# Discworld Reading Club #12: Witches Abroad \[Spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-12-witches-abroad-spoilers/351972 "2006-04-09T17:02:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-12-witches-abroad-spoilers/351972/21 "2006-04-12T14:11:20Z")
Granny recognizes that Nanny has powers she’ll never have. She notes this in _Maskerade_. If it ever came down to a flat-out battle between the two, like between Granny and Lily…I don’t know who would win. Both can be ruthless when necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-12-witches-abroad-spoilers/351972/22 "2006-04-12T15:59:39Z")
I loves me some Pratchett witches. I prefer their stories to those of the Watch. But I kind of suspect that PTerry has pretty much mined out what he can do with these gals. Too bad, cuz I could definitely stand to read about them lots more. I admire Granny, but Nanny Ogg is who I’d like to grow old to be. And Witches Abroad has the best last exchange in the series: > [@](#): > > “So we’re going back?” said Magrat. > “Yes.” > But they went the long way, and saw the elephant. Brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-12-witches-abroad-spoilers/351972/23 "2006-04-12T19:53:10Z")
> [@Archergal](#): > > I loves me some Pratchett witches. I prefer their stories to those of the Watch. But I kind of suspect that PTerry has pretty much mined out what he can do with these gals. Have you been reading the Tiffany Aching “Discworld for Young Readers” series (_The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky,_ etc.)? Not only is it another take on Discworld witchery, but Nanny and Granny make nontrivial appearances in them – particularly Granny in the second half of _AHFoS_. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-12-witches-abroad-spoilers/351972/24 "2006-04-12T19:56:37Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Have you been reading the Tiffany Aching “Discworld for Young Readers” series (_The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky,_ etc.)? Not only is it another take on Discworld witchery, but Nanny and Granny make nontrivial appearances in them – particularly Granny in the second half of _AHFoS_. Yup, read them both. But the focus in these books is defiitely Tiffany, not Granny/Nanny. Nothing wrong with that (I like both books a lot), but they’re different from books like _Witches Abroad_. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-12-witches-abroad-spoilers/351972/25 "2006-04-13T00:04:10Z")
> [@Archergal](#): > > Yup, read them both. But the focus in these books is defiitely Tiffany, not Granny/Nanny. > > Nothing wrong with that (I like both books a lot), but they’re different from books like _Witches Abroad_. I get the nasty feeling that Pterry might be lining Tiffany up to be Granny’s replacement. I could be wrong, but Granny does seem to have been having intimations of mortality in the latest ‘witches’ books and the projected titles of Tiffany books three and four ( **‘Wintersmith’** and **‘I Shall Wear Darkness’** ) suggest a dark tone to say the least. **’I Shall Wear Darkness’** is a paraphrase of the first line a poem called **‘Warning’** (I forget the author): - _“When I am an old woman I shall wear purple”_ … And then there’s that bit at the end of chapter 14 of ‘A Hat Full of Sky’, ending; \*“Are you afraid to laugh in case you hear an early cackle? We’ll meet again, one day. We both know it. We’ll meet again, at the witch trials” \*. Convoluted? Maybe… ---
**Author:** ![Syntropy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-12-witches-abroad-spoilers/351972/26 "2006-04-13T00:14:11Z")
This is hands down my favorite Diskworld book (that isn’t a Vimes book). > [@DrFidelius](#): > > I had once heard that Granny is not a Good Witch, nor is she a Bad Witch. She is a Right Witch, and does whatever is Right in a situation, which makes her more frightening than any other alignment cold possibly be. Nope. Nanny tells Magrat flat out: “She was born to be good. And she don’t like it.” Not sure if that quote is from this book or Lords & Ladies. > [@](#): > > (I also think her friendship with Nanny Ogg keeps her on an even keel. Nanny Og scares me a little, because she is not afraid of Granny. That makes me wonder just how powerful Glytha could be if she took time off from drinking, dancing, and suchlike…) She scares me a LOT. Any question as to just how much authority that woman has can be answered best by pointing out that all of her (dead) husbands took _her_ name. I bought the [Nanny Ogg Cookbook](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0739438220/qid=1144887111/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-0768883-9744006?s=books&v=glance&n=283155). Love it. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-12-witches-abroad-spoilers/351972/27 "2006-04-13T02:58:04Z")
> [@Boulter's Canary](#): > > I get the nasty feeling that Pterry might be lining Tiffany up to be Granny’s replacement. I could be wrong, but Granny does seem to have been having intimations of mortality in the latest ‘witches’ books and the projected titles of Tiffany books three and four ( **‘Wintersmith’** and **‘I Shall Wear Darkness’** ) suggest a dark tone to say the least. I really _really_ hate the thought, too, because the Discworld just won’t be the same. But that’s life, you know? Stuff like that happens. And to be honest, we’ve been spoiled in this series–all the major recurring characters (Vimes and his watch, Ponder Stibbons, Rincewind, the Librarian, and the wizards, Death, the Patrician, the three witches, etc.) have survived up to this point, in roles that could easily switch over to someone else if PTerry wanted it. I’d argue there hasn’t been a major character death in the Discworld ever. But I don’t want Granny to go… ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-12-witches-abroad-spoilers/351972/28 "2006-04-13T04:04:48Z")
I do not believe that Granny Weatherwax will be “replaced” after her death. She is too important a character to be killed off. Tiffany merely represents the idea that Discworld is ongoing, and change is inevitable, and when Granny does die (which I’m confident won’t be something Terry would ever write) there are more good witches in the wings. By the way, the last Tiffany Aching book will be called _I Shall Wear Midnight_ not _Darkness_, which is a line that was used in Tiffany’s thoughts during _Hatful of Sky_. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-12-witches-abroad-spoilers/351972/29 "2006-04-13T13:13:46Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I do not believe that Granny Weatherwax will be “replaced” after her death. She is too important a character to be killed off. Tiffany merely represents the idea that Discworld is ongoing, and change is inevitable, and when Granny does die (which I’m confident won’t be something Terry would ever write) there are more good witches in the wings. > > By the way, the last Tiffany Aching book will be called _I Shall Wear Midnight_ not _Darkness_, which is a line that was used in Tiffany’s thoughts during _Hatful of Sky_. You’re right - it is midnight. I think I must have been getting _too_ depressed at the thought of losing Granny. ☹ I have heard that Granny was supposed to die at the end of \*\*‘Lords and Ladies’ \*\* but Pterry changed his mind. Probably an urban (Discworld?) myth. Sorry for the hijack, btw. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2006, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-12-witches-abroad-spoilers/351972/30 "2006-04-13T23:56:24Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > And to be honest, we’ve been spoiled in this series–all the major recurring characters (Vimes and his watch, Ponder Stibbons, Rincewind, the Librarian, and the wizards, Death, the Patrician, the three witches, etc.) have survived up to this point, in roles that could easily switch over to someone else if PTerry wanted it. I’d argue there hasn’t been a major character death in the Discworld ever. What about Cohen the Barbarian and the Silver Horde, from **The Last Hero?** _Damn_ fine way to go… 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discworld-reading-club-12-witches-abroad-spoilers/351972.md?page=1)