Reviews

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

scytmo's review against another edition

5.0

In a world where the number 8 is magical, the eighth son of an eighth son is a wizard. Enter Eskarina (Esk), who inconveniently comes along as the eighth daughter of an eighth son, and “everybody knows there’s no such thing as a female wizard”.

I absolutely loved this. OK, so this is an “underdog makes good” story, and the broad strokes of the plot will come as no surprise (Esk can only be trained as a wizard in the Unseen University - a famously misogynistic organisation that has never admitted women. I wonder what will have happened by the end of the story?) But the characters are an absolute joy, the plot and pacing are solid, the development of Discworld lore is fascinating, imaginative, witty, rich, and just very rewarding as world-building - especially in the knowledge of the pay-off in the 30+ books in the series.

I’m always slightly nervous when one of the main characters in a story is a child. But Esk doesn’t suffer from the unsophisticated naivety that could have made the story a chore. While the naivety is there by necessity, Esk still brings a richness and sophistication to the story telling through the inherent and intuitive understanding she has of her magical inheritance. This lifts it from being the predictable YA coming of age tale that I feared it might be.

And Granny Weatherwax is clearly a star in the making. I get the sense from reviews of later Discworld stories that her character development is something to look forward to.

Pratchett’s writing is an absolute delight. Of course.

ddrake's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.25

gabeschatz's review

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

mebius's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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

4.0

madz's review

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious relaxing 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

5.0

tinido's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

gareth_beniston's review against another edition

funny hopeful reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Elegant, playful, subtle, calm, wise, gently amusing, kind. Delicious flights of fancy. 

metchap's review

funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

thegreatreadingquest's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

morild's review against another edition

adventurous funny

• Loveable characters? Yes

4.25