Equal Rites

Equal Rites (1987) Terry Pratchett

I have no idea how it happened, but I discovered that I hadn’t read this book before.

That has now been rectified.

This is, I believe, the third Discworld book, so the characters and world are still being developed, as is the style one expects from later books.

That doesn’t make this a bad book in any shape or form, it just makes it different from later books. Granny Weatherwax is different from later books, but her core personality is there from the start.

(S)he was opposed to books on strict moral grounds, since she had heard that many of them were written by dead people and therefore it stood to reason reading them would be as bad as necromancy.

Most of the magicians in this book are never heard from again, with, of course the exception of my favorite, OOK!.

Something to consider is that the biting social commentary which one expects from Terry Pratchett is still there, but its subject matter–at least for the British or American reader–is quite dated. So if you read this, you need to keep in mind the fact that it was written in the mid-80s. The time of Virginia Slims “You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby” ads.

The humor is still here though, which is the second reason why one reads Terry Pratchett.

“So you’re going to sort of die?”

“Oh yes.” The cat purred as the fingers tickled it behind the ear. The smith looked embarrassed.

“When?”

The wizard thought for a moment. “In about six minutes’ time.”

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry,” said the wizard. “I’m quite looking forward to it, to tell you the truth. I’ve heard it’s quite painless.”

The blacksmith considered this. “Who told you?” he said at last.

It’s interesting that we never really hear from Esk again.

If you haven’t read a Discworld book before (Why haven’t you? What is wrong with you?) keep in mind that this is one of the earliest books. It’s still very good, but he’s still developing his style.
Rating: 7/10

Published by HarperCollins

 
 

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