‘Equal Rites’ – Terry Pratchett (Corgi)

Page Count: 284 (and a half) pages

And the ‘Discworld Re-Read’ continues at its meandering pace ;o) This isn’t so much ‘working my way through the books’ as it is ‘picking up the books whenever I need a laugh’ and I really needed a laugh after the last few days (work mostly…)

Some Discworld books are re-read more than others in this house. ‘Guards! Guards!’ and ‘Eric’ are old favourites while ‘Equal Rites’… I can’t remember the last time I read ‘Equal Rites’. So what was it like then, going to back to a book that I knew I’d read but couldn’t remember much of it past the blurb on the back? Let me tell you about it…

'They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.'

Everybody knows there's no such thing as a female wizard. So when the wizard Drum Billet accidentally passes on his staff of power to an eighth daughter of an eighth son, a girl called Eskarina (Esk, for short), the misogynistic world of wizardry wants nothing to do with her.

Thankfully Granny Weatherwax, the Discworld's most famous witch, has plenty of experience ignoring the status quo. With Granny's help, Esk sneaks her way into the magical Unseen University and befriends apprentice wizard Simon.

But power is unpredictable, and these bright young students soon find themselves in a whole new dimension of trouble. Let the battle of the sexes begin...

Well… ‘Equal Rites’ turned out to be just the book I needed to not only get me through a shitty week but also get me over reading ‘The Nest’ (which was great but damn it was nasty at the same time…) Chuckles were had and thoughts were pondered, but in such a way that I didn’t even realise that the book had got me thinking until I thought ‘hang on, why can’t women be wizards if they want to?’ and ‘it wasn’t as if Esk had much say in the matter, just let her be a wizard’. And that’s what great about Terry Pratchett’s ‘Discworld’ books… They’re the equivalent of wrapping the tablet up in ham before feeding it to the dog. Really tasty and they do you good at the same time, even if you don’t realise it at first.

And that is very much the case with ‘Equal Rites’. There is so much going on here and I’m not just talking about the jokes either. If we’re looking at the books in order, ‘Equal Rites’ feels like the first book where the Discworld itself starts to becomes a little more defined instead of just background scenery that shows off the plot. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I just love a bit of worldbuilding and the Ramtops has plenty of that to go round. It’s not just that either, ‘Equal Rites’ is where Granny Weatherwax makes her first appearance and true to her nature, she has a real presence in the book; it’s like she’s been there the whole time, you’re the one who’s new to these parts. Does that make sense at all? I know what I mean… I think. Anyway, Esk may be who the story happens to but Granny Weatherwax is the main character really, and that’s just as it should be.

I took loads away from ‘Equal Rites’ but uppermost in my thoughts was ‘just because something has always been a certain way, that doesn’t make it right’ (that and some thoughts about magic that I'm still trying to get my head round) and that’s not a bad way to look at the world, is it? Definitely a welcome re-read then :o)