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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My favourite Pratchett, 3 Jul 2004
This is aboslutely my favourite Discworld novel. Magrat Garlick, the slightly wet witch, finds herself unexpectedly landed with the job of being a Fairy Godmother. Her job is to go to Genua and stop her goddaughter Ella from marrying the Duc of Genua. Naturally, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg decide to accompany her. Their journey across the Discoworld to Genua is a hilarious trip full of memorable encounters. One of the best bits is when they are rowing a boat along an underground river and encounter a sinister Golum-like creature. Granny Weatherwax whacks him over the head with an oar. Now if only Tolkein had thought of that! Then there's the wonderful bit in the village inn where the witches remain happily oblivious to the fact that the village is being terrorised by a vampire. He is out to get Magrat, but naturally has no luck, and the vampire ends up inside Greebo, nanny Ogg's dreadful cat. "Vampires have risen from the grave, the crypt and the tomb, but have never managed it from the cat". And then there's the marvellous bit on the riverboatr, where Granny Weatherwax takes a group of professional gamblers to the cleaners. When they finally arrive in Genua, they discover the city is being terrorised by a powerful witch Lilith di Tempscore, who is determined to get Ella married to the Duc, who has an unpleasant secret. The witches form an alliance with Erzulie Gogle, a Voodoo lady, in order to thwart Lilith's plans. This book is just marvellous. It has an ingenious plot, lots of wonderful and memorable characters, and is very, very funny. Definitely Pratchett at his best.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Phenomenal, 4 Feb 2002
By A Customer
I have read every Discworld book up to The Truth and I must say that this makes my top five. As witches books go it is beaten only by Lords and Ladies, which is my favourite of all time. In fact, as this is written I am curretly re-reading Witches Abroad. Once the witches leave Lancre the tale moves at breakneck speed (this is Lord Of The Rings condensed) featuring some superb set pieces. An example is the riverboat scene, which ranks as one of the very best scenes alongside the timewarp spell in Wyrd Sisters, Death's arrival in the store in Hogfather and Vimes' escape from the Werewolves in the Fifth Elephant. Some of the parodies are superb, and the Little Red Riding Hood sequence is possibly the most chilling scene in any Discworld novel. Also, Nanny Ogg's letters home have to be the all time funniest jokes. So read this, and you'll never see fairy tales in the same light again.
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of Pratchett's best, 3 Mar 2006
This is one of my all-time favourite Pratchett books. Everything that he's good at is exhibited here - adapting stories and fairy tales, "translating" real life culture to the Discworld, great characterisation and dialogue, a great plot - and, of course, it's hilariously funny.If you're a fan of the Witches, it's even better. Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick each get a chance to shine, in their own particular ways (as does Greebo). Pratchett takes them far away from Lancre, and it's highly entertaining to see how they react to 'forn' cultures and people. Nanny's postcards home are particularly worth a mention for sheer comedy value! It's amazing how many references to real life cultures, stories and events Pratchett manages to fit into this book, and yet none of them seem hurried, forced or superfluous - each event fits in perfectly to one fantastic story. It's one of those books where every single line is a classic and every bit of dialogue is completely perfect. Hard to imagine how it could get better than this.
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