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Witches Abroad (Discworld) by: Terry Pratchett

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Rating: - Silly but fun

I've only just started reading Pratchett (I know...) and while I enjoyed this book it's very light-weight and I couldn't imagine re-reading it. Perhaps, after Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories and the Shrek movies, fairy-tales have already been dissected and turned inside out.

This definitely has its high-points (Greebo going to the ball is priceless!) but overall I found this far more predictable than I expected after the way other people have raved about Pratchett. I'm perfectly willing to give him another try but perhaps not immediately.

But if you're in the mood for some very silly fun, then this is perfect.

Rating: - A very solid Discworld novel

When a fairy godmother learns she is about to die, she realises she must pass her vital mission onto a wise and respected witch to complete. Unfortunately, the only witch on hand is Magrat Garlick. Suddenly given an onerous and responsible quest to undertake, Magrat is soon off on a journey to the distant city of Genua, accompanied by Granny Weatherwas, Nanny Ogg and the latter's psychotic feline companion Greebo.

As they calve a trail of mayhem across the continent, they learn that in Genua all the stories must have a happy ending. Whether the people involved want one or not...

Witches Abroad, the twelfth Discworld novel, is the second novel to focus on the Lancre witches (and the third to feature Granny Weatherwax). With Lancre recovering from the events of Wyrd Sisters, Pratchett decides to take the witches off on a jobbing holiday. This neatly divides the book into two halves: the first covers the witches' journey from Lancre to Genua via various castles, villages, dwarf mines and boats and run-ins with wolves and vampires, whilst the second covers events in Genua. The former is highly enjoyable, if rather episodic, whilst the latter is rather cleverer, featuring a Discworld spin on the legend of Baba Yaga and is basically Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella mashed up and set in New Orleans. This works a lot better than it may sound.

Pratchett's grasp of character, humour and pacing is as expertly-handled as ever. The characters of the three witches continue to expand and be explored in greater depth (Nanny Ogg in particular benefits from a deeper exploration of her character) and whilst Pratchett is on familiar ground here, exploring the idea of myth and stories, he still comes up with some great ideas. He even has a - somewhat uncharacteristic - 'twist' in the ending which is unexpected and works quite well.

On the negative side, there is a rather artificial plot device designed to raise tension where Granny Weatherwax refuses to tell the other witches what's going on, even though there is no real reason for her not to. An interlude in which Greebo becomes briefly human also appears to be there only because Pratchett thought it would by funny to see Greebo as a human (as indeed it is) rather than because there's a real reason for it in the plot.

Still, these are not major issues in what may be very much a typical Discworld novel, but still a good read. Also watch out for the debut of Casanunda, master swordsman and both the World's Greatest Liar and its Greatest Lover (stepladder-assisted).

Witches Abroad (****) is a solidly entertaining and decent entry to the Discworld series, although it isn't its most exciting instalment.

Rating: - My favourite Pratchett

Simply superb...the mixing of fairy tales, with a good dose of Pratchett's fantastic humour and writing style into the mix, made this an extremely enjoyable read. One of the best Discworld novels I've read

Rating: - Fantastic

Being a Terry Pratchett fan i purchased this for my grandmother for Christmas as due to ill health reading a book is not really an option. She loved every minute, included all the accents Tony Robinson attempts. My Grama is now hooked on Discworld, recent purchased also included Wee Free Men which again was thoroughly enjoyed.

Rating: - A high point

I came to this title late having started the discworld series with 'Jingo'. This is pretty close to being the best of the lot with the grumpy matriarch Granny Weatherwax, treble entendre spinning nanny Ogg & the seemingly hopeless Magrat Garlick all off to far flung lands to try & stop a totally unhinged witch from forcing everyone to live in one long giant fairy story.
The sparring between Granny & Magrat is sharp & very funny with Nanny Ogg trying her best to keep the peace while being given the chance to dabble with foreign liquor & show off her painful mastery of languages.
In amongst the lunacy mr.pratchett manages some real moments of touching sadness, the whole little 'red riding hood' story arc manages to mix laughter with a real lump in the throat moment where the 'big bad wolf' actually welcomes his death.
Talking of death, he too keeps popping up, but without anyone knowing who he is. Nanny Oggs fearsome cat Greebo gets to try his hand at being a human & the ladies all meet their deep south equivalent,(including zombie), who lends a hand.
Up 'til I read this I thought nothing discworld could touch 'nightwatch' and 'though that book still just beats this it's not by much. This is genuinely funny & has many laugh out loud moments.
If you've read other's in the series & enjoyed them but not tried this then don't hang about, this is superb. If you simply haven't tried Discworld at all then this is a great place to start,(if you don't enjoy this then you might want to get your pulse checked!),.

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