Equal Rites

Equal Rites is the third installment in the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett. It introduces the character of Granny Weatherwax, who becomes the core of the later witches books later in the series.

The story begins when a wizard, nearing death, bestows his wizardly powers on the son of a blacksmith. Unfortunately, the son turns out to be a daughter, but by then it's too late, and discworld has it's first female wizard.

Time goes by, and the local witch and midwife, Granny Weatherwax, attempts to bring the girl up as a witch, but to no avail, she just has the wrong type of magic, so off to the Unseen University it is, and the wizarding world won't ever be quite the same.

Personally, Not one of my favorite books. Of all the running characters, The witches are my least favorite, and Granny Weatherwax is especially unformed in Rites. That's not to say there aren’t moments. Rites certainly earns a place in the series, but it will never personally come even close to the Death or Guards books, IMHO.

Published by HarperTorch
Copyright 1987, Terry Pratchett
ISBN: 0-06-102069-9

My experience with this book is through the book on CD. I spend an hour and a half at minimum in my car every day going to and from work, and have found books on CD to be a wonderful way to spend the trip. The other Discworld books I have heard have been read by Nigel Planer. This one was narrated by Celia Imrie. Her reading of it is technically fine. She characterized voices well enough, but . . . there is something missing. I don't know if the book simply isn't very funny, or if there is something off with her delivery, but the punchlines just weren't as punchy as those Planer produced. When he reads Pratchett, I laugh. With Imrie, I just got the sense that I was listening to an interesting story; a very different vibe than what I was expecting. If I had no previous exposure to Discworld, and no expectation of what it was to be, I imagine I would have simply called it a wonderful fantasy story and been done with it. As it was, I was expecting something funnier, and it just did not deliver.