“I name you … Esmeralda Margaret Note Spelling of Lancre!”
I personally miss Agnes, and I’d love to see her and Tiffany team up at some point (this is the last witches book Terry’s written so far). And there is nothing Granny Weatherwax can’t do–that was the most badass I’ve seen her at yet.
Yeah, I think Terry wanted to find a place for Agnes but it never quite took after Maskerade. I was hoping there would be more non-juvenile witch books after this one - I miss Nanny Ogg. Except for a cameo in Thief of Time, we haven’t seen her back.
Still, wonderful book. The old Marthter, first appearance of an Igor and the Nac Mac Feegle (wa hey), and Mightily Oats, who was showing great promise at the end.
My guess is Terry wrote himself into a corner (regarding the three witches). Granny can hardly get more powerful… whilst keeping sane, that is. The other three (Nanny, Agnes/Perdita and Magrat) are a viable coven.
The next step in his progression would be either the coven against Granny or Granny’s death. I don’t think either of these options can be easy to write well.
The best way to get out of the trap he’s written himself into would be for Terry to steal from himself and send Granny back in time for some reason. To find Black Aliss maybe. Some great threat to Lancre, so Granny time-hops to discover some secret that Aliss possessed. The problem with that scenario is that without Nanny Ogg, Granny Weatherwax is rather uninteresting. No contrast.
As for CJ - I liked the Igors and the Nac Mac Feegle. I liked the “modern” ideas the vampires were trying. Loved Oats. “Let’s make it one.”
Well, the Witches books have been my favorite the whole time - I don’t get the love so many people have for Vimes - and I was sad that this one was the last Witches book. And probably will be the last one, period.
Still, it was such a perfectly done book that you may as well go out on top, and Granny definitely did.
I don’t really like Perdita much, so the bits with her weren’t really my faves. Do like the pisstaking of Rice-style vamps but over all, I was happy when the Granny-getting-older angst moved to the much-preferred Tiffany Aching series, where it was handled more to my liking.
I don’t like the Uberwald stories. This is one of my least favourites, just because the subject matter is something I don’t enjoy. I also don’t like The Fifth Elephant for the same reason.
's funny, I really like The Fifth Elephant…but that’s for another thread.
It really wasn’t the Überwald bits that put me off. Certainly, bits in CJ serve as a setup for the Überwald-related heavy politics of TFE & Thud! - I suppose they’re not essential to get the gist, but they certainly make for a more complete background. And that’s why I love Discworld more than any other reason - the setting is (now) fairly well-thought-out.
