A review by notdamienb
Maskerade (play adaptation) by Terry Pratchett

4.0

"That's basically all of opera, reely."
"What? Either dyin' or drinkin' beer?"
"Basically, yes," said Nanny, contriving to suggest that this was the whole gamut of human experience.
"And that's opera?"
"We-ll . . . there might be some other stuff. But mostly it's stout or stabbin'."

I very much overall enjoyed this book and, as it was my first of the Witch focused books, I liked the accessible introduction I got to both Nanny and Granny. One thing that I consistently am grateful for in the Discworld novels is how Pratchett has written these so that anyone can jump in almost anywhere. I'm sure that there is a benefit to reading them in order, but why start now?

So, Maskerade - the Discworld's version of The Phantom of the Opera - is quite a good story. Maskerade is the perfect satire of Phantom and of musical theatre/opera in general. The very basic plot remains true-ish to Phantom, in that an "Opera Ghost" is haunting the Opera and trying to get a young singer named Christine to be the lead in the Opera's plays. Of course, being Discworld, the plot and characters take a lot of left turns away from the typical storyline and deeper into Pratchett's controlled chaos.

There are a few small details that I really loved and read over and over just because they made me so happy. One of these is Nanny's commentary on finding a manuscript of a musical about the lives of cats. She seems a bit unsure at first, but quickly decides that cats lives are just like opera. Another small detail was Death showing up dressed as the Red Death. There are lots of other little things but I don't want to spoil too much. Whether you're new to Discworld or trying to decide which one to read next, give Maskerade a shot.