Witches Abroad: 08/01/12

Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett opens with the fairy godmother Desiderata being visited by DEATH. Before she crosses over, she makes a wish, one DEATH can't refuse. Thus Magrat Garlick, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg are summoned to Genua to prevent a young maid from marrying a prince.

To do that, they have to contend with the forces of narrative causality. People, Pratchett argues, don't shape the stories; they are shaped by them. The three witches have to go up against the power of the Cinderella story to prevent Princess Embrella from marrying a very unsavory prince.

Besides being a collection of fracture fairytales, Witches Abroad is also a travelogue across the disc. The witches travel through Uberwald (Transylvania), see the disc version of the running of the bulls, take a cruise and ride a riverboat.

The book stands alone and doesn't have to be read in order. For those reading the books in order, Witches Abroad is book twelve.

Four stars

Comments (2)

Comment #1: Saturday, August 04, 2012 at 00:12:31

Anastasia @ Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

I think the witches are my favorite Discworld characters (besides Susan and Death, I mean) but I haven't read all that many of their books, actually! Which is kinda sad. I need to get on that.

Comment #2: Sunday, August 05, 2012 at 22:32:42

Pussreboots

I'm right there with you in terms of favorite characters. Like you I'm really behind in reading the witch books. I'm hoping to fix that soon!