Equal Rites

The earliest Discworld novel I've read so far. In the Discworld only boys are allowed to study at the Unseen University and become wizards, but a dying wizard, mistakenly assuming that the blacksmith’s newborn child is the eighth son of an eighth son, passes along his powers to girl.

This story is full of Pratchett’s unexpectedly amusing turns of phrase, observant commentary about society and satire of fantasy tropes. I liked eight year old Eskarina, and Granny Weatherwax, who I knew from the Tiffany Aching books, is just great -- practical, no-nonsense and able to think outside the box when it comes to Esk’s education. The audiobook narrator, Celia Imrie, is dynamic: when Esk whispers, she really whispers; when Granny talks with show more her mouth full of food, it’s very convincing. I was entertained!

I lost some interest in Equal Rites towards the end, as the focus shifted to a largely-magical problem, rather than being on Esk finding a place at the Unseen University. It’s the sort of climax I’d be unsurprised to find in a fantasy novel by a different author but wasn’t expecting here. Is it a less-polished ending because Pratchett wrote this earlier in his career? Or am I more interested in how he writes about people than how he writes about magic?

Or am I missing something because Pratchett is parodying 1980s fantasy novels that I never encountered because they weren’t good enough to stand the tests of time? I’m not sure.

[...] a hint was to Esk what a mosquito bite was to the average rhino because she was already learning that if you ignore the rules people will, half the time, quietly rewrite them so that they don't apply to you. show less

A man who is an eighth son of an eighth son can become a powerful wizard if a wizard who is the eighth son of an eighth son passes his staff to the baby before the wizard dies. But what if the baby isn't a boy? Can a woman be a wizard? Would a woman even want to be a wizard?

This is the question Pratchett sets out to explore in this Discworld novel. Third book in the Discworld, Granny Weatherwax changes but little as the series develops. Which can be a bad thing, but in this instance it isn't. The wizards are not yet those which appear in later novels, and little Esk is rarely seen in the future, but as a way to meet Granny, this can't be beat.

If a person has to read a book about Feminism, this is the one to read, in my opinion. Granny show more Weatherwax doesn't ask for equality, she simply is equal (if not more so). There is never a question of her wanting to be "like" the wizards. She is comfortable with who she is and her place in the world is exactly where she wants to be.

However, she can see that Esk needs to be a part of the University because of her gifts and there is no reason she shouldn't be, and every reason she should be. So Granny sets out to make it so. A word to the wise wizard? Best get out of her way! show less

A dying wizard leaves his staff to the eighth son of an eighth son in the mountain village of Bad Ass. The only problem is... well, Eskarina is a girl and as everyone knows, girls can be witches, but not wizards.

An entertaining read, but doesn't have quite the comedy or pointed commentary chops of later books in the series. Still, it was fun to see Granny Weatherwax's first appearance and meet Esk as she grows into her own.

Not among the best Terry Prachett Discworld books, but this is the one where we can see more than a few hints of what's in store: a beta version of Granny Weatherwax with her headology and lots of attitude, though not much taking on of fantasy tropes, which is all for the better.

The more I read of Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series, the more I start to understand why he's considered a core foundation of the fantasy genre right alongside Tolkien, Lewis, Le Quinn, and others.

Yes, his world isn't grandiose and as vibrant as Middle Earth, as mythological as Lewis, or has the grittiness of Martin or the pure epic scale of Jordan or any other authors, but what his world is, is FUN, and in the end, isn't that why we read? To have fun?

Yes, there are no epic armies, no chosen ones, and no prophecies, and even if there were, they're part of the makeup and part of the joke, and to me, that's what "Discworld" is best at: taking the tropes we know and having a bit of fun with them while still delivering a pretty good show more story.

And trust me, this one is pretty good. It's about a young girl, Eskarinna Smith, who is put on the path to being the Discworld's first Female Wizard. Female Wizards don't happen on Discworld because no one thought to question why and believed it was just so, but that hasn't stopped this precocious young girl from trying, while her Witch mentor, Granny Weatherwax, follows along and tries to keep her out of trouble.

It's a smaller scope story, and is one certainly set in a time when Fantasy was still very much a boys' club. You know, full of muscly oiled men, powerful wizards, beautiful damsels in distress, and people were all hot. Tabletop Gaming, Books, 80s Video Games, Comics, and more were all like that, set to appeal to a certain young male audience. Nowadays, you can certainly find plenty of women wizards in fantasy fiction - Jaina Proudmore from "Warcraft", Yennefer from "The Witcher", Hermione from "Harry Potter", and the entirety of the Aes Sedai from "Wheel of Time" - but back then, you were hard-pressed to find many female spell casters unless they were tantalizing and sensual.

Does that mean that it's not worth reading today? Actually, it still very much is simply because it's just funny. While I do not doubt that the idea of an 8-year-old little girl as a wizard joining an all-male wizarding college, followed by a withering, powerful witch, was unique at the time, it's still hilarious today simply because of the premise.

I've already gone over the positives above, but are there any real downsides to the book that justify it being a 4-star rather than a 5-star?

Kind of. Pratchett is very much someone whose writing style can be quite concise, and his dialogue - while funny - feels like it goes on a little too long in some places. I generally don't mind it because there are only so many ways you can write "He said," "she said" back and forth dialogue before it gets repetitive, and much of the humor is derived from the character interactions, but I also feel like some conversations could have been a little bit more condensed, or the silliness of the situation could have been moved somewhere else.

Another negative I have is that the ending comes a little too abruptly. I won't spoil it because I do implore people who are interested in reading this book to read it, but the ending feels like it was resolved rather quickly, with only a minor bit of buildup to its ultimate conclusion.

Overall, I'm glad I picked it up. "The Colour of Magic" and "The Light Fantastic" were amazing reads, and this one just continues in this irreverent world where goofiness happens more often than seriousness. Most Pratchett fans say that his later books are better when he's more comfortable in this world, and honestly? Considering I rated these books so far 4, 5, and 4, I'm looking forward to reading "Mort" next. show less

"This takes the issue of sex and looks at it from a completely different angle.
A wizard who is about to die can pass his staff to a successor, typically the eighth son of an eighth son. Unfortunately for this wizard, the eighth son turns out to be a girl and all sorts of trouble follows. So why can't a woman be a wizard (apart from the issue of plumbing, of course)? It is written in the lore and there is a perfectly self evident answer that no-one can recall right now.
Another very funny take on real life in an unreal world.

Re-read 2016.
You've got to admire Granny Weatherwax, taking a young apprentice on in the first place and then trying to teach this female with a wizard's staff how to be a witch. Poor Esk has ended up caught show more between two traditions and wants to do both. It's possible, clearly, to read it as a critique of equal rights, and it works on that level. Why can't a woman be a wizard is a question to which there is never a satisfactory answer (because there answer is clearly that there is no reason why a woman can't be a wizard, except that the male establishment don't want them to be). However it neatly plays on the question by also asking what about male witches and finding that the same lack of proper answer applies. It's fun without being shallow, and doesn't read like a there's an agenda behind it. show less

Granny and Cutangle are either the will they/won't they drama of the century, the buddy cop comedy of the century, or the trope-filled flirty romcom of the century, possibly all of the above, probably all at the same time, and I for one couldn't be happier about this development. This book was a wonderful read, though it did stall in the middle for me for reasons I can't quite pin down. Granny is my favorite character, and Esk follows behind her a close second, being the diligent student that she is. The first part of this book, taking place in Bad Ass, and the third part, taking place in Unseen University, were the best bits of Pratchett's Discworld I've experienced thus far. I try not to wax poetic about the man's writing in my show more reviews, seeing as that point has been made a time or two before, but the humor in this book particularly hit me, and I just wanted to note my favorite quote, one I suspect I may remember for at least a little while, "I can see you've been getting ideas below your station" - Granny (of course). show less