A review by mewsie
Witches Abroad (Discworld, #12; Witches #3), by Terry Pratchett
5.0
In this tale, we are once again introduced to the three witches of the Ramtop Mountains: Esme "Granny" Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat Garlick. This time, one of their fellow witches and actual fairy godmother, Desiderata, is about to die. Since witches know exactly when they are going to die, Desiderata--who up until this point had not made any plans to train a replacement--sends her wand with instructions on fairy godmotherhood on to very unprepared Magrat right before she dies. Magrat, who still has no clue as to what she is supposed to do, reads the instructions left by Desiderate and finds out that she must travel to the land of Genua, where her charge Princess Emberella is and her other fairy godmother who is now in charge and isn't a good nor wise one either, and make sure that the princess doesn't marry the prince. Thinking that they know best, Granny and Nanny tag along to make sure that Magrat doesn't screw up.
Of course, the trip to Genua isn't an easy one either. The trio comes across a vampire, a werewolf, little red riding hoods, singing dwarves, yellow brick roads, and falling houses. It seems that the evil fairy godmother had been practicing at setting up fairy tales to occur on her way to Genua, and now the trio finds themselves cleaning up the messes along the way.
Pratchett does a very good and humorous job tying in various fairy tales into the storyline. My favorite was when the house fell on Nanny Ogg and the dwarves wanted her red shoes. However, since she wasn't dead (she was wearing her good old hat that was designed to stop a brick) this lead to a lot of confusion. I was laughing throughout the book and fully enjoyed it. Once again, Pratchett made reading a pleasure.
Of course, the trip to Genua isn't an easy one either. The trio comes across a vampire, a werewolf, little red riding hoods, singing dwarves, yellow brick roads, and falling houses. It seems that the evil fairy godmother had been practicing at setting up fairy tales to occur on her way to Genua, and now the trio finds themselves cleaning up the messes along the way.
Pratchett does a very good and humorous job tying in various fairy tales into the storyline. My favorite was when the house fell on Nanny Ogg and the dwarves wanted her red shoes. However, since she wasn't dead (she was wearing her good old hat that was designed to stop a brick) this lead to a lot of confusion. I was laughing throughout the book and fully enjoyed it. Once again, Pratchett made reading a pleasure.