Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Wyrd Sisters
Book Review: Good, but not his best
Summary: 4 Stars
In this Discworld novel, Terry Pratchett takes on Shakespeare with a trio of witches, the killing of a king, ghosts in abundance, and an heir that is spirited away for safety.
If you're familiar with Shakespeare, there are a lot of laughs. While there are still a lot of laughs if you're not, you may get the feeling that you're missing something. I've read a few of the Bard's plays, but I frequently felt that I should have been getting a reference and wasn't. A sort of whoosing feeling going over my head. But most of the story doesn't rely on Bardic references. Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick join Granny Weatherwax as witches of Lancre, and, despite the witches habit of not interfering with things, find themselves having to right the wrong of the king's murder. Between seeing how the witches- not being city, or even town or village people- react to theater (they don't understand the conventions of men dressed as women, of fake sword play or the like), watching as too many inspirations hit Hwel the dwarvish playwright (causing a lot of rewriting, as some of his inspirations are more Charlie Chaplin than Hamlet) and wondering if the witches will be able to get the rightful heir onto the throne there is a lot funny stuff. Not one of Pratchett's best, but definitely worth a read.
Book Review: Hilarious!
Summary: 5 Stars
One of Pratchett's best. This hilarious parody of MacBeth kept me laughing from cover to cover. Wyrd Sisters has all of the absurd humor that fans of the Discworld novels have come to love, and Pratchett's deadpan turns of phrases are good for at least one smile per page.Book Review: I just could not get into the swing of it all
Summary: 2 Stars
This book just never interested me from the get-go. As a matter of fact I had a hard time finishing it because I did not really care what happenned or to whom. I was expecting something in the Douglas Adams Hitchhiker series, and was not entirely disappointed. The book has its moments of irreverence, and some of the humor made me chuckle. However, the plot dragged and the story seemed predictable. Maybe I was just in a foul mood but this is one of the few books I have ever read in which I just didn't care.....Book Review: In which the hedgehog song is eluded to...And Pratchett shows his best work!
Summary: 5 Stars
'Wyrd Sisters' is the first of the best of Pratchett and Discworld. The story is wide ranging enough to challenge most readers while not getting so wide ranging as to wander off on its own. This one parodies both Shakespeare's 'Hamlet' and Macbeth' and the foibles of romance (highlighting the role of the man as a Fool in a romantic relationship). It culminates with a discussion of the potential consequences of exercising 'droit du signeur' (a big hairy thing, or so we are led to believe) and a court jester who is a dab hand with the ladies. It reiterates the dangers of undersetimating old ladies in black dresses. And of course, Death has his role to play.
Pratchett at his finest with comedy both bold and subtle, that can be read on multiple levels, that truly shows his mastery of the art of satire. In short, not to be missed.
Book Review: Just not to my taste, I guess
Summary: 2 Stars
For some reason, Pratchett just doesn't excite me, and I wish I knew why, because I love fantasy, I love humor, and when an author joins the two you'd think I'd be in the best of both worlds. But Pratchett leaves me cold. I've read three or so of his books, and while I find them mildly amusing, I just can't get excited about them. I heartily enjoyed his collaboration with Neil Gaiman, Good Omens, but it's been like pulling teeth to get me to try another Pratchett solo work. For some reason, I keep wanting to compare Pratchett to Piers Anthony, which is a severe low blow to Pratchett, who would have to stoop a long way to achieve the level of hackdom that Anthony has mired himself in. Still, I'd like to see Pratchett hang up the Discworld and do more stand-alones like Good Omens. At the end of this book, I asked myself if it had been worth reading. Did I learn anything? No, but I really hadn't expected to. Had I been amused? Slightly, even once laughing out loud. Was I entertained? Not enough.
Obviously, if you're a Pratchett fan and he does appeal to you, then ignore me. But I'm sure there are others out there like me? Right?