My quest to read all the Discworld novels in chronological order (and collecting the sick Collector’s Library editions) continues as we now dive into the 6th novel overall – and 2nd in the Witches’ books, which happens to parody some of Shakespeare’s works, mainly MacBeth.
Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett manages to combine Shakespeare and the over-the-top setting of Discworld in a single, fun, loud story centered around the Lancre witch coven. The plot manages to be a satire of Macbeth, King Lear, and other Shakespeare classics while managing to be its own separate story with its own intricacies and personality that sets it apart enough that even if you haven’t read the material it’s based on (like me), you’ll still enjoy it. I’ve been reading the Discworld novels in chronological release order (to the chagrin of most people on the internet), but with this book I feel like Terry Pratchett really started hitting his stride. My enjoyment of this book compared to the previous entry in the Discworld (Sourcery) and even compared to the first Witches book (Equal Rites) is on a different level. Pratchett manages to have a interesting story while keeping the jokes rolling.
The character work on this book is great, Granny Weatherwax is much more fleshed out compared to the previous Witches book, and the addition of Nanny Ogg and Magrat as the “Wyrd Sisters” from Macbeth make for some great interactions between them. Despite it being a very on the nose satire/parody of Shakespeare’s work, this is still a great story that is able to stand on its own.
This is the first Discworld I’ve read where the comedy really worked for me, this definitely upped my enjoyment a ton. Despite there being humor and tons of jokes all throughout the book it never felt like it was annoying or too “in your face”, it somehow always felt like a literary device to even help the plot. In the interest of full disclosure, since I’ve not read the original material the book satirizes, I do feel like there were references I didn’t get due to my limited knowledge on the topic. I will definitely add Shakespeare to my TBR and do a re-read of this after having more context, I’m sure it’ll only improve my already great experience.
The story itself is solid, you’d even say it’s tried and true since it’s mostly based on Macbeth, but it does feel overtly simple at times, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it did make certain sections feel a little slow for me. I understand it can’t be all full throttle 100% of the time, and this is a minor nitpick, but it is important for me to lay it all out there with my honest opinion and experience.
Finally, the character work is by far my favorite part of the novel, the witches, like I mentioned, are fantastic: witty, funny, and full of sass. But even other characters like the king, the new duke and his wife, the theater troupe, they all have great personalities that make for some great scenes that were so much fun to read.
I think this works as a really good starting point for Discworld, even though it’s Granny’s second appearance as a main character, she has so much more personality this go around and there aren’t any reference to the previous book anyway. If you’re looking for a good fun time filled with humor, this is it.
Rating
⭐⭐⭐⭐☆