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Archive for the ‘Funny (ha ha)’ Category

Terry Pratchett–Witches Abroad (1991) [Discworld #12] [Witches #3]

Posted in Casanunda, Death, Discworld, Emberella, Erzulie Gogol, Fairy Tales, Funny (ha ha), Granny Weatherwax, Greebo, Magic, Magrat Garlick, Nanny Ogg, Terry Pratchett, Unfinished series, Voodoo on October 8, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: October 2021] Witches Abroad

Our trio of Witches is back.  And they’re about to do something they never imagined.  They are going to “forn parts.”

A local older witch (yes, older than Granny and Nanny) Desiderata Hollow dies and she sends Magrat her wand.  Granny and Nanny are more than a little miffed that she gave it to Magrat.  I mean, really.  Not that Granny or Nanny needs a wand or wants a wand or wants anything to do with a wand, or anything.  But still.

Getting the wand means that Magrat is now the Fairy Godmother to a girl named Emberella.  But although she gave the wand, she also gave no instructions whatsoever.  So Magrat really doesn’t know what to do.  The only note that she gave to Magrat included the important information to not let Granny or Nanny get involved.  Which Granny and Nanny take to mean that they should really take over the whole proceedings.

But Magrat is determined to do this right.  She wields that wand with authority and turns anything she waves it at into a pumpkin (she can’t do anything else with it).

As fairy godmother, Magrat’s one duty is to ensure that Emberella does not marry the Duke (who has a seriously questionable past).

Everyone knows that Fairy Godmothers are supposed to get young girls to marry Princes or Dukes.  So they are working against Fairy Tales.

But before they can even deal with Emberella, they need to cross the disc to Genua where Emberella lives.  This leads to a road-movie type story where the three naive travellers go to all manner of new places.

Nanny Ogg, who fancies herself a wise traveller also seems to know a lot of forn languages (or at least she knows a lot of rude words in other languages).  The Witches have some very amusing adventures.  There’s a Running of the Bulls type event which they find themselves right in the middle of, there’s a cave that they escape from in a giant pumpkin (thanks Magrat), and there’s a village where a giant house falls on Nanny Ogg to the delight of the locals.  Nanny is fine because the house fell on her willow-enhanced hat.

It turns out that the Duke is actually a puppet.  And the woman behind the diabolical plan to have Emberella marry the Duke is Lilith Weatherwax–Granny’s sister.  Nanny knows of Lilith because they grew up together, but no one else knew she had a sister.

Lilith has been using the power of mirrors to create more and more magic.  And she is quite powerful. She has been using the power of stories to impact the Witches travels and wants to use the Cinderella story to change the fates of Emberella and by extension, all of Genua.

Granny and Nanny are a little out of their element here (not that they are weak, they are just in an unfamiliar situation) and wind up getting help from a local witch.  Well, she doesn’t call herself a witch, but as the women talk they see that they have a lot in common.  Erzulie Gogol is a voodoo witch who lives in a swamp and has a zombie servant named Baron Saturday.  Pratchett has some good fun with stereotypes of the swamp–especially Granny not understanding alligators and the like.

Granny hypnotizes Magrat into attending the ball as if she were Emberella.  Magrat quite enjoys the experience. As does Greebo who is turned into a human.  Since Greebo is all impulse, he makes for a rakish human (who, unfortunately, doesn’t understand how his hands and arms work).

Another great rakish character introduced here is the dwarf Casanunda: “World’s 2nd Greatest Lover, swordsman, liar, soldier of fortune, stepladder repairer.”  Casanunda wins over women with his remarkably romantic courtship practices.   He is quite taken with Nanny Ogg who wouldn’t know romance if she sat on it.  He is fascinated that nothing he does impacts her an he finds her irresistible.

This book is a lot of fun because Pratchett is out and about, playing with and massaging sterotypes and just generally having a good time all over the Disc. And of course, it’s always fun seeing Granny and Nanny fight with each other even when they agree with each other.

Incidentally, Magrat and Verence were hot and heavy (well, luck warm and mildly chunky) at the end of the previous book, but things seem a little cooled down between them.  Witches aren’t supposed to marry, so who knows what will happen there….

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Terry Pratchett–Reaper Man (1991) [Discworld #11] [Death #2]

Posted in Alfred, Binky, Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, Death, Discworld, Funny (ha ha), Magic, Mort, Mustrum Ridcully, Terry Pratchett, The Dean, The Librarian, Unfinished series, Vampires, Wizards, Ysabell, Zombies on October 5, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: October 2021] Reaper Man

This book opens unlike any other, with an amorphous group of beings called The Auditors of Reality.  (Well, it opens with a bit about Morris Dancing, which is pretty funny).  The Auditors have no individual personalities (in fact, when One says I (“I hate them”) it is immediately dispatched so a more neutral Auditor can take its place.

The Auditors want to make sure that everything is following the Rules. And what isn’t following the Rules?  Well, Death isn’t following the rules.  Death is developing a personality.  And that cannot happen.  So they fire him.  Yes indeed.

He goes off on his own trying to figure things out.  He winds up getting a job as a farm hand (his reaping skills are unparalleled).  The woman he works for is quite suspicious of him (and everyone in town is quite suspicious of her). Death is caught off guard and when she asks his name he comes up with unsuspicious name of Bill Door.

The woman is Miss Fitworth.  She is an elderly woman (rumored to have a large chest with a lot of money in it).  She had a fiancé who went on a business trip and never came back.  Rumor is that he left her, but she doesn’t believe it.

This is all well and good, but without Death, dead humans don’t know what to do–no one is there to guide them to the afterlife.  So they kind of just keep piling up.  Poltergeists run amok.  And then there is aged Wizard Windle Poons.  He was really looking forward to reincarnation.  But after he died, his spirit just returned to his body.  Of course, since he is dead, he doesn’t have any concern with old age–his sight and strength are better than they have been in years.  But everyone is more than a little freaked out by him. (more…)

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Terry Pratchett–Moving Pictures (1990) [Discworld #10]

Posted in Camels, Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, Death, Detritus, Discworld, Film & TV, Funny (ha ha), Gaspode the Wonder Dog, Laddie, Magic, Mustrum Ridcully, Philosophy, Terry Pratchett, The Dean, Theda "Ginger" Withel, Unfinished series, Victor Tugelbend on September 30, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: September 2021] Moving Pictures

For his tenth Discworld novel, Terry Pratchett decided to have fun with Hollywood.  Indeed, it is set on a hill called Holy Wood–an abandoned location that seems to suddenly have a magnetic attraction for Disc inhabitants.

This book also introduces Mustrum Ridcully as the new Archchancellor of Unseen University.  Ridcully will remain Archchancellor for the rest of the novels.  He proves to be unkillable (at least in practice) because he is unlike any Wizard around.  He had left the University nearly four decades earlier having become a Seventh Level Wizard at the young age of twenty-seven.  He left to look after his family’s land.  Over the last forty years he has become quite a fan of the outdoors, of exercise, of rising early and basically everything else that Wizards find revolting.  He loves hunting, owns several crossbows and is very hard to surprise–hence, no one has been able to usurp him as Archchancellor. (more…)

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Terry Pratchett–(Faust) Eric (1990) [Discworld #9] [Rincewind #4]

Posted in Anachronisms, Death, Demons, Discworld, Funny (ha ha), Josh Kirby, Magic, Rincewind, Terry Pratchett, The Luggage, Wizards, Wizards on September 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: September 2021] Faust Eric

Eric has always been a bit of a puzzle to me (until I recently used the internet to clarify things).  The title has always been listed as Faust Eric, which I always thought was funny (ha ha funny).  But it was really short and some people didn’t seem to consider it a proper Discworld book.  Or something.

So it turns out it was originally a “Discworld story,” published in a larger format than the other novels and illustrated by Josh Kirby.  So it was sort of like a storybook rather than a novel.

And obviously, it’s a play on the Faust story, which if you’ve forgotten: Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures.

It’s also the fourth Rincewind story.  I guess leaving him in the Dungeon Dimensions wasn’t cool for Terry. (more…)

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Terry Pratchett–Guards! Guards! (1989) [Discworld #8] [City Watch #1]

Posted in Anachronisms, Carrot Ironfoundersson, Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, Death, Detritus, Discworld, Dwarfs, Fred Colon, Funny (ha ha), Lady Sybil Ramkin, Lord Vetinari, Lupine Wonse, Magic, Nobby Nobbs, Samuel Vimes, Terry Pratchett, The Librarian, The Watch, Wizards on September 24, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: September 2021] Guards! Guards!

This was the first Discworld book that I felt like I really remembered things from it.  Did I ever even read the other books?  I have no idea now.

Every thing about Captain Vimes was familiar (although I didn’t remember details).  But I was really surprised to discover that his relationship with Lady Sybil Ramkin started in his first book.  It’s also the introduction of Corporal Carrot.  I was really surprised that all of these important events happened in this first book about the Watch.

This book is one of many in which a plot to overthrow Lord Vetinari is paramount to the action.  The Unique and Supreme Lodge of the Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night want to institute a puppet king in place of Lord Vetinari.  The Brotherhood is a hilariously bumbling group all bent on secret signs and meanings.  But the head of the Brotherhood (lupine Wonse) is quite serious.  And he has taken a book from the Library (The Librarian is going to be so mad) which shows him how to summon dragons.

Now dragons do exist on the Disc.  Indeed, Lady Sybil is the head of the swamp dragon rescue society (they’re not just for Christmas, they are for life).  But swamp dragons are tiny and cute(ish) and harmless(ish).  And the dragon that the Brotherhood has summoned is a massive beast that is capable of burning down a building (before it even gets strong).

But what does the dragon have to do with anything?  Well, the Brotherhood has a puppet king in mind, a guy who can come in and “slay” their dragon just like a king.

But the guards of the title are aware that something is not right in Ankh-Morpork.  Well, nothing is every right in Ankh-Morpork, but this wrongness is different. (more…)

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Terry Pratchett–Pyramids (1989) [Discworld #7]

Posted in Camels, Death, Discworld, Egyptology, Funny (ha ha), Ghosts, Magic, Philosophy, Ptraci, Teppic, Terry Pratchett, Unfinished series on September 17, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: September 2021] Pyramids

After six books tackling roughly the same geographical area, Pratchett sets out to “Egypt” for Pyramids.  “Egypt” in this case is the wonderfully named Djelibeybi.

Djelibeybi is going broke.  They make pyramids for each of their Pharoahs.  And each pyramid gets bigger and more impressive.  But where does the money come from when the Pharoah is dead?

Teppic (short for Pteppicymon XXVIII), left Djelibeybi and is studying at the Assassin’s Guild in Ankh-Morpork.  He’s not the best assassin but he has learned a lot (and has survived).  Indeed, he manages to pass his final exam (meaning he survived).  But after he does so he has a psychic realization that his father the Pharoah has died and he must go home and take over the throne.

Dios is the high priest of Djelibeybi.  He is the actual ruler of the country.  He makes all of the rules and decisions saying that everything he wants is “tradition” etc.  The Pjaroahs tend to nod and go along with it (Dios is like 200 years old).  Dios is intent upon making Pteppicymon XXVII’s Pyramid the biggest the country has ever seen. (more…)

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Terry Pratchett–Wyrd Sisters (1988) [Discworld #6] [Witches #2]

Posted in Death, Discworld, Eskarina Smith, Funny (ha ha), Granny Weatherwax, Greebo, King Verence, Magic, Magrat Garlick, Nanny Ogg, Terry Pratchett, Unfinished series, William Shakespeare, Wizards, Wizards on September 16, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: Summer 2021] Wyrd Sisters

This story reintroduces everyone to Granny Weatherwax.  It also introduces two other beloved characters: Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick the other two witches in the region.  It took six books to bring about Nanny Ogg!

This book owes a debt of plot to MacBeth.  It even begins with the familiar opening scene.  Three witches stand around a bubbling cauldron and one asks portentously, “When shall we three meet again.”  And another, after a lengthy pause says.  “I can do next Tuesday.”

The three witches are Granny Weatherwax, the scary, stiff, witch who takes no guff.  There’s Nanny Ogg, the smiling, raunchy, seemingly good natured witch who also takes no guff.  She has a brood of countess children and grandchildren and she loves them all (except the young girls who marry her sons).  She also has the most evil cat in the world (Greebo, whom she thinks is a sweetiepie).   And then comes Magrat Garlick, the youngest witch who is really into occult symbols and books and trinkets.  The other two think this is a load of tosh and know that witch magic is all about headology. (more…)

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Terry Pratchett–Sourcery (1988) [Discworld #5] [Rincewind #3]

Posted in Coin, Conina, Death, Discworld, Funny (ha ha), Lord Vetinari, Magic, Rincewind, Terry Pratchett, The Librarian, The Luggage, Unfinished series, Wizards, Wizards on September 13, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: Summer 2021] Sourcery

This story follows up on some of the ideas in Equal Rites.  In that books we learned that the eight son of an eighth son was destined to be a Wizard.  But the eighth son of a Wizard–which shouldn’t happen since Wizards don’t have relations.

But in this story, an excommunicated Wizard (he DID have relations) had a eighth son whom he named Coin.  He wanted to take revenge on the Wizarding world because of how they treated him and what better revenge than to create a Sourcerer.  A Sourcerer generates power rather than using it.

A few years later, Coin goes to Unseen University and overthrows the current Archchancellor Wayzygoose.  (The Archchancellor role becomes more stable in a few books, which is what I remembered).  Coin, being a strong presence and the kind of person who can Set Things Right, is embraced by the Wizards (who are pretty susceptible to this sort of thing).  It turns out that Rincewind (and his Luggage) as well as The Librarian (who is a Wizard that was tuned into an orangutan and does not want to be turned back) were not at the University when this all went down.  So they’re aware that something is suspicious about Coin. (more…)

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Terry Pratchett–Mort (1987) [Discworld #4] [Death #1]

Posted in Alfred, Binky, Death, Discworld, Funny (ha ha), Magic, Mort, Terry Pratchett, Unfinished series, Wizards, Ysabell on September 11, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: Summer 2021] Mort

Mort is the fourth of four books that I bought as Discworld mini books.  Pratchett himself says that this was the first book that he was pleased with.  He says of his other books that the plot had existed to support the jokes, but that in Mort, the plot was integral.

I remembered the story of this one quite well, although the details were a little fuzzy.  Is it possible I only read this one?

The story starts out with Mort, a teenager who is all elbows and knees–gangly, awkward, embarrassed and just generally the kid of person who gets more work done for you if he is not helping.

Needing Mort to go away and find employment elsewhere, his father takes him to the local job fair.

No one wants Mort.

At midnight Death arrives.  Death has appeared in all of the books so far and has always been a bit of comic relief, but here he is a full on main character, and Pratchett does a great job filling him with pathos.  He also fully introduces the idea that everyone can see Death when he appears but that the human mind is excellent at not acknowledging what shouldn’t be there.  So as Death walks about, people tend to see right through him. (more…)

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Terry Pratchett–Equal Rites (1987) [Discworld #3] [Witches #1]

Posted in Death, Discworld, Eskarina Smith, Funny (ha ha), Granny Weatherwax, Magic, Terry Pratchett, Unfinished series, Wizards, Wizards on September 8, 2021| Leave a Comment »

SOUNDTRACK: hiatus

[READ: Summer 2021] Equal Rites

Neither of the first two Discworld books were all that familiar to me, so I assumed that Equal Rites would jar my memory.

It introduces Granny Weatherwax and has some of my favorite jokes so far, but again, I didn’t really remember the story all that that well.

This story puts into Lore that the eighth son of a eighth son will be a wizard.  A dying wizard (Drum Billet) seeks out this eighth son of an eighth son and prepares to give the boy his staff, signifying his acceptance into wizardly ways.

It all goes really well until everyone has a chance to reveal that the eighth son is actually a girl–Eskarina Smith.

The Smith family has been on friendly(ish) terms with the local witch Granny Weatherwax for as long as anyone can remember.  And when it’s revealed that Esk has been given the wizard’s staff (which seems to be glaring at everyone), Granny is a bit concerned.

Everyone knows that girls are witches and boys are wizards.  It’s how its always been.  They both use magic, but well, witches used a kind of headology–a more real magic than the fancy faffing about that wizards seemed to do.  And when Granny sees the power that Esk has, she knows that the girl will make a great witch.

Until she realizes that Esk is actually more powerful than Grany realized. And, with that staff, she’s a bit out of Granny’s understanding of things.  Granny decides to take Esk to Unseen University so she can be brought up like a wizard.

As has been made clear, Unseen University is a boys club.  An all boys club–no women will enter except those who will do work around the place,. The wizards themselves have given up any romantic or sexual inclinations (it messes up the magic), so they have learned not to see women at all (pretty much).

The thought of Esk entering the University is laughable. Which has never stopped Granny.

So the set off for “forn parts.”  They travel via many different modes of transport.  Along the way they meet Simon, a promising young wizard from the hinterlands. He is very powerful but has no discipline (or charisma). But he and Esk do get a long for a time.  Simon’s magical ability is to reduce everything in the world to numbers (is this another computer joke)

When Esk arrives at UU, she is basically laughed out of the building.  She had been able to do magic, but when inside the doors, it seemed to vanish from her.  So Granny gets her in as a servant, where she tries to learn things as she goes.  But mostly she learns that wizards are jerks.

The wizards are also totally enamored of Simon and encourage him to do what he does best.  Unfortunately, as we learned in the previous book, the Dungeon Dimensions are waiting to flood into this world, and nothing allows that to happen as much as powerful magic.

Esk’s staff has been a pretty hilarious sidekick throughout the book–especially as an inanimate object.  Its power is immense, and it is loyal to Esk–violently loyal.  When the staff realizes that what Simon is doing will endanger Esk, it attacks him.  But this happens while Simon’s mind is in the Dungeon Dimensions, essentially trapping him there.

But Esk thinks that the staff attacked Simon and, since she knows Simon is a good kid, she throws away the staff and goes to rescue him.

The staff takes off in a big old sulk.  And that is very bad indeed.  Because now both Simon and Esk are trapped in the Dungeon Dimensons with no way to get out.

So there a wonderful road trip between Granny Weatherwax and Archchancellor Cutangle (I love that it reveals that they grew up together).  They travel across the Disc (on a broom among other things) to retrieve the staff.

We also learn an important lesson that the way to defeat the creatures in the Dungeon Dimensions is to have the ability to use magic but to not use it

Granny Weatherwax proves to be a wonderfully enduring character–stubborn and suspicious but wise and with a hidden soft spot.

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