Reviews

Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

Only show reviews with written explanations

thecolourblue's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny 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? Yes

4.0

This and Carpe Jugulum are probably my top two favourite Discworld Witches books purely on the strength of Granny Weatherwas alone. She's such a badass, and this book includes some of her most iconic moments -

Spoiler

facing off against the fae queen, hiding her mind in a hive of bees, hanging about with a unicorn, reminiscing with Ridcully about paralell worlds...

I also love the portrayal of the elves as something alien and sadistic, with their glamour powers and subtle mind-control. Nanny also has some stand-out moments here (particularly

Spoiler

when seeking out the Elf King

as does Magrat and her armour.

Lancre is such a great Discworld setting.

teadrinking_bibliophile's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

evybobevy's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

robotswithpersonality's review against another edition

Go to review page

This might come across as fairly standard Discworld fare were it not for the villains of the piece: No LOTR Legolas here, these elves are scary fuckers. Though I appreciate the suitable, somewhat humourous extended analogy that elves = cats. Relatedly, Greebo is a viscious treasure.

I'm not as familiar with Midsummer Night's Dream, so there may be cheeky tidbits I didn't catch.

It's always a bit frustrating reading books focusing on the witches in the Discworld because they seem to be set up to almost-but-not-quite learn and grow from their experiences and perils.

Any other story might confirm how damaging it can be to try to think for another adult, act in what you perceive is their best interest without consulting them, and not communicate effectively but there seems to be a not-so-charming unwillingness to acknowledge why things went wrong, even if they all worked out in the end, with even more bossing around.

I enjoy a world where elderly women are respected for the knowledge and wisdom learning things the hard way provides, but there's something intractable about Weatherwax that I don't always find endearing.

There's a bit of a send up of the more trendy aspects of modern day Wicca/paganism/witchcraft/goths shown in the pursuits of the teens who want to be witches, which may offend IRL practicioners.

As always, I'm happy to see The Librarian feature more prominently.

bookbats's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.75

Characters - 4/5
Plot - 3/5
Worldbuilding - 4/5
Writing - 4/5

Nanny Ogg and Magrat got more of a chance to shine in this one, which was nice, and it was good to see Granny, sort of, realize she hadn't always treated Magrat fairly and her exclusion of her cause problems.

I enjoyed the elves as villains aspect of the story (although I'm slightly confused as to why they're called elves when they're clearly faeries? Not the same thing as far as I'm aware but that's me being pedantic) and the idea that beauty does not always equal goodness take down of traditional fairytale tropes.

However this book really seemed to take a while to get going, I know Pratchett's plots can be a bit meandering but this was even more so than usual. The whole Ridcully and Granny Weatherwax used to be a thing thing felt kind of random and weird to me as well.

Indira Varma is an incredible narrator as always but even she couldn't totally keep my attention as I waited for the story to get going and I just didn't enjoy it as much as the previous two.