Reviews

I was always hesitant in reading the 3 witches series in the Discworld. The City Guards series was my favorite. I think this book changed my mind and made me look forward to reading all the rest of the series.
It might have been a bit too long at times, but wit and philosophical quotes were worth it.
New writers are often advised to keep descriptions to the minimum to avoid losing the reader's interest. I wish Pratchett's description of the forest on Hogwarts night was that much longer, I could have read a whole book describing that forest. I longed to visit it.
Bravo again Terry Pratchett .

rockatanskette's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

itmegreg's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted reflective fast-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

3.75

The Witches entries are quickly becoming my favorite Discworld novels. Fantastic cast of characters, a plot that whips by and plenty of alludes to the works of Shakespeare (Macbeth, specifically). The humor is here in droves (obviously) and Granny Weatherwax again proves that she is the greatest of the Discworld characters.

“She walked quickly through the darkness with the frank stride of someone who was at least certain that the forest, on this damp and windy night, contained strange and terrible things and she was it.”

confusedmuse's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

Muse Reads Discworld in Release Order, Part 6

"Words," said Granny, half to herself. "That's all that's left. Words."

I loved Granny Weatherwax in Equal Rites, so I was thrilled to not only see her here, but to find out that she now has two equally fun witches to bounce off of. I adore Magrat and the ways she’s trying to navigate what she thinks a witch ought to be like versus the reality of the witch that she is, and I find Nanny hilarious in the ‘old lady who has lived so long and seen so much that she doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her and her family anymore’ kind of way.

The witches completely steal the show, which in many ways is the opposite of a problem, but it does make for a bit of an unfocused read. There’s Shakespearean parody and clearly some commentary on the role of the ruling class, but it gets lost under the hilarity of Granny commenting that the moon is wossname. Bulging.

I’ve seen some comments and reviews that said the story felt a lot clearer after reading the afterword, which doesn’t seem to exist in the e-book version I have. Thanks for that, I guess. As a result, all I have are the words. And they’re very fun words at that - “The Fool jingled miserably across the floor” now lives rent free in my mind - which makes the mishmash of the story a lot easier to take. To partially compare it to the last book, Sourcery, I didn’t get the sense that a point was lost or forgotten, or that a character was just a failed experiment to be dismissed by the closing of the curtain. Instead, this volume feels more like an experiment in character, and to that end it’s a wild success. I’m excited to see more of the witches in the future, while also holding out a little hope for more of the fool turned king and the dwarf playwright as well. These kinds of characters paired with the kind of full-circle narratives from Equal Rites and Mort would be quite the narratives to behold.

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