The Discworld is very much like our own – if our own were to consist of a flat planet balanced on the back of four elephants which stand on the back of a giant turtle, that is . . .
They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it’s not half so bad as a lot of ignorance.
The last thing the wizard Drum Billet did, before Death laid a bony hand on his shoulder, was to pass on his staff of power to the eighth son of an eighth son.
Unfortunately for his colleagues in the chauvinistic (not to say misogynistic) world of magic, he failed to check that the baby in question was a son.
Everybody knows that there's no such thing as a female wizard. But now it's gone and happened, there's nothing much anyone can do about it.
Let the battle of the sexes begin . . .
I hate to admit it, but it's been a while since I've read a Terry Pratchett. I read most of them through my teens and twenties, and now I'm mumble years old I'm clearly due a reread!
Knowing what later books are like while reading this one is an odd experience. This is book three in the series, and while it's a lot better than book one, Terry still hadn't reached the heights of his brilliance. Metafors (as Granny would have it) are a lot less subtle than they would be later, characters haven't quite settled into themselves yet, and worst of all, there's only one footnote!
All that not withstanding, this is still an amazing, funny, touching read, introducing one of Terry's key characters and setting up the Ramtops which would feature heavily in later novels. Some of the ideas he uses later appeared here for the first time too, and it's lovely to see them coming into being here.
Terry Pratchett is an author that everyone should read, whether they're a fantasy fan or not. I really enjoyed reading this one and I highly recommend it.
Equal Rites is available now.
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