captaind's Full Review: Terry Pratchett - Witches Abroad
What happens when fairy tales are controlled by wicked witches? The good witches have to go and stop it happening, of course!!
Well actually there’s a lot more to it than that, but there you have the basic plot. When someone’s Fairy Godmother dies, she entrusts her job to none other than Magrat, a young witch who is almost by her own admission a "wet hen”. She tries desperately hard not to be, but there you are – that’s what she is. The recently deceased Fairy Godmother, Desderita, wants two other witches to accompany the hopeless Magrat, so in her will she makes it clear that Magrat is to dissuade them So… along come Granny Weatherwax, a fearsome old thing who uses “headology” more than actual magic, and Nanny Ogg, a cheery and slightly rand old thing who seems destined to be a peacemaker, and as most peacemakers are, destined to fail the vast majority of the time. The three fire up their broomsticks (one of them takes rather more firing up than most), and head off to seductive and exotic foreign climes, armed only with Granny’s know-how, Nanny’s good humour and alleged knowledge of foreign languages, and Magrat’s new wand – which seems capable of producing large numbers of pumpkins, and possibly other things as yet unknown.
On their way they see many strange things, but the forces that await them in Genua maybe more than even Granny Weatherwax has bargained for – or, perhaps, the enemy she expected but most feared to meet…
And, of course, once the story has begun, it must finish. It’s finding the right point to change what the ending will be that’s the key…
Witches Abroad is a fairytale with a difference – well, with a lot of differences. Normally, the idea is not to stop the girl from marrying the handsome prince. This is only one of many twists put on the traditional fairy tale storyline and they all work. The witches, who in other Discworld books I’ve read really haven’t grabbed me as interesting or amusing characters, really come into their own here. Mainly it’s the interplay between the three – the grouchy Granny, the indomitably cheerful Nanny, and the hopeless (but desperately trying not to be) Magrat. The plot follows what seems like a fairly simple line until about half-way through the book, when things start getting much more complicated – and thus much more interesting. This isn’t perhaps the best of the Discworld series, but it’s certainly extremely enjoyable. It often had me laughing, once or twice it had me quite helpless with laughter. The rich tapestry of the Discworld and its inhabitants is spun convincingly throughout, and the three main characters follow their own strands through it.
Oh, did I say three? I forgot Greebo, Nanny’s cat. She thinks he’s more human than most humans and could possibly be right. He adds tremendously to the book and is funny in just about every scene he appears in – even when he spends most of it curled up apparently asleep! Death makes a few cameo appearances, I’m always somewhat disappointed when he doesn’t figure a fair bit in a Discworld novel but he’s funny when he is there, though in a more subtle way than usual. There is a bit of use of repetitious humour in the book, which is used skilfully and sparingly enough to not become boring, and the little letters Nanny writes home to her son Jason are hilarious – as are her attempts to communicate with the natives wherever she goes! (“Another banana dak’ry, mahatma coat, chopchop”.) Nanny does get rather… naughty at times but rarely actually gets to say anything rude. It’s not cultured, but it’s often funny.
The paperback weighs in at 286 pages, it didn’t feel too short and certainly wasn’t too long. Any Discworld fan or fan of fantasy with a humorous touch will really enjoy Witches Abroad - and perhaps anyone who thinks fairy tales need a bit of a shake up!!
Interesting Times - my most recent Discworld review (apart from this one, obviously…)
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