26 March 2007

Book Banter -- Witches Abroad


Title: Witches Abroad (Discworld bk. 11)
Author: Terry Pratchett
Length: 320 pages
Genre: fantasy
Plot Basics: When fairy godmother Desiderata dies, she leaves her magic wand -- that only turns things into pumpkins -- to witch Magrat Garlick. Magrat, along with two other witches, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg take off on a journey to stop Princess Emberella from marrying the prince.
Banter Points: Witches is a Terry Pratchett book which means satire and puns that sometimes border on irreverent. This one takes on the notion of fariy tales and how stories tend to work out.
Bummer Points: Of all of Pratchett's sets of characters in the Discworld, the witches are not Word Nerd's favorite. While he pokes fun at xenophobic ways through the witches, Word Nerd finds some of the humor (like the murdering of foreign phrases) tiresome because it's used overmuch.
Word Nerd recommendation: Discworld books are generally hilarious, as a rule. This one wasn't as funny, but Word Nerd says read it to get from book 10 to book 12.

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