Terry Pratchett - Equal Rites: A Novel of Discworld

Pros: Funny, light reading...
Cons: ... lacks the brilliance of later Discworld books.

Equal Rites is the third in the Discworld series of books. At the beginning an old wizard, who knows he has only a few minutes to live, journeys to a remote village with a silly name in order to pass on his staff to a deserving recipient. He ...

Pros: Good narrative voice, a really nice beginning
Cons: Boring characters and not very interesting situations.

Equal Rites is the third book in Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. I had to stop and think after reading this book. Why didn't I like it that much? Was it my mood at the time? No, I don't think so, because I wasn't in the best mood when I...

Pros: Fun | Doesn't depend on having read previous books | Suitable for many ages
Cons: Not as funny as later books

There’s nothing I like better than to become engrossed in a good fantasy book, and the one of the very best sets of these fantasy books is the Discworld series. I remember the day I stood in the library looking for something new to read, when the cover ...

Pros: Short, sharp read. One-liners.
Cons: Little character development. A vehicle for one character.

Eskarina Smith was supposed to be the eighth son of an eighth son. This would have made her a wizard. Unfortunately, due to her father's stubbornness and considerable confusion at her birth she still received the wizard's staff of power. Does that make ...

Pros: Great sense of humor, plays with traditional fantasy dogmas.
Cons: Fizzles out.

Drum Billet is about to die. As a wizard, you know these things. The skeleton in the black cloak following you around is a pretty good clue.

Traditionally, wizards lead a celibate life, so Drum has no offspring to give his magic powers to. He...

Pros: Very funny and entertaining
Cons: Wish it was longer and had even more adventures

This book starts with the traditional dark and stormy night and a wizard, Drum Billet, who is about to die. He decides to transfer his powers and his magical staff to an eighth son of an eighth son, since they are supposed to have extra magical...

Pros: Funny, unexpected twists, introduces good characters, strong plots
Cons: Esk doesn't appear in any other DW books so we never discover what happens to her later on

The story opens as an elderly wizard, knowing he is about to die, searches for a newborn eighth son of an eighth son to whom he can pass his staff. He finds a baby about to be born, but does not check that it is a boy!

So Esk, a precocious...

Pros: Light, fun, breezy reading.
Cons: Not too much substance or character development, but who needs that?

Compared with some of the later more 'theme' oriented novels of Discworld
(where each book seems to take on a subject) this title is very enjoyable
and even brought a grin of delight across my face at the slightly subdued manical goings...

Pros: Stories from a still evolving Discworld
Cons: Not long enough :-)

As one of the first Discworld novels, Equal Rites excels in original characters and plots. Not yet tainted with the rigor mortis of repetition, that has plagued the later series, Pratchett pulls wonderful characters out of his funny hat in a tempo, that...

Pros: Funny, witty, good subtext, descriptive writing.
Cons: Way too short. . .but they all are.

Once again the public waited, and once again Terry Pratchett spake. Pratchett here delivers the first Witches series (assuming you're reading them in publication order). Pratchett's hilarity is evident throughout, and his commentary on gender issues...

Pros: Wonderfully detailed characters
Cons: not made into a movie

This book was amazing. It takes you into a flat world on the backs of four elephants on top of the great turtle. If you read this you are sure to enjoy it. Granny is the most vibrant character in this book, she is wise but prudish, stubborn but...

Pros: Interesting Characters Part of a Series
Cons: Ideas been covered before by many

A female with power scares all. Or least how Terry is trying to show in this little book. Starts with a baby girl being given the staff of a dying wizard thus forcing her into the world of wizards instead of witches. Covers a nice little story and a little more in depth consideration of gender roles in Discworld and in real life. Irony again a good part.