Los libros de la saga del Mundodisco siempre te garantizan un buen rato de entretenimiento y diversión pero los libros de las brujas además son especialmente entrañables con ese trio genial cual ángeles de Charlie recorriendo el disco con su disparadas aventuras. Aquí Prachett crea una autentica genialidad rindiendo homenaje a los cuentos clásicos pasando por el filtro de locura del Mundodisco. Quién necesite un chute de buen rollo aquí lo tiene a raudales.

I love all the witches, but Nanny was my favourite in this one. :) It is now my goal in life to become as good at foreign as she is.

Gooden day, big-feller mine host! Trois beers pour favour avec us, silver plate.

Казково!

I think this has been my favourite Discworld book so far! I love the three main characters, especially Nanny Ogg. Loved the twists on stories and fairy tales! Magical

When Magrat, Gytha, and Esme go wandering trouble follows.
I love the way Magrat comes into her own in this one.
Reread these several times.
The witch books are the best IMHO.

Once upon a time, in a continent far, far away, there exists a desire for fairy tales and happily ever after’s. The united lands of the kingdom scoured for a godmother and found… Pratchett. The End!

OK, let's backtrack. At this point in the series, each book starts to blend in a little at the edges. Not that they are indistinct but rather becoming very distinctly interconnected like a web overlaid. A book I am reading is not just a book published at a particular point in time, but a moment in the continuum of storytelling. As Pratchett weaves his tales from book to book, I take pleasure in tracing patterns from whence they originate and ramify, in how trajectories intersect or deviate. So, when a favorite character reflects a darker side three books into the Witches sub-series, I relish.

She of the "headology" fame returns in all her glory. Granny is a self-proclaimed arbiter of what is real and important in life; the pit bull all us cower and cheer from behind as she intimidates others in a stare-down. But when I think more about it, Granny is hypocritical, condescending and nasty. She tramples any objections counter to hers and has no qualms using magic to bend someone’s mind to her will. Which is very ironic, for someone who acts in the name of common sense to use her uncommon sense for manipulation. I do not like her very much but as a character in Witches Abroad, Granny is magnificent.

Behind every magnificent witch, there is another magnificent witch. Story-wise, Nanny Ogg plays second fiddle to Granny but always to perfect accompaniment. Where Granny might trample on frivolity with her hard boots, Nanny dances to it in her red ones. Throughout Witches Abroad, we see Nanny deftly stepping in with impeccable comic timing and deceptive motherliness to smoothen Granny’s sharp edges. Granny alone in a story - as we currently know her - would be too angry without a more grounded character like Nanny to bounce off. In this dynamic duo, more than any others in DiscWorld so far, Pratchett has created a perfect partnership that works hand in glove where one cracks the whip and the other softens the blow. A shout out to Nanny, she who often gets overshadowed by Granny but makes me laugh the loudest.

Where does this leave Magrat, wet hen and third of the coven? Having been appointed godmother by process of elimination (there was really no one else...), Magrat attempts to be assertive against her own nature and the constant sisterly beat down to fulfill the last wish of a dead woman (the previous godmother). As a character, Magrat is quite the doormat but with a bit of empowerment, has potential for a total makeover. Yay to a predominantly female cast but I think a more valuable token is when the weakest comes into her own. I am curious to see how her character grows further into the sub-series.

Our trio embarks on a broom-flying trip across faraway lands in marginally funny adventures of twisted fairy tales, poker games, squabbles and foreign-cities-terrorized by-country-bumpkins. For me, that first half of book with standard Pratchett-ian travelogue dragged out but is relieved by a delightful second half upon their destination. Fantastic new and morally ambiguous characters dabbling in black magics, a powerful final scene about true selves and a sexy Greebo (Meeoow!) kicked Witches Abroad up from an initial 2-star-ish to a final 4-stars. Who says there is no happy ending?


[DiscWorld #12, Witches sub-series: Witches Abroad #3, Wyrd Sisters #2 Equal Rites #1]

n  "It's not staying in the same place that's the problem," said Nanny. "It's not letting your mind wander." n

Witches Abroad is one of the most entertaining Discworld novels so far, if reading chronologically, in which Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat set off on an adventure to stop a peasant girl, Emberella, from marrying a prince. Along the way the witches encounter many stories, including one with a girl in a red riding hood and a rather confused big bad wolf. Not to worry though, the three witches have many talents in derailing things that are meant to be.

As usual, one's enjoyment of a Discworld novel is usually determined foremost by the cast of characters, and secondly by where on the scale of ridiculous the concept falls. Somewhere in the middle is usually good, and this one is just that. The three witches are such a perfect ensemble that the comedy comes through really well, and the story seems to unfold naturally around them. Sure, it's still ridiculous, but the parody of classic princess stories is easy to make sense of. Accompanied by Greebo, Nanny's vile cat Greebo (who could stop a stampede of bulls in its tracks with one glare), Death himself, and several recognizable storybook characters, this is will probably be one of the more memorable books once I've gotten through all 40.

Just as an extra note- I always get a kick out of how Death's never mentioned by name in most of the books besides his intro in Colour of Magic and in his own series, and is only indicated by the all-caps manner of speaking. I had a few laughs over that in this one, as small as his part might have been.

Witches are abroad and they're sending the Disc's first postcards! Book twelve in the series and Pratchett turns his Discworld funhouse mirror on the matter of destiny and the nature of storytelling, and specifically the nature of fairy tales. The Disc's magic field does strange things with what we humans consider commonplace and every day ideas, so when the fanciful Disneylike idea of a Fairy Godmother germinates in the fertile grounds of Genua all bets are off! But then there isn't much that can stand up to the glare of Granny Weatherwax and her unflinchingly rigid way of looking a what is right and more importantly what isn't.

The road trip around "Europe" is a mine of wonderfully playful anecdotes featuring the Disc's favourite coven of witches, the complex build up to and the final showdown with the Fairy Godmother a delight but even so it feels slight, like it was a clever idea for a short story expanded upon to the point where it could legitimately be published as novel but never really going further in the way the best of the Pratchett books will. It's good but it's not great as they say.

Između 4 i 5, ali nek ide 5⭐️, jer ipak ovoliki moćnih i zabavnih žena na jednom mjestu je teško naći!
"Dobro i zlo je zakučasto, rekla je. Ni ja nisam sigurna na kojoj su strani ljudi. Možda je bitno na koju stranu pogledaš."

Witches Abroad was hilarious and another great Discworld entry.

We follow Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick as they travel abroad. Full of shenanigans as the three witches interact with other cultures. The plot for this one plays on popular fairytales like Cinderella, Red Riding Hood and the Wizard of Oz to name a few. It has Pratchett's signature humor and twist that made for a brilliant read.

„Вещици в чужбина“ на Тери Пратчет беше перфектния избор за навлизане в поредицата „Светът на диска“, умело съчетаващ остроумие, интелигентна сатира и трогателно разказване на истории. Триото вещици – Баба Вихронрав, Леля Ог и младата Маграт Чеснова – се впускат в хаотично и забавно пътешествие, за да предотвратят една приказка да достигне до своя „щастлив край“. Това, което се разгръща, е брилянтно подривен поглед върху класическите приказки, изпълнен с непредсказуеми обрати, много смях и характерната проницателност на Пратчет.
Пратчет е майстор в създаването на богати персонажи, а динамиката между трите вещици е истинско удоволствие. Практичният и безкомпромисен характер на Баба Вихронрав, веселият и леко неприличен хумор на Леля Ог и добросърдечният идеализъм на Маграт създават чудесен баланс между хумор и емоция. Историята ни пренася през различни странни земи на Диска, като по пътя шеговито разглобява и преосмисля приказните клишета.
Това, което прави „Вещици в чужбина“ наистина забележителна, е дълбочината под хумора. Пратчет вплита провокативни размишления за естеството на историите, властта и съдбата. Това не е просто забавна книга – това е брилянтно изследване на начина, по който разказаните истории могат да оформят, а понякога и да ни ограничат.
Книгата е свидетелство за гения на Пратчет – едно вълшебно произведение, което е също толкова проницателно, колкото и забавно. Горещо препоръчвам!

Re-read it. Loved it to pieces.