Lords and Ladies (1992)

This book mostly focuses on the Elves as the fae folk in old tales that tricked and messed with humans. It also has a lot of references to Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

I really like the witches as characters and the themes chosen to be addressed in the witches’ books. However, these books never seem to be my favourites in the Discworld series. I prefer when the three witches work as a group and in this book they are mostly separated from each other.

My favourite part was to find out a bit more about Granny Weatherwax’s past (including that she used to date Ridcully and that there is a timeline where they are married). I also enjoyed some of the elves scenes, but I which there were more of those and they were even more awful. They had potential to be even better at being the worst. Magrat’s struggles with her new role as almost queen were fun at first, but at times it seemed repetitive. Still, she was great in this book.

I don’t have much to comment on this. It was not the best and not the worst Discworld book. It was good. ( )

Skemmti mér konunglega yfir þessari sögu. Hér snýr Pratchett álfatrúnni á hvolf og þeir eru í raun og veru alillar verur sem skemmta sér best við að pynta óæðri mannverur. Blessaðar nornirnar eru mættar til að verjast þeim en einnig eru galdramenn Galdraháskólans komnir á svæðið enda stendur mikið til því yngsta nornin á að giftast sínu heittelskaða fyrrum hirðfífli og núverandi kóngi. ( )

Lords and Ladies is a lesser Discworld novel, coming hot on the heels of one of the best in the series so far (Small Gods). Even though it's a direct sequel to Witches Abroad, which I found to be one of the more tedious books of the entire series, it is clearer and more enjoyable. That said, there's not much in this one to move you out of second gear.

Plot is never really a strength even in the best Discworld novels, with things always being a bit harum-scarum, but Lords and Ladies keeps it relatively simple. The return of the elves, the 'Lords and Ladies' of the title, is rather an ingenious idea. You see, in the Discworld, elves were renowned for being beautiful but, since their eclipse, people have forgotten that they were also evil and malicious. As Pratchett puts it, "We're like mice saying, 'Say what you like, cats have got real style'" (pg. 137).

When the elves do finally arrive, the book loses its way a bit; it's not all that clear what they want, or how they're trying to achieve it. It's as though Pratchett had been holding a card in reserve for much of the story, only to forget to play it. After such a slow but intriguing build-up, this was a disappointment, and the blow-by-blow account of the fighting at the end got a bit muddled. It unravels a little bit, but it says a lot for Pratchett's idiosyncratic talent that the reader gets their dependable Discworld dose no matter the objective quality of the story being told. ( )

I've come to the realization, after reading a third of the Discworld novels, that Pratchett would have to shit the bed quite strenuously to produce a bad one.

That being said, while I got a few chuckles out of this one, and quite enjoyed the story overall, this one didn't seem quite as successful as the last three or four. I can't put my finger on why. Hell, maybe it's just me in a coronavirus funk.

Still, for all of that, even a slightly unsuccessful Discworld novel is time well-spent. ( )

I can really relate to Magrat. ( )