Niko reviewed Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett
I do love witches
4 stars
A story about stories. Granny Weatherwax has jokes!
368 pages
English language
Published Aug. 8, 2013 by Penguin Random House.
Be careful what you wish for...Once upon a time there was a fairy godmother named Desiderata who had a good heart, a wise head, and poor planning skills—which unforunately left the Princess Emberella in the care of her other (not quite so good and wise) godmother when DEATH came for Desiderata. So now it's up to Magrat Garlick, Granny Weatherwax, and Nanny Ogg to hop on broomsticks and make for far-distant Genua to ensure the servant girl doesn't marry the Prince.But the road to Genua is bumpy, and along the way the trio of witches encounters the occasional vampire, werewolf, and falling house (well this is a fairy tale, after all). The trouble really begins once these reluctant foster-godmothers arrive in Genua and must outwit their power-hungry counterpart who'll stop at nothing to achieve a proper "happy ending"—even if it means destroying a kingdom.
A story about stories. Granny Weatherwax has jokes!
Pritchett has found a way to make witches even more "metal" than they were in the previous books. The portrayal of them riding the brooms forming a wing is absolutely badass. The story starts with an inevitability of an old witch losing and unfolds into an adventure planned out by her in quite some details.
Diverse set of characters, plot twists and wit. My favorite quote is exploring the perception of justice and the willingness to act upon it:
“Let’s throw her off the tower,” said Magrat.
“All right,” said Nanny. “Do it, then.”
Magrat hesitated. “Well,” she said, “when I said let’s throw her off the tower, I didn’t mean me personally throwing her off, I meant that if there was any justice she ought to be thrown off—”
“Then I shouldn’t say any more on that score, if I was you,” said Nanny, kneeling carefully on the crunching …
Pritchett has found a way to make witches even more "metal" than they were in the previous books. The portrayal of them riding the brooms forming a wing is absolutely badass. The story starts with an inevitability of an old witch losing and unfolds into an adventure planned out by her in quite some details.
Diverse set of characters, plot twists and wit. My favorite quote is exploring the perception of justice and the willingness to act upon it:
“Let’s throw her off the tower,” said Magrat.
“All right,” said Nanny. “Do it, then.”
Magrat hesitated. “Well,” she said, “when I said let’s throw her off the tower, I didn’t mean me personally throwing her off, I meant that if there was any justice she ought to be thrown off—”
“Then I shouldn’t say any more on that score, if I was you,” said Nanny, kneeling carefully on the crunching shards.
A wonderful retelling of Cinderella and other fairy tales with modern sensibilities and exploration of the consequences of easy magic solutions. Some very good headology was used to motivate the other witches to help Magrat be a fairy godmother.
Another very funny books in the witches series. So many brilliantly interwoven stories and borrowed ideas and themes. I had to laugh out loud a few times and will definitely continue my journey into the Discworld universe!