Witches Abroad (Discworld 12)
Jul. 27th, 2023 07:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jazzfishIn which Magrat Garlick, last seen being apparently shuffled offstage at the end of Wyrd Sisters, inherits a fairy godmother's magic wand. Naturally, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg (with Nanny's cat Greebo) forcibly accompany Magrat on a trip to a fairytale kingdom.
In the spirit of Reaper Man, this feels like two half-books glued together. The fairy-godmother stuff nominally drives the action, and the ... good? evil? other fairy godmother turns up every so often to be Ominous and remind us that there's a plot. But that mostly doesn't matter until the last quarter or so. Much of the book consists of a travelogue, in which the witches enact a great many touristy tropes with varying degrees of mild cheery played-for-laughs xenophobia. Not my thing, though not as vehemently so as Equal Rites.
The actual fairy-godmother plot worked for me, but only just. I did appreciate the Lily/Granny opposition. Their experiences inside the mirror ("When can I get out?" WHEN YOU FIND THE ONE THAT'S REAL.) were worth the price of admission. To the left, "story is a force of nature" has been a theme for two books now (Moving Pictures and this one), and ... it's falling flat for me, honestly. The idea that These Specific Stories are floating around in the aether waiting to be retold just rubs me the wrong way, pretty intensely.
I am also less fond of Granny Weatherwax than I'd hoped to be as well. She's an absolute bully to Magrat (though Nanny's not much better), utterly un-self-aware, and generally just not a character I'm enjoying spending time with. Perhaps she'll soften or my opinion of her will rise. I hope so, since she keeps turning up throughout.
So: not my thing. Thus far I quite like the Death books (plus Pyramids, which I understand is a one-off), am generally mildly unhappy with Witches and Wizards, and currently neutral on the Watch.
Next: Small Gods, which I am eager to revisit after well over two decades.
In the spirit of Reaper Man, this feels like two half-books glued together. The fairy-godmother stuff nominally drives the action, and the ... good? evil? other fairy godmother turns up every so often to be Ominous and remind us that there's a plot. But that mostly doesn't matter until the last quarter or so. Much of the book consists of a travelogue, in which the witches enact a great many touristy tropes with varying degrees of mild cheery played-for-laughs xenophobia. Not my thing, though not as vehemently so as Equal Rites.
The actual fairy-godmother plot worked for me, but only just. I did appreciate the Lily/Granny opposition. Their experiences inside the mirror ("When can I get out?" WHEN YOU FIND THE ONE THAT'S REAL.) were worth the price of admission. To the left, "story is a force of nature" has been a theme for two books now (Moving Pictures and this one), and ... it's falling flat for me, honestly. The idea that These Specific Stories are floating around in the aether waiting to be retold just rubs me the wrong way, pretty intensely.
I am also less fond of Granny Weatherwax than I'd hoped to be as well. She's an absolute bully to Magrat (though Nanny's not much better), utterly un-self-aware, and generally just not a character I'm enjoying spending time with. Perhaps she'll soften or my opinion of her will rise. I hope so, since she keeps turning up throughout.
So: not my thing. Thus far I quite like the Death books (plus Pyramids, which I understand is a one-off), am generally mildly unhappy with Witches and Wizards, and currently neutral on the Watch.
Next: Small Gods, which I am eager to revisit after well over two decades.