Lords and ladies (original 1992; edition 1993)

Morris Dancers, Fairies and Witches, what could possibly go wrong? ( )

Ah ha! I now see why my better read Pratchett friends consider Magrat Garlick to be a worthy sort. After this book, I shall have to consider dropping the "wet hen" label for Magrat (no promises). Perhaps that is what this addition to the Discworld universe is really about: getting past our foolish preconceptions.

I really enjoyed the spin Pratchett gave to elves, casting them as glamour encased, selfish, superficial beings. And the fact that he also portrayed the average human as a deluded, star-struck, elf-loving fool was the icing on the cake.

Since this book was written by Pratchett, there's a ton of inside satirical jabs for the reader to chuckle at...but like in all of this author's works, if you haven't walked in the right moccasins (e.g. reading the pertinent Shakespeare, etc.), then you won't get all the jokes.

This is my 14th Discworld novel, so I'm gonna add a couple comments about Pratchett's writing style. First off, I love this crazy, intelligent, uber-free-spirit guy. But I have noticed that his skitter-skatter way of telling a story tends to derail some readers. And I also noticed that he regularly defies the writer rules and includes a good bit of 'telling' in his novels. Hm... ( )

This book, I feel, marks a change in the series. Until this point, the books have stood pretty well alone. Characters may have appeared in more than one book, but understanding their actions has not depended on having read the previous book, but here that changes. They also start getting somewhat longer, developing both characters and more complicated plot lines.



This features the Lancre witches, but without having read Wyrd Sisters and Witches Abroad, much of what occurs here would make no sense.



The witches have got home after their trip (as described in Witches Abroad) to find that things have been going on in their absence. For one thing, Magrat finds herself invited to her own wedding. For another, there has been dancing by the stone circle, and that is dangerous at circle time.



Folk memory and fairy tale are often based on some nasty, grisly piece of history. In this case the saucer of milk at the step and horseshoe on the door are to keep the eponymous Lords and Ladies at bay. They are glamourous, they enchant and they are not at all nice. But circumstances conspire and they break through to disturb the midsummer marriage.



But there can only be one queen in any one country and things come to a head. Magrat discovers some inner steel, Nanny Ogg is wooed and Granny Weatherwax has a personal complication in the form of an old suitor and a possible appointment that is clouding the future. ( )

In this novel we will witness the marriage of Magrat. But before that can happen, several other events need to fall into place, some of them may include a certain witch to die, or even a romance between a witch and a wizard, or was it a dwarf and a witch? There could also be a rendering of a humorous song featuring a hedgehog. ( )

One of my favourite Discworld novels among the ones I've read up to this point (going in a roughly chronological order). It's very funny, though it reaches a serious climax, and it's simply plotted too. Often I find enjoyable Discworld novels get bogged down in too many ideas (Hogfather for instance) but Lords and Ladies is straightforward and to the point and reads so much better because of that. ( )