After finding Sourcery to be pretty much just okay, I was pleased that the next Discworld novel returned to Granny Weatherwax from Equal Rites, which had been one of my favourites so far. Sure enough, I had a good time with Wyrd Sisters – although there were two clearly defined halves to the story, and the first half appealed to much more than the second.
The novel starts with the King of Lancre being murdered by the his cousin, the Duke. His son and his crown end up under the care of a group of witches (Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and another woman called Magrat) who end up hiding them from Duke Felmet. As the Duke’s reign of tyranny begins, the witches become and endless thorn in his side. I loved it all, because the witches are not mystical or otherworldly in any way – they’re a group of very ordinary, salt-of-the-earth women who have no patience for Felmet’s nonsense, and their clashes, and his attempts to intimidate them, are all absolutely hilarious. Who wouldn’t enjoy reading about witches nonchalantly challenging the power of a corrupt government?
My enthusiasm dwindled in the second half, however. This portion of the novel details the theatrical career of Tomjon, the son of the king that the witches helped smuggle away. He and the troupe of actors he lives with start their own theatre, The Dysc, which of course is obviously an homage to The Globe theatre in real life, where Shakespeare’s plays were performed. As a Shakespeare fan, I enjoyed this part of the novel, as there were lots of fun little references and nods to common Shakespeare tropes and it was generally kind of funny. However, the energy just wasn’t quite the same as in the first half, and I didn’t feel anywhere near engaged as I did when reading about the witches opposing the duke.
Of course, it all ties together in the end and the witches come back for a generally satisfying ending, but I wish it could have kept the momentum of the earlier parts of the novel. The only other thing I can really criticise is the running joke about Magrat having small boobs which felt very much like dumb teenage boy humour, rather than something I’d expect in Discworld, so that was a bit eye-roll inducing whenever it came up. Because of these things, I don’t think I liked it quite as much as Equal Rites, but it was a fun read nonetheless.
Rating: 7.6/10
