Terry Pratchett's Discworld - Witches Abroad
No time travel this week. Witches Abroad was written in 1991 which I covered last time in Reaper Man
My copy
Publisher – Corgi
Price - £3.99
Things have to come to an end, see. That's how it works when you turn the world into stories. You should never have done that. You shouldn't treat people like they was characters, like they was things. But if you do, then you've got to know where the story ends.'
That's the problem when you let real life get in the way of a good story. You shouldn't let it happen. Especially when a good story involves three witches, including a fairy godmother, travelling to a faraway land to make sure that a servant girl doesn't marry a prince. It looks as though a happy ending may be averted before catastrophe strikes. But unfortunately the forces of good are up against a Godmother who has made Destiny an offer it can't refuse..
Re-reading has pluses and minuses. I get to spot the things I’ve missed and often they’re little clues. But sometimes a re-read will lead to disappointment especially as I too will have changed and then I may spot somethings I don’t think get handled too well. Witches Abroad is the second outing for the trio (if not for Granny) and I found myself enjoying some of the detours but also felt this time knowing what is coming this is a book where race doesn’t feel quite handled at all well making this busman’s ok witch’s holiday tale feel a bit flat.
Desdirerata Hollow knows Death is coming and as well as preparing her grave, house and expecting his bony feet on the floor she knows she needs a replacement for her other role of fairy godmother for young woman in Genua. She picks Magrat in the knowledge that if she expressly forbids them then Granny Weatherwax ands Nanny Ogg will follow. The three witches leave the safe familiarity of Lancre for a grand tour across s the disc – in their way natural hazards, card sharks and monsters. Hopefully at least one will survive Granny before she meets the mysterious Lilith to settle old scores.
I enjoyed the Lancre stage of the journey the most. Pratchett gets to fine tune the characters and highlight none of stupid just have very different ways of seeing the world. This leads to soke glorious misplayed conversations reflecting each other’s worldview. I liked the idea of putting our witches outside their comfort zones and seeing how they react to places where no one knows who Granny is. Pratchett gets to show the cunning and occasional magic these witches wield when required. It does set up a battle to come and when we reach Genua and Lilith there is some punch to the revelation of who these women are. It asks the question what makes someone good. I liked how Granny is shown to have both control and also a very harsh view on herself. This is something Pratchett explores a lot more in later witch tales and I think is why I find her one of the most interesting characters. I just don’t think it quite works this time around in the wider story sense.
In some ways this book feels a return to the very early tales of Rincewind we get small self-enclosed tales of Witches versus some minor enemy. All light and breezy but this time felt both to weigh down the plot and although it talks of the power of story felt quite inconsequential. You never fear the witches will lose. The other element I disliked is Pratchett plays the elderly’s witches reaction to foreign lands for laughs. Fractured comedy english and some rather outdated jokes including I spotted a reference to Charlie Chan all made me look at this with a lot o shaking heads. Knowing how other books will explore this topic again made me feel this was an early attempt but it really fails to land and for me soured the reading experience. On top of that the Genua cast feel quite two dimensional and the actual rather well payed final confrontation feels like it needed a better story to hang off on.
Some fun can be had with this one but I felt by the end more frustrated than joyous. The social commentary falls flat and actually feels a case where racism is for amusement not exposure. Possibly the weakest of the three witches tales. Surprisingly, I now feel it one of the weakest stories this re-read hence a short review!
Next up – Discworld and religion collide in Small Gods
