Read by Nigel Planer
Listened to: October 2010 (at age 32)
Re-read, first time listening
If you haven’t read it:
This is the 12th of 38 (at the
time of writing) Discworld novels. It’s
a self-contained book, and can be read without worrying about the rest.
From the back of the book (dead tree edition):
It
seemed an easy job… After all, how difficult could it be to make sure that a
servant girl doesn’t marry a prince?
But
for the witches Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat Garlick, travelling to
the distant city of Genua, things are never that simple…
Servant
girls have to
marry the prince. That what life is all
about. You can’t fight a Happy Ending.
At least
– up until now…
And here I thought I used ellipses a lot. Good summary, though.
If you've read it (spoilers!)
When I first read this book, I was
backpacking around Europe . It was a very topical book, and when I
finished the last page, I closed the book, and then opened it again on page
one, and kept right on going. I’ve never
done that before or since. It was an
excellent read. I didn’t like the
audiobook format as much, though, I think mostly because I had trouble
understanding Nanny Ogg’s dialogue. Much
of the book was the witches (Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat Garlick)
bickering back and forth, and missing bits of this dialogue made the book much
less enjoyable. The audiobook format
also made it nearly impossible to linger over a particularly delicious
phrase. The rating below is for the
audiobook; I’d rate the paper copy higher.
Rating: 3
Characters:
The duo of Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg
are my two favorite characters in the Discworld, and to my mind, this book
shows them at their best. There's a strong supporting cast, as well.
Premise:
Just fine – it’s a Discworld book. In this book, the targets of the satire are
fairy tales and travelogues. It’s a
combination that works surprisingly well.
Setting:
Fine.
The Discworld. This is book 12 of
a whole bunch. Each book explores bits
and pieces of the world. In this case,
there was a bunch of exploration of an area that I haven’t read about anywhere
else (in this series). Essentially, the
book takes place in a fantastical version of New Orleans
Plot:
Good.
The plot played a stronger role in this book than some of the other,
earlier Discworld books. It was
sufficient on its own, rather than simply a framework from which to hang jokes.
Readability:
Fair.
Nicely paced and fun language.
Unlike some of the Discworld books, there was sufficient plot movement
to keep me interested.
Audiobook reader:
Fair.
Effective use of different voices and a very appropriate reading style
to the material. I had trouble
understanding some of the voices, though, particularly Nanny Ogg.
Other Opinions:
Hmm.. apparently didn’t like it much.
Dark Knight Rides
Nice discussion, positive review.
Books and Other Thoughts
Another positive review.
The Ossus Library
Good plot summary, light on opinion, but generally positive.
Helium
Yet another positive one.
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