Equal Rites (Discworld Novel) (original 1987; edition 1987)

Funny stuff! Wizards and witches and feminism and silliness. I like this so much more than The Color of Magic. It's not as great as his Tiffany Aching books, though. Says me. ( )

In fact 3,5. Not my favorite Discworld novel but I just love Granny the Witch! Hilarious, as usual. ( )

Devouring these. Very comforting read-- like a bed time story. ( )

I continue to enjoy the Discworld series, although I feel Pratchett really hits his stride a bit later on in the series than where I am right now. [b:Equal Rites|34507|Equal Rites (Discworld, Book 3)|Terry Pratchett|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1168566177s/34507.jpg|583611] introduces the concept of witches in Discworld with young Eskarina and her mentor, Granny Weatherwax. The only trouble is that Eskarina is actually meant to be a wizard, having been born just as a dying wizard is looking for someone to whom to pass his staff. What he doesn't realize is that the eighth son of an eighth son he's found is actually a daughter. Eskarina's trials as she attempts to gain entrance to Unseen University form the basis for much of the book, which then veers into a sort of high fantasy as she and another young wizard battle unseen horrors in a good v. evil matchup. Definitely recommended, and from just about any other author it would rate five stars, but I know that Pratchett has done better. ( )

Read from January 12 to 15, 2011

Backstory - While my first Terry Pratchett was Good Omens - a joint venture with Neil Gaiman, I've heard great things about Discworld and wanted to take a peak inside. There are dozens of books in the series and there's no need to read the books in order. In fact, there are several sites that offer recommendations for reading order - chronological by publication or based on storyline. While the Watch novels are considered "the best" by some on the Interwebz, I decided to read the Witches novels (you see...none of my local libraries had a copy of the first Watch novel - Guards! Guards!). You can find the reading guide and such on my blog...it's a little too image-y for a review here).

Equal Rites - Cute and humorous story about the asinine reasons people give for girls not being able to do things that boys can do. You know, "just because", "that's just not the way things work", "the lore says", "it goes against nature". I hope Esk and Granny are in more Discworld books (I'm sure there's a Discworld wiki somewhere that'll let me know). ( )