This book was a very funny look at sexism. It is terribly hilarious, I would strongly suggest reading it

On the reccommendation of a friend I started reading the Discworld series. I thought that although the first two books in the series - The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic - had moments of brilliance, they also had parts to them which I found quite boring, leaving me slightly dissappointed. However, I thought that Equal Rites was AMAZING! it has all the brilliance from the first two books without any of the boring bits! I genuinly loved it and am now proud to say that I am a discworld fan. I liked this so much that I immediatly ordered the fourth book upon finishing it.

A wizard dies at the start of the novel and intends to leave his magic to the eighth son of an eigth son. However Death arrived to take him and so he passes on his powers before the midwife - Granny Weatherwax, a brilliant charcater who we are first introduced to in the book - has time to explain that the baby if in fact a girl. Therefore creating Esk, the discworlds first female wizard.

When Esk is 8 years old she starts becoming magical, and so Granny takes her under her wing (figurativly speaking) and teaches her the ways of witchcraft and eventually agrees to take her to the Unseen University so that she can become a wizard.

Hillarious and brillant, I would deffinatly reccommend this book to discworld fans.

Apart from wasting your time and money, it also induces in you a headache. Writers like Pullman have done quite beautifully with similar subjects. I recommend hitting this writer with steel balls and dunking him into a tub of scalding water. Nothing works, the coming-of age heroine, the old dim witch, poorly characterized parents, stupid plot-line, unimaginative prose etc etc. This is what you get when you believe reviews that are xenophobic and untrustworthy and downright foolish. I give this writer -100. You can give this book to your enemy!!

Someone shared a quote out of one of the later Discworld books which led me to watching the movie "Hogfather" based on the book (same name) the quote came from. The characters were all engaging & held my attention such that I wanted to dive into this world (which is already populated with enough books to keep one busy for quite a while).

After reading the first two books (The Colour of Magic & The light Fantastic) Equal Rites was a change in characters which I feared might effect my enjoyment. No problem!! Everything still happens on Discworld, and time (so far) isn't a factor so there was enough similar to the first books and yet fresh enough keep me interested. For those into contemporary analogies, its like the TV show "Survivor" when compared to "Law and Order". In Law and Order you get to know the characters in depth and they are expected to always be there episode after episode while Survivor is also character driven but for a limited time and has no relationship to reality. Also each season of Survivor is familiar enough to offer a comfortable grasp of what's going to happen as you begin to lean about the new cast of characters.

As to style of writing, there are tons of reviews which I won't even begin to approach. I'll just say for me, it's an easy paced read where there is generally more than a single level to what is written. I don't want to rush thru to the end because I might miss a particularly good choice of words nor is it so convoluted it becomes painful to read requiring lots of reflection. I guess it's a good read not just for the story, but it's also a good read for how many things can be taken out of what is written. Enjoy!!!!

TCW

This is the third book in Terry Pratchett's series on the Discworld - a flat world, supported on the backs of four massive elephants riding on the back of a planet-sized turtle. Anything hilarious can happen here, and eventually does.

When a dying wizard comes to a smithy in a small town in the Ramtop Mountains, to pass on his great powers to the smith's eighth son he little realizes the affect he will have on the life of that baby...er, girl. Men become wizards, and women become witches, everybody knows that. But, Eskarina Smith now has a wizard's staff and a wizard's powers. A real shakeup is coming to the Discworld, and Granny Weatherwax, witch extraordinaire is right in the middle of it!

This is another great Discworld book, being the one that actually introduces Granny Weatherwax to Terry Pratchett's fans. It has all that great, rather skewed humor that you expect from the great man. (I have always said that his mind works like no other human I have ever heard of!) Terry Pratchett is the king of fantasy-comedy, read this book and find out why!