Wyrd Sisters
By: Terry Pratchett
Grade: A+
“When you break the rules, break ’em good and hard.”
Welcome back Granny Weatherwax! The sixth book in the Discworld series brings in three great female characters, several Shakespeare illusions, playing with time and is all about the power of words and stories to shape and change our realities. All things that I love so I can safely say Wyrd Sisters is my favorite.
The old King murdered. The new one going mad. The heir seemingly lost to the wild and the land not liking any of that very much the only ones who can fix the mess are Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat.
The Terry Pratchett Discworld Read-a-long is being run by Nicole at the The Bookworm Drinkethย and Kathy at Pages Below the Vaulted Sky. Make sure to check them out for more information on the monthly event.
Like the great leads Wyrd Sisters might also be the first of the books that is working in a serious amount of deep stuff and not just comedy. The acting trope and the Shakespeare references were well done. The new mad King decides a play will be written to shape the reality of what really happened the night the old King died because people only really need to hear a story told to believe it.
He’s not wrong. We see that in our everyday lives.
I liked Granny distinguishing between land and Kingdom/country.
Tomjon not wanting to manifest his destiny was a nice touch as well as the amusing Nanny Ogg stuff. Wild witch ๐
Things get lyrical when they start considering meddling with time and what time itself really means.ย “And then she recalled weeks that had flown past and afternoons that had lasted forever. Some minutes had lasted hours, some hours had gone past so quickly she hadn’t been aware they’d gone past at all…”
So basically six books into Discworld Wyrd Sisters hit a vast number of my buttons- even without my favorite character (Luggage.)
Recommend: Yes.ย And while this is book two for Granny I think you can easily read this one as a standalone.
Ah, i really need to get a start on the Discworld series.
They all sound so awesome, and there’s always a copy or two lying around in my fave charity shop. ๐ But i’m so intimidated by the amount of books!
I think once a month is over three years of reading! But now that I’ve started I can’t stop ๐
I have read a few Discworld books but not this one. How it is possible I missed it, it sounds like a great book. Great review, Iโm definitely reading this one soon. ๐
And I absolutely agree with that quote about breaking rules. ๐๐
This is one of the very few I had ever heard of. The witches are quiet popular apparently ๐
Is this also the first one that features Greebo? He’s one of my favourite Discworld character haha ๐ Love the banter between the witches in this one, definitely one of my favourites as well
Yeah Greebo appears in this one! He and Nanny Ogg are great. Good to know he appears again ๐
I’m glad you loved this one!! It’s my ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE!! I was in a stage production of it years ago, so it was hilarious to read the description of Magrat (my role). I must say, I was a little offended I was cast!! ๐คฃ๐คฃ
“the best you could say for Magrat was that she was decently plain and well-scrubbed and as flat-chested as an ironing board with a couple of peas on it.”
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Ha! Look on the bright side Magrat’s a role that needs a lot of acting skill though as she’s not as outrageous as the other two and there’s a bit of a romance/flirtation going on there. I’ve seen an animated version of this but from what I could tell it didn’t get great reviews. Still one day with downtime I might give it a whirl!
It’s defintitely not great (the animated movie) but, it’s always worth a watch on a lazy day!
I’ll save it for a rainy day ๐ I did try to watch the movie version of Hogsfather over the holidays and oh dear, I’m a little worried about the book now cause I couldn’t even finish that one!
Ha ha! The book is DEFINITELY better!
I love Terry Pratchett but I’ve never read Wyrd Sisters (even though I’ve heard it’s one of his best. Now I want to read it even more! ๐
You should give it a go. It works as a standalone very well ๐
I will do. My library has it in stock so there’s no excuse!
Yay I’m glad you liked this!! I love the shakespearean illusions in the witches series. So glad you enjoyed it!!
Oo! I was hoping that thereโd be at least one book from the series that I could read as a stand-alone. The whole premise reminds me of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I silently giving the nod to reshaping King Richard IIIโs story, so her grandfather comes off as the hero. I will definitely be reading this one!