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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The witches stay delightful
adventurous
funny
informative
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I enjoyed this - Agnes has such a lovely personality and who doesn’t love some theater.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
⭐️: 4.75/5
“…the IQ of a mob is the IQ of its most stupid member divided by the number of mobsters…”
➡️ linear timeline
👥 POV: multiple first person
🐎 Pace: Medium
One of my favorite scenes from this book is a poker game between Death and Granny, all of it. It was fun getting to see more of Greebo again. I thought the final reveals were wonderful!
My only issue with the book was that this felt like a transitional book going from 3 to 2 and trying to get back to 3 witches. Despite that, I enjoyed the story a lot overall.
This was surprisingly entertaining! From the glimpse into the book industry of the Discworld to the Opera world I thought this was such a fun book and I loved the ending.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Another week, another satisfying Discworld book. After the last couple of books feeling just a bit off, Maskerade really hits almost all of the best notes of the series.
Characters: 4.5*
Plot: 4.5*
Universe: 5*
And, since I've reviewed this series Ad nauseam, on to some of my favorite quotes of the book.
“Nanny's philosophy of life was to do what seemed like a good idea at the time, and do it as hard as possible. It had never let her down.”
“His progress through life was hampered by his tremendous sense of his own ignorance, a disability which affects all too few.”
“-Oh yes? Can you identify yourself?
-Certainly. I'd know me anywhere.”
“Well, basically there are two sorts of opera," said Nanny, who also had the true witch's ability to be confidently expert on the basis of no experience whatsoever. "There's your heavy opera, where basically people sing foreign and it goes like "Oh oh oh, I am dyin', oh I am dyin', oh oh oh, that's what I'm doin'", and there's your light opera, where they sing in foreign and it basically goes "Beer! Beer! Beer! Beer! I like to drink lots of beer!", although sometimes they drink champagne instead. That's basically all of opera, reely.”
“You needed at least three witches for a coven. Two witches was just an argument.”
“Other people salted away money for their old age, but Nanny preferred to accumulate memories.”
“The human mind was a deep and abiding mystery and the Librarian was glad he didn't have one anymore.”
“In the same way that the really rich can never be mad (they’re eccentric), so they can also never be rude (they’re outspoken and forthright).”
"Some people might say this is important."
"No. It's just personal. Personal's not the same as important. People just think it is."
"Walter's face was an agony of indecision but, erratic though his thinking might have been, it was no match for Nanny Ogg's meretricious duplicity. He was up against a mind that regarded truth as a reference point but certainly not as a shackle. Nanny Ogg could think her way through a corkscrew in a tornado without touching the sides."
"I know good music when I sees it," she said, handing it to Bucket and pointing excitedly at extracts. "It's got blobs and curly bits all over it, see?"
Characters: 4.5*
Plot: 4.5*
Universe: 5*
And, since I've reviewed this series Ad nauseam, on to some of my favorite quotes of the book.
“Nanny's philosophy of life was to do what seemed like a good idea at the time, and do it as hard as possible. It had never let her down.”
“His progress through life was hampered by his tremendous sense of his own ignorance, a disability which affects all too few.”
“-Oh yes? Can you identify yourself?
-Certainly. I'd know me anywhere.”
“Well, basically there are two sorts of opera," said Nanny, who also had the true witch's ability to be confidently expert on the basis of no experience whatsoever. "There's your heavy opera, where basically people sing foreign and it goes like "Oh oh oh, I am dyin', oh I am dyin', oh oh oh, that's what I'm doin'", and there's your light opera, where they sing in foreign and it basically goes "Beer! Beer! Beer! Beer! I like to drink lots of beer!", although sometimes they drink champagne instead. That's basically all of opera, reely.”
“You needed at least three witches for a coven. Two witches was just an argument.”
“Other people salted away money for their old age, but Nanny preferred to accumulate memories.”
“The human mind was a deep and abiding mystery and the Librarian was glad he didn't have one anymore.”
“In the same way that the really rich can never be mad (they’re eccentric), so they can also never be rude (they’re outspoken and forthright).”
"Some people might say this is important."
"No. It's just personal. Personal's not the same as important. People just think it is."
"Walter's face was an agony of indecision but, erratic though his thinking might have been, it was no match for Nanny Ogg's meretricious duplicity. He was up against a mind that regarded truth as a reference point but certainly not as a shackle. Nanny Ogg could think her way through a corkscrew in a tornado without touching the sides."
"I know good music when I sees it," she said, handing it to Bucket and pointing excitedly at extracts. "It's got blobs and curly bits all over it, see?"
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
So like Lords and Ladies, while general pop culture osmosis makes it so that I can understand what this is a pastiche of, it is one that I have not seen or read, so I feel much of the intended commentary is lost on me. It was still fun and I liked a lot of the jokes about the ways theaters run and the plot contrivances of stories, but it definitely didn't resonate the way it likely would if I were a bigger opera and/or theater fan.
One of the central themes in this book is discrimination in the entertainment industry. Agnes is an incredibly talented singer and Walter a talented composer, but because she is fat and he is intellectually disabled, they are routinely walked all over and not given the chances they deserve to shine. However, I don't know how much I can praise this commentary given that it's not just the characters making jokes about Agnes' weight, but also the narrative itself. The narrative definitely is still on Agnes' side that the fatphobia is cruel, but when the narration is also making those jokes and she loses weight in the end, it definitely doesn't read as particularly body positive. And as for Walter, while this depiction of intellectual disability feels less mean spirited than Banjo in Hogfather did, it still falls into some unpleasant tropes, such as the entire Phantom of the Opera thing and the fact that he is seemingly magically cured at the end. Based of my understanding of the actual Phantom, I think this does do a better job than it did and provides some commentary on the issues with the original, but like I said, a lot of that is lost on me.
However, I loved getting to know Agnes more. I'm sad Pratchett has decided Magrat can't be a witch anymore, especially given that I thought the whole point of the previous book was that she was capable of doing both, but if she has to go, Agnes is a lovely replacement. She's similar enough to Magrat that she will fit in well enough with Nanny and Granny, but a lot more sure of herself, and I look forward to seeing her as a full fleged member of the coven- hopefully not letting Granny treat her as poorly as she did Magrat.
Also. Did I forget something major from the Watch books? I've read Night Watch, I can't believe Vimes would sanction secret police. As soon as that guy said that, I expected him to turn out the be the phantom, because what the hell?
I had fun with this, and I liked getting to know Agnes, but it's all in all a pretty average Discworld book with a lot of the same flaws. Again though, probably more fun if you're more familiar with the thing its parodying. 2.5⭐️
One of the central themes in this book is discrimination in the entertainment industry. Agnes is an incredibly talented singer and Walter a talented composer, but because she is fat and he is intellectually disabled, they are routinely walked all over and not given the chances they deserve to shine. However, I don't know how much I can praise this commentary given that it's not just the characters making jokes about Agnes' weight, but also the narrative itself. The narrative definitely is still on Agnes' side that the fatphobia is cruel, but when the narration is also making those jokes and she loses weight in the end, it definitely doesn't read as particularly body positive. And as for Walter, while this depiction of intellectual disability feels less mean spirited than Banjo in Hogfather did, it still falls into some unpleasant tropes, such as the entire Phantom of the Opera thing and the fact that he is seemingly magically cured at the end. Based of my understanding of the actual Phantom, I think this does do a better job than it did and provides some commentary on the issues with the original, but like I said, a lot of that is lost on me.
However, I loved getting to know Agnes more. I'm sad Pratchett has decided Magrat can't be a witch anymore, especially given that I thought the whole point of the previous book was that she was capable of doing both, but if she has to go, Agnes is a lovely replacement. She's similar enough to Magrat that she will fit in well enough with Nanny and Granny, but a lot more sure of herself, and I look forward to seeing her as a full fleged member of the coven- hopefully not letting Granny treat her as poorly as she did Magrat.
Also. Did I forget something major from the Watch books? I've read Night Watch, I can't believe Vimes would sanction secret police. As soon as that guy said that, I expected him to turn out the be the phantom, because what the hell?
I had fun with this, and I liked getting to know Agnes, but it's all in all a pretty average Discworld book with a lot of the same flaws. Again though, probably more fun if you're more familiar with the thing its parodying. 2.5⭐️
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No