would buy (and wear!) one!