Bewitching (Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett)

Member Name: 87degrees

Product:	Witches Abroad - Terry Pratchett
Date:	27/01/06 (75 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny, entertaining

Disadvantages: Not as good as some of his other books

This book is the twelfth in the Discworld series. Though its not necessary to be familiar with his other works, some parts of this story would benefit from the reader having some prior knowledge.

The Discworld books may all take place on the same world, but this world is as varied as our own, meaning that they can have different backdrops. There's also a range of characters, from witches and wizards to soldiers and nobles and even Death himself. The central characters for this book are witches, but even they have their own, distinct personalities.

~~~ The Setting ~~~
The Discworld is flat, with a warm, tropical Rim around the edge and an icy mountain range, the Ramtops, in the centre. The Ramtops are very magical and tend to produce witches and wizards. There are dwarves and trolls living there, as well as humans. At the very centre is a tall mountain. Here is Dunmanifistation, the abode of the gods. The gods don't play a large part in this story, but they tend to be mentioned in most of them. The gods are created by their believers, so tend to act like people would if they could get away with it.

This story travels from the Ramtops to the warm, Rim-wards city of Genua. Genua is a fairytale city, with pretty, white buildings, clean streets and virtually no crime. That should be enough to tell you something's majorly wrong.

~~~ The Plot ~~~
Magrat Garlic is left a magic wand by a Fairy Godmother and given instructions that she's to go to Genua and stop a servant girl from marrying the prince. Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg insist on going with her. It shouldn't be too hard a job, but stories have a way of happening despite the intentions of the players and there's someone in Genua feeding the fairytales. It doesn't help that the wand only makes pumpkins.

Much of the story feels like a road trip. Various amusing scenes happen along the journey, before the plot really starts. While the first hundred or so pages are entertaining, I was left wondering when something more relevent to the storyline would arrive.

~~~ The Characters ~~~
Magrat Garlic is a young witch who believes in things: magic charms, amulets, wisdom found in booklets printed far away. She spents her life in nervous hopefulness, but never really has any confidence.

Granny Weatherwax on the other hand is full of confidence. She is the most powerful witch in the world and knows it. She's also going to let everyone else know it too if they slight her.

Nanny Ogg is a cheerful old lady with many children and grandchildren. She is of the opinion that a little bit of what you fancy does you good but, like many cheerful old ladies, isn't someone you'd want to cross.

~~~ Overall ~~~
I enjoyed this book and thought it had some very good moments, but its not my favourite Pratchett novel. If you're just getting started on Pratchett, you might want to try a different one first but if you're a fan of the series, give it a try.

There are some funny scenes, bringing up memories of familiar fairytales, or reminding us of foreign stereotypes. It is highly entertaining, but the plot is rather lacking. I would read it again, but if I was offered a choice between this one and another in the series, I'd probably go for the other.

Summary: Amusing and entertaining, but not as good as others.