Witches Abroad

, #12

Hardcover, 256 pages

Published Aug. 5, 1998 by Gollancz.

ISBN:
978-0-575-06580-2
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OCLC Number:
39678890

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4 stars (5 reviews)

Be careful what you wish for...Once upon a time there was a fairy godmother named Desiderata who had a good heart, a wise head, and poor planning skills—which unforunately left the Princess Emberella in the care of her other (not quite so good and wise) godmother when DEATH came for Desiderata. So now it's up to Magrat Garlick, Granny Weatherwax, and Nanny Ogg to hop on broomsticks and make for far-distant Genua to ensure the servant girl doesn't marry the Prince.But the road to Genua is bumpy, and along the way the trio of witches encounters the occasional vampire, werewolf, and falling house (well this is a fairy tale, after all). The trouble really begins once these reluctant foster-godmothers arrive in Genua and must outwit their power-hungry counterpart who'll stop at nothing to achieve a proper "happy ending"—even if it means destroying a kingdom.

23 editions

reviewed Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett (Discworld, #12)

Story about stories, winning, losing and a fair amount of headology

5 stars

Pritchett has found a way to make witches even more "metal" than they were in the previous books. The portrayal of them riding the brooms forming a wing is absolutely badass. The story starts with an inevitability of an old witch losing and unfolds into an adventure planned out by her in quite some details.

Diverse set of characters, plot twists and wit. My favorite quote is exploring the perception of justice and the willingness to act upon it:

“Let’s throw her off the tower,” said Magrat.

“All right,” said Nanny. “Do it, then.”

Magrat hesitated. “Well,” she said, “when I said let’s throw her off the tower, I didn’t mean me personally throwing her off, I meant that if there was any justice she ought to be thrown off—”

“Then I shouldn’t say any more on that score, if I was you,” said Nanny, kneeling carefully on the crunching …

Subjects

  • Fantasy
  • Science fiction