A review by celise_winter
Witches Abroad, by Terry Pratchett
5.0
"It's not staying in the same place that's the problem," said Nanny. "It's not letting your mind wander."
Witches Abroad is one of the most entertaining Discworld novels so far, if reading chronologically, in which Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat set off on an adventure to stop a peasant girl, Emberella, from marrying a prince. Along the way the witches encounter many stories, including one with a girl in a red riding hood and a rather confused big bad wolf. Not to worry though, the three witches have many talents in derailing things that are meant to be.
As usual, one's enjoyment of a Discworld novel is usually determined foremost by the cast of characters, and secondly by where on the scale of ridiculous the concept falls. Somewhere in the middle is usually good, and this one is just that. The three witches are such a perfect ensemble that the comedy comes through really well, and the story seems to unfold naturally around them. Sure, it's still ridiculous, but the parody of classic princess stories is easy to make sense of. Accompanied by Greebo, Nanny's vile cat Greebo (who could stop a stampede of bulls in its tracks with one glare), Death himself, and several recognizable storybook characters, this is will probably be one of the more memorable books once I've gotten through all 40.
Just as an extra note- I always get a kick out of how Death's never mentioned by name in most of the books besides his intro in Colour of Magic and in his own series, and is only indicated by the all-caps manner of speaking. I had a few laughs over that in this one, as small as his part might have been.
Witches Abroad is one of the most entertaining Discworld novels so far, if reading chronologically, in which Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat set off on an adventure to stop a peasant girl, Emberella, from marrying a prince. Along the way the witches encounter many stories, including one with a girl in a red riding hood and a rather confused big bad wolf. Not to worry though, the three witches have many talents in derailing things that are meant to be.
As usual, one's enjoyment of a Discworld novel is usually determined foremost by the cast of characters, and secondly by where on the scale of ridiculous the concept falls. Somewhere in the middle is usually good, and this one is just that. The three witches are such a perfect ensemble that the comedy comes through really well, and the story seems to unfold naturally around them. Sure, it's still ridiculous, but the parody of classic princess stories is easy to make sense of. Accompanied by Greebo, Nanny's vile cat Greebo (who could stop a stampede of bulls in its tracks with one glare), Death himself, and several recognizable storybook characters, this is will probably be one of the more memorable books once I've gotten through all 40.
Just as an extra note- I always get a kick out of how Death's never mentioned by name in most of the books besides his intro in Colour of Magic and in his own series, and is only indicated by the all-caps manner of speaking. I had a few laughs over that in this one, as small as his part might have been.