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Maskerade (Discworld, #18; Witches, #5)

Terry Pratchett

Start date: September 22, 2024

Finish date: October 6, 2024

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Feb 19, 2019 Caitlin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fic-fantasy

This is my second time reading this, this time after having actually read Phantom of the Opera and honestly, like a lot of Discworld books, enjoyed it even more on reread. I caught more of the jokes, loved the banter between witches and the commentary on entertainment.

I don't love how much it focuses on Agnes' weight but I'll cut it some slack for being written in the 90's and heavily focused on the obvious opera joke.

After re-read, this might actually be my third favorite Witches book, after This is my second time reading this, this time after having actually read Phantom of the Opera and honestly, like a lot of Discworld books, enjoyed it even more on reread. I caught more of the jokes, loved the banter between witches and the commentary on entertainment.

I don't love how much it focuses on Agnes' weight but I'll cut it some slack for being written in the 90's and heavily focused on the obvious opera joke.

After re-read, this might actually be my third favorite Witches book, after Lords and Ladies and Carpe Jugulum. I think now that I'm getting crotchety, I appreciate Granny much more than I used to.

2019 review:
Ahahahahaha! Ahahahaha! Aahahaha!
BEWARE!!!!!
Yrs sincerely,
The Opera Ghost

"What sort of person," said Salzella patiently, sits down and writes a maniacal laugh? And all those excalamation marks, you notice? Five? A sure sign of someone who wears his underpants on his head. Opera can do that to a man."

After the events of Lords and Ladies, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg are in need of a third witch to complete their circle in Lancre. When they find out that a local girl, Agnes, who had shown some promise earlier, has gone to Ankh Morpork to find her future in opera, they decide to follow her for a night at the opera (and hopefully convince her to come back to Lancre). As usual with the witches, this leads to no small amount of mayhem, including an opera ghost who has gotten rather more violent than the theater was expecting.

There have been very few Discworld books that I haven't enjoyed but I wasn't sure at the beginning if this one would be among their number. I have no familiarity with opera whatsoever, largely because it's never much interested me. Since it was pretty clear that the book would reference it, I went in with a brief Wikipedia summary of Phantom of the Opera as my only guiding light. Thankfully, I probably didn't even need to do that. There are many nods to various operas throughout the story but Pratchett still manages to make it amusing for neophytes. I really liked Agnes, much more than I ever felt for Magrat, and Granny and Nanny are in top form as true terrors among the denizens of the theater. It helps to have Agnes as the newbie mouthpiece and the reader learns along with her of the true terror of stopping any show, even if there have been multiple murders.

I'm thoroughly enjoying the Witches novels now and hope that Agnes ends up sticking around, she's a new favorite. ...more

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