Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

[meganbmoore]

A wizard, Drum Billet, is dying, and wants to pass his staff on to another wizard. The 8th son of an 8th son is being born to a nearby blacksmith’s wife, and as 8th sons of 8th sons are always wizards (I take it 8 is Discworld’s 7?) he chooses that boy. Except that the son is actually a daughter, Esk. Apparently, male and female magic is different, and so all male magicusers are wizards, and female magic users are witches. Whoops. The local witch, Granny Weatherwax, does her best to properly train Esk as a witch, but Esk has too much magic that’s too different, so Granny decides that she has to be trained by the wizards.

The book started fairly slow for me, but picked up once Granny Weatherwax and Esk hit the road. I’m particularly fond of Esk’s attempts to strike out on her own. (She seems to do this a lot.) Granny Weatherwax is fun, especially with her belief in headology, and her interactions with wizards are fun, but something about the book didn’t quite click for me. It seems to present itself as a “battle of the sexes” book, but most of the battle seems to be stubbornness, and for some reason, it never quite properly clicked for me. I think, though, that this is very early Pratchett.

I’m not sure Pratchett’s sense of humor quite matches mine (or maybe it’s the nonstop aspect of it) but I do find him funny in a slightly-distanced way, and I like his characters. I still wish, though, that he had chapter breaks. Logically, I realize that scene, setting, and perspective shifts are clear and easy to follow, but my brain still associates chapter breaks with organization, and I’m one of those people who wants to know how far it is to the next break, no matter how into something I am.

Comments

[wilhelminabenedict]

This is, indeed, one of his earlier books. I like it a lot, but I much prefer the later version of Granny Weatherwax's character. (Still her, but better rounded out.) I think he was more going for a mockery of the battle of the sexes here--portraying their 'one way for one way' as rather ridiculous (the 'all stubbornness' rather the point)--and after the first books he settles down writing characters for characters rather than more geared for tools--well crafted or no--of satire.