Some years ago, I had a massive obsession with The Phantom of the Opera. Back then I'd always had a small curiosity about the Discworld series, but it wasn't until I found out that one of the books was based on The Phantom of the Opera that I decided to get serious and check it out. Well, Maskerade at least.

A spoof it is, and a remarkably funny one at that. The lovely, demure Christine is turned into a ditzy stereotypical dumb blonde with the sort of figure that only a high metabolism combined with a scanty diet can achieve. And the book is based in an opera house, managed by two men who don't know what to do with it. The witches are in the book too, and there's a lot of the usual hilarious bickering and bantering between them. The individual scenes of the book are varied and interesting.

Maybe I'm a little biased because it was the first Discworld novel I've picked up, but it will always be my favorite.

Terry Pratchett's first novel, "The Carpet People", appeared in 1971. "Maskerade" is the eighteenth novel in his hugely popular Discworld series and was first published in 1995. It's also the fifth book to feature Granny Weatherwax, the Discworld's greatest witch.

Granny is a fearsome character, and for quite some time has been the head of Lancre's famous coven - one that had been completed by Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick. However, following Magrat's recent marriage to Lancre's King, the coven has lost a member - and it's a gap that Nanny is desperate to fill. Nanny, the raucous head of the Ogg clan based in Lancre town, is pretty much Granny's oldest friend...and has been keeping a very close eye on her since Magrat's departure. Granny is the most powerful witch since Black Aliss - some would say, she's even more powerful. However, Aliss went a little mad - she started turning people into gingerbread and building houses out of frogs. (She was eventually pushed into her own oven by a couple of kids...the resultant mess took about a week to clean up). Nanny's worried that Granny might be heading the same direction through sheer boredom...and realises the best way to save her is to find a new Magrat. However, it can't be just anyone who joins up...

Nanny finally pinpoints Agnes Nitt as the perfect replacement for Magrat. Agnes had previously dabbled a little with witchcraft but - unknown to Nanny - has decided on a career change...she's left Lancre, and has signed up at the Ankh-Morpork Opera House. While Agnes has the makings of a very fine witch, she's absolutely perfect for her new job - not only does she have an amazing voice, she is blessed with the 'traditional' opera singer's build. Unfortunately, opera in Ankh-Morpork is about to change - thanks to Mr Seldom Bucket, the Opera's new owner. Bucket has taken a hefty loan to buy the Opera House and the repayments include making Christine - the lender's daughter - the star of the show. Admittedly, she is stunningly beautiful and she does have a certain star quality...however, she is an appalling singer. Bucket leaves it to Mr Salzella, the Opera's musical director, and Dr Undershaft, the chorus master, to find a way of working around it...and the solution involves Christine and Perdita working very closely together.

Debts and massive repayments aren't Mr. Bucket's only problems though. As it turns out, the theatre is haunted by a character who wears evening dress known only as `The Ghost'. He'd always been a benign figure and apparently watched every performance from Box Eight...however, people are now turning up dead, and the ghost is being blamed. Luckily, Granny and Nanny are on the way - there's been a problem with the royalties for a book that Nanny wrote, and the publishing house is in Ankh-Morpork. Naturally, they'll stop by the Opera House to see how Agnes is getting along...

Another very funny book though, while the witches have previously had some fun with Shakespeare, "Maskerade" draws some inspiration from "The Phantom of the Opera". Plenty of laughs and a nice mystery for the witches to solve - absolutely recommended.

Terry Prachett is a master storyteller- one of the best in any genre, I kid you not. Maskerade is yet another triumph from the Discworld series. For those who may not know, Discworld is a planet inhabited by witches, dwarfs, trolls, vampires... the usual fantasy suspects, but here, everyone has personality and they're not afraid to show it.

In Maskerade, country girl Agnes Nitt escapes small town life for a chance at fame and fortune in the Ankh-Morpork Opera House. If only it were that easy. Everyone agrees that Agnes has the voice and an obvious presence on the stage, but management finds her presence a little "too obvious" and respectfully requests she hide in the chorus while their chosen star lip-syncs a la Singing in the Rain. Now if this isn't bad enough, it seems that the ghost of the opera house has been getting a bit uppity lately and started killing people. Agnes deals with the drama as best she can, but when witches Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax come to town to recruit her into their coven, it's every player for themselves. Funny, funny stuff.

As with all Discworld novels, Maskerade is satire at its finest. Not a fan of opera myself, Terry Prachett's comic take on human (for lack of a better word) nature still kept me turning page after page and wanting more. It is full of intelligent wit and just enough cultural digging to make you go hmmm..., but in a good way. There isn't any filler: every page has pearls, the energy is high and the pace is consistent throughout. Another plus about this series is that each book stands alone. Getting to know the characters and their back stories is part of the fun, but not wholly necessary. Read this book! Read them all!

Remember everyone; if it comes from Discworld, it's got to be good.

Magrat Garlick has left witching to become Queen of Lancre, leaving only Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, which they both know won't work; two witches is an argument, while three (Maiden, Mother, and Crone) allows one of them to make peace between the other two. The best candidate for the No. 3 position is Agnes Nitt, whose considerable bulk has limited her love life in any case -- but Agnes has gone off to Ankh-Morpork to try to make it with her extraordinary singing voice. (She can sing harmony with herself in thirds.) It happens that Nanny Ogg, well known libertine, has also written a book called THE JOY OF SNACKS, which is a bestseller, but not being good with money, or numbers generally, she doesn't realize the publishers owe her a bundle. Well, Granny and Nanny will just have to head for the Big City themselves to do a bit of stealth recruiting, and to hit on the publishers for royalties. Agnes -- or Perdita, as she prefers to call herself -- has been hired for the chorus at the Opera House, which has recently been taken over by a retired cheese magnate, and which just happens to be afflicted with a letter-writing, mask-wearing ghost. Pratchett has a lot of fun working up a plot that rivals the convoluted, often nonsensical plots of operas themselves. But his is actually a pretty good murder mystery. And he hasn't lost his touch with the language, either. When Nanny admits she send in her book manuscript under a pseudonym, Granny replies, "Why dint you put your own name on it, eh? Books've got to have a name on `em so's everyone knows who's guilty." Later, when Nanny protests that the money isn't that important to her, Granny tells her firmly, "You've been exploited." "No I ain't." "Yes you have. You're a downtrodden mass." And in describing a witch's innate ability to jump to conclusions on thin evidence, the author notes, "sometimes there wasn't time to do anything else but take a flying leap. Sometimes you had to rust to experience and intuition and general awareness and take a running jump. Nanny herself could clear a quite tall conclusion from a standing start." Great stuff.

Does not disappoint with inside jokes, shades of innuendo, and an absolutly original set of characters.