Title and Author: Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett
Publisher: Transworld
Bought, Borrowed or Gifted: Audiobook borrowed from local library & BorrowBox app
Buy From (Affiliate): uk.bookshop.org
After the events of Witches Aboard, Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Margat have returned to Lancre from their holidays and discover that things aren’t quite right. Margat finds herself engaged and to be married to the King at Midsummer, Granny seems distracted lately and the someone has been dancing round the stone Dancers and crop circles have beginning to appear. And last time those happened, the Lords and Ladies came…
I’m going to admit it: I wasn’t the biggest fan of this book. I’m not sure why. I really enjoy Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Margat’s outings (Witches Aboard is, in my opinion, the strongest and possible my fave out of their installs), but each books have moments that don’t quite hit the mark for me. For this, am not sure.
I like that Terry Pratchett, through the Witches, attacks other stories and puts them on their heads. With Wyrd Sisters, it was Macbeth. With Witches Aboard, it was fairy tales. With Maskerade, it was Phantom of the Opera and opera/theatre as a whole (Granny and Nanny in the theatre is a weird and utterly wonderful delight) and the only Witch novel I haven’t read/audiobook – Carpe Jugulum – pokes fun at vampire literature. But, for some reason, the Witches tackling another Shakespeare play – A Midsummer’s Night Dream – feel a little much.
Maybe it’s because I audiobooked this so soon after I finished Witches Aboard. But I was going through a reading slump and I wanted to return to these characters. While I’m not the biggest fan of Margat and feel she’s a bit wet in previous outings (though she grew in this book and I like this more confident Margat), I enjoy reading Nanny and Granny. These two make the Witches books work and I love their banter and them as characters, both together and separate (I enjoyed the two of them alone without Margat in Masquerade, but as Nanny says, there ought to be three witches).
I think another reason I wasn’t a fan of Lords and Ladies is, while this book had fun characters, at times it felt too much and there were so many little subplots. There were one or two occasions that I wish the book would get back to the main plot and leave the subplots alone. I knew they would be important or it was there for a reason, but there were times I felt that, if it was in the story, the story wouldn’t have been effect.
Plus, Elves. Ok, I have an odd relationship with fairies and elves in stories. I always found the books I read when I was younger that fairies and elves were cute, nice. Yes, tricksters and you have to be careful what you say to them as they will take you to your word and will try and find loopholes, but there was a level of mischief to them, not malice. It seems to be in the last few years that I have discovered books that tackle elves and fairies in a darker light and tone, and I seem to be slowly enjoy this. Yes, am late to the party, I know. But I like how Terry Pratchett tackles elves in here – comparing them to cats. As a cat owner myself, I completely got the connection and went “Yep, that makes sense!”.
It’s not my favourite Witches of Discworld book, but I don’t dislike it either. Will this affect me finishing off the Witches series and audiobook Carpe Jugulum? No, I think I will tackle it. I might need a little break, but I’m not ready to say goodbye to Granny Weatherwax or Nanny Ogg just yet. And I heard they might cross over into the Tiffany Aching subseries in the Discworld so might keep going. But not yet. I need to recover and get some of my review copies under control first… Maybe I’ll save for Hogswatcch Night…
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