When Magrat is designated as the next Fairy Godmother (a legacy from her mentor), Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg feel compelled to help her straighten out the troubles of her new fairy goddaughter.

"I don't trust that wand," said Granny. "I looks wizardly to me." "Oh, come on," said Magrat, "generations of fairy godmothers have used it." pg 47

Unfortunately, the city where this young woman resides is quite far away. That means a roadtrip- something that some of the witches tolerate better than others.

Complicating matters is the fact that Fairy Godmothers always come in pairs, a good one and a bad one. We all know that Magrat is good so...

The other Godmother works her magic through the power of stories. She may have some unique ideas about what constitutes a happy ending.

"People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it's the other way around. Stories exist independently of their players. If you know that, the knowledge is power." pg 8

Terry Pratchett has crafted three unforgettable characters in the witches. Their traveling, as well as evil-fighting, hijinks are amusing, like in the previous entries in this series.

But let's talk about Magrat for a minute.

"Magrat would be the first to admit that she had an open mind. It was as open as a field, as open as the sky. No mind could be more open without special surgical implements." pg 28

Though he's writing it humorously, the elder witches constantly bully Magrat not only for her youth but also for her progressive ideas about what witchcraft should be. In addition, her open-mindedness makes her a target for derision.

Despite her efforts to look mysterious through the use of various pieces of "occult" jewelry, Magrat is teased by other characters (and the narrator) for her funny hair and ridiculous appearance.

It makes me want to reach through the pages and say, just lay off her already, people. She's trying to do the best she can with what she has, where she's at. Can't say the same for everyone else here.

"There's nothing wrong with happy endings," said Magrat hotly. "Listen, happy endings is fine if they turn out happy," said Granny, glaring at the sky. "But you can't make 'em for other people..." pg 103

The denigration of Magrat makes me view the other characters negatively. Because, even though Granny and Nanny are considered experts in witchcraft as well as wise (in their respective spheres), I don't think they're worthy of respect from others when they treat their young colleague like garbage.

I'm not sure why this dynamic between the witches is bothering me more on the second read-through than it did the first, which was eight or so years ago. But it does.

I still consider Witches Abroad an excellent read when I look past the treatment-of-Magrat issues. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy humorous fantasy.

That was fun! I really like the witches and I especially like the rather sweet look at women's companionship. I would love to have a Gytha (let's be honest, I'm going to turn into a Granny Weatherwax well before I can achieve Nanny Ogg) in my golden years.

Check this out, unless you're super sensitive to certain forms of misogyny (like slut-shaming) or the use of voodoo in stories, I have no content warnings! It's about as un-objectionable as you can get in a book with more than 5 sentences in it!

Things to love:

-The humor. I think he's really honed in on what works by now. There's wit, pratfalls, puns, silliness, sex jokes and all the other types of humor you could list, but none that felt especially forced. It was lovingly ridiculous and so fun.

-The concept. Actually a really, really good job talking about story creations and ur-myths! I love how they all interwove, and how he purposefully kicked open the door for non-European myths, too. I'm not sure he did the best job in the world with Afro-Caribbean mythology, but he did a lot better than many current, "woke" settings I've seen done so that's something.

-The characters. I just defy you not to giggle along with Nanny, Granny, Magrat and the people they meet. They're such caricatures you instantly identify with them. This is your gran. That's your memere. And they've just gone on holiday.

-The world. As ever I'm amazed at how many things Pratchett packed into his world and how well thought out it is. For a series that doesn't take itself very seriously, like the consummate comedian, the author put a loooot of work into the construction of his jokes, this one replete with mountains, bogs, magic and zombies.

Things I did not love:

I don't really have anything to detract from it, other than nitpicks about being careful in representation. While everyone is entitled to disagree, I was pretty impressed with even those sensitive waters. The people of color are human, they have flaws, motives, and redeeming qualities, the white characters respect them, and the author takes time to remind us of the sorts of people not usually found in our stories. Brilliant stuff, I thought, actually.

The "missing" star is that while it's super clever and I think did what it intended to do, I have no heartfelt connection. I really, really liked it. I'm not in love, though. A fun installment in a great subseries, of which I will definitely be reading more!

I'm getting used to the fact that the Witches Collection is not a consecutive story like The City Watch was, at least not really. There isn't really one overarching theme, except to play around with story tropes, shake them up, traumatize and scare them, make fun of them when they cry and then send them back home with a lolly-pop.

The Witches series is hilarious. I love these characters and how much we're getting to know them and how comical and even slightly idiotic they seem, yet how poignant they are once you stop and think about it. The big question in Witches Abroad is what happens when you try to force a story? What happens when you take well known and beloved tropes and characters and force them to act out the same story again and again, even it no longer works anyone? The answer is something closer to what Stephen King writes than the Grim brothers. It's morphs into a horror story in which unwilling people are forced to do things they are not meant to otherwise. What if Cinderella didn't want to go to the ball? Or get married? What if she liked being a servant? Who's the fairy godmother to make her? You can't save someone who doesn't need to be saved.

Either way, great installment of the Witches series.

I've completed 6 Discworld titles so far (The Wee Free Men,The Color of Magic, Equal Rites, Mort, Sourcery,Wyrd Sisters) and I have to say this is my very favorite one thus far. I love the way Terry Pratchett takes things that most of us can relate to, such as traveling abroad, and turns them into hilarious and at the same time fantastic Discworld adventures. The three Lancre witches Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat are some of my favorite characters in the whole series, not to mention Nanny's cat Greebo (who reminds me of some Roundworld cats that I have known).

This volume starts off with Magrat being willed the wand (and duties) of a Fairy Godmother. She (along with Granny and Nanny) have to go to a foreign land to help a princess NOT marry a prince. I'll never view the fairy tales of my youth the same way again after reading this one. Defintely worth 5 stars. It's not necessary to have read any of the other books but I think that having read at least Wyrd Sisters and possibly Equal Rites helps establish a good understanding of the witches and their motivations and characters. However, once again I don't think it lessens the enjoyment of this book if one hasn't read any of the other novels. It stands alone quite well.

Brilliant as always, although if you read at least one Discworld book you already know that.

Možda omiljena knjiga o vešticama.
Gribo i Nana tandem života

5/5 za serię i tym razem bez wahania także i za samą książkę, bo to chyba moja ulubiona część cyklu (nie jest łatwo wybrać z ponad 40 pozycji), a przynajmniej ścisły top. To opowieść o opowieściach. O wróżkach chrzestnych, szklanych pantofelkach, potędze narracji, archetypach. O tym, dlaczego trzewci syn wyruszający z misją po tym, jak jego bracia odnieśli porażkę, jest skazany na sukces. I tym, jak nasze postrzeganie świata i decyzje kształtują replikujące się historie i o jednostkach, które potrafią wyłamać się z narracji.
Kolaż baśni, mitów, legend, bajek, ludowych podań, przesądów. Od Kopciuszka przez voodoo aż do czarownicy przytrzaśniętej domkiem i jej czerwonych... z braku lepszego określenia nazwijmy je trzewikami. W roli głównej: Esmeralda Weatherwax, (panna) czarownica, narracyjny lodołamacz.
Nie ma w literaturze postaci, z którymi czułabym większą więź niż Niania Ogg i Esme Weatherwax. A Pratchett jest jak zawsze bezkonkurencyjny w stawianiu diagnozy niezmiennej naturze ludzkiej: psychologicznego prawdopodobieństwa powinni się od niego uczyć wszyscy pisarze.
Nie do wszystkich książek ze Świata Dysku wracam z taką samą przyjemnością, chociaż uwielbiam serię jako całość. Ale tę pokochałam już przy pierwszym podejściu i będę ją kochać aż po kres czasu.

Series Buddy Read with Trish November 2024
Yet again I find this to be one of the funniest so far in the series. My favourite bits below in my 2019 review are still my favourite bits. The 3 wonderful witches each with their own characters, Greebo, the delicious rascal and all the new characters introduced in Genua.

Unfinished Series Read 2019
Review to follow, soon, honest, I promise

Part of the Pratchett reread with the SpecFic Buddy Reads group. This is an unusual book in this series for me as it was released at a very busy time in my life and I didn't read it as a new release, and in fact, I didn't read it until well after at least the next book in the Witches series came out.

The old witch Desiderata Hollow dies, leaving her role as one of a pair of fairy godmothers to Magrat Garlick and a job for all three of Magrat, Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax in the far-off country of Genua. The other fairy godmother is in Genua and uses the power of Stories to her own ends. Our witches need to go there and stop the marriage of a young girl to the handsome prince, which is very difficult when the story wants to be told.

This book does much to bed down the wonderful characters of the witches and set the foundation for the ongoing series. It's also another outing for the author's ideas about stories as things of their own (a bit different from how Moving Pictures handled it and this is actually expanded on well in The Science of Discworld II: The Globe where the authors talk about home narrativium.)

There's a lot of tongue-in-cheek commentary on parochial tourists venturing into the wider world as well that could have been mean but actually comes across with the author's clear affection for these characters.

Vor 20 Jahren hab ich ja schon mal alle Scheibenweltromane gelesen und war absolut begeistert. Jetzt, beim nochmal lesen, greife ich definitiv auf die alten Übersetzungen von Andreas Brandhorst zurück, da mich die Neuauflage mit neuer Übersetzung leider gar nicht überzeugen konnte.
Es ist wie nach Hause kommen, zurück auf die Scheibenwelt mit all ihrer kruden Logik und verschwobenen Magie!

Dazu direkt mal ein mega geniales Zitat von Seite 11

Überall im Multiversum gibt es primitive Stämme*, die Spiegeln und ihren Reflexionen mißtrauen. Angeblich stehlen sie den abgebildeten Leuten einen Teil der Seele und solchen Verlusten gilt es vorzubeugen. Die Besserwisser mit mehr Kleidung halten das für Aberglauben - obgleich Personen, die häufig in Bildern der einen oder anderen Art erscheinen, im Laufe der Zeit immer dünner wirken. Man führt das auf zuviel Streß und - bezeichnenderweise - eine gewissen Oberflächlichkeit zurück.

*Sie werden von Leuten primitiv gehalten, die mehr Kleidung tragen.

Der Titel zeigt hier deutlich, dass es in diesem Band wieder einmal um die drei Hexen aus Lancre geht. Oma Wetterwachs, die mürrische alte Vettel, die Magie überflüssig findet und die Probleme mit ihrer Kopfologie löst, die mütterliche Nanny Ogg mit ihrer Großfamilie, die gerne mal einen zuviel hebt und mit ihrem lustigen Gemüt Omas übellaunige Art perfekt aufhebt - und natürlich die Jungfrau im Dreiergespann, Magrat Knoblauch, die sich mit ihrer naiven Art kaum durchsetzen kann und doch so viele Wünsche und Träume hat, wie man als Hexe zu sein hat.

(Wem es nicht aufgefallen ist: die drei entsprechen der alten und immer wieder auftauchenden "Dreifaltigen Göttin", auch bekannt als Nornen, Beten oder Moiren, die das Schicksal in den Händen halten und meist als Jungfrau-Mutter-und alte Frau in Erscheinung treten) Überhaupt lässt er hier wieder viele mythologische Hintergründe einfließen, die man oft erst auf den zweiten Blick erkennt.

Um Wünsche und Träume geht es hier hintergründig auch, denn es scheint eine Hexe im entfernten Gennua zu geben, die Märchen wortwörtlich wahr werden lassen möchte. Ob da eine gute oder böse Fee die Finger im Spiel hat wird man sehen und wie immer ist der humorige Stil mit vielen kleinen philosophischen Weisheiten gespickt.

Diese Geschichte lebt dieses Mal hauptsächlich von der dynamischen Interaktion der drei Hexen, die immer wieder für einen Lacher gut ist und natürlich von den faszinierenden Ideen, die Terry Pratchett auf ihrer Reise und vor allem mit den Riten und Bräuchen im Lande Gennua einstreut. Sein Schreibstil ist wie immer ein Sammelsurium an Kuriosem und Absonderlichen, hinter dem sich immer wieder eine bestechende Wahrheit finden lässt.

Anfangs bin ich hier nicht ganz so leicht reingekommen wie sonst, aber dafür war die zweite Hälfte umso besser :)

Dodata je i poslednja mačka na spisak koji ćete čitati na Bosonogoj. :)

Como siempre Yaya y su cabezología haciendo de las suyas.

Me encanta como se entrevera la historia de un momento a otro en distintas locuras, mezclándose con historias del folklore, y me pareció perfecto como al final guarda una moraleja como en los cuentos infantiles q en esta historia se mezclan.