Wyrd Sisters (The Witches of Discworld, #2) (Discworld, #6)

by Terry Pratchett

[layawaydragon]

I spent a lazy Sunday curled up with this book. I was laughing, cackling and screeching right along from beginning to end. It's hilarious, witty, sarcastic parody novel with lively distinctive characters and a great moving plot. I think Terry Pratchett is a must read author for everyone. I've read the Tiffany Aching young adult novels that deal with witches but it hasn't spoiled going back to read these first books. Death is a great character and after I'm done with the witches series in discworld I plan on reading Death's books.

The book starts out with descriptions like "Lighting stabbed at the earth erratically, like an inefficient assassin." and "The night was as black as the inside of a cat." How could you not love this book? Then there is the anthropomorphic storm practicing to be the very best storm ever, and Greebo. So many little things that make this book great, everyone and everything comes to life as a character.

There are lots of great dialog, descriptions and moments in the book. Just to pull out a few though,

On page 2,

"They haven't got the imagination. Gods prefer simple, vicious games, where you Do Not Achieve Transcendence but Go Straight To Oblivion; a key to understanding of all religion is that a god's idea of a amusement is Snakes and Ladders with greased rungs."

On page 6,

They live their lives as a sort of temporal blur around the point where their body actually is - anticipating the future, or holding on to the past. They're usually so buys thinking about what happens next that the only time they ever find out what is happening now is when they come to look back on it. Most people are like this. They learn how to fear because they can actually tell, down at the subconscious level, what is going to happen next. It's already happening to them."

On page 56,

'My name is unpronounceable in your tongue, woman,' it said.

'I'll be the judge of that,' warned Granny, and added, 'Don't you call me woman.'

'Very well. My name is WxrtHltl-jwlpklz,'said the demon smugly.

'Where you you when the vowels where handed out? Behind the door?' said Nanny Ogg.

'Well, Mr - Granny hesitated only fractionally - WxrtHltl-jwlpklz, I expect you're wondering why we called you here tonight.'

On page 184, Death speaking :

BUT I ASSURE YOU, YOU ARE NOT DEAD. TAKE IT FROM ME. [...]

This worried Death. He was used to people claiming that they were not dead, because death always came as a shock, and a lot of people had some trouble getting over it. But people claiming that they were dead with every breath in their body was a new and unsettling experience. [...]

THAT'S BANSHEES [...]

IT WON'T WORK. LIVING PEOPLE AREN'T ALLOWED TO BE GHOSTS. I'M SORRY.