Equal Rites

 

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Having for the minute closed the cover on the adventures of Rincewind, the world’s most unimpressive wizard, the next book in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series informs us that the fantasy world is not that different to our own and that some problems (in this case misogyny) transcend races, cultures, generations, and fictional realms. I’m talking about Equal Rites, the third book in the Discworld series.

The last thing the wizard Drum Billet did before he died was to hand down his staff to an eighth son of an eighth son, wizard usually being the only profession for such. Unfortunately he failed to actually check the baby’s sex before passing and now the Discworld has its first female wizard. While young Eskarina can use and understand magic in more of a wizard’s way than a witch’s way, the Unseen University is not about to let her in to study and it falls to local witch Granny Weatherwax to take Esk under her wing (sometimes literally) and help her carve out a niche in the wizarding world. 

So far Pratchett’s females, when there have been some around, have been smart, independent delights, oftentimes leaders of bands of men or entire cultures of dragon-riders. Pratchett has let his readers know early on that his stories are out to destabilise the cliché of the damsel in distress and women have only appeared in the story when it suits them and not because some villain has forced them to. What I enjoyed the most about Equal Rites (aside from a perfectly timed Gormenghast reference), was that Pratchett used the old saying, ‘actions speak louder than words’ in an ironic way to destabilise the Discworld’s patriarchy. There is no in-text explanation or dialogue as to why women should be allowed to learn wizard’s magic, rather the views of everyone are changed through seeing the other sex use magic and realising that neither side knows everything. It’s hugely satisfying and narratively, very clever.

Image credit: Penguin Books Australia

I believe Granny Weatherwax is a recurring character in the series and I am excited to read more about her, a woman who actually relishes in the cliché of the crone-witch and refuses to give people and inch. She's delightfully smart and sassy.

While it doesn’t contain the breathless, non-stop adventure of its predecessors, Equal Rites lets us see more of the Discworld and how it works, making it bigger, rounder, wider, and just more. It’s a nice application of the brakes in a long-running series that allows us to become more lost and enveloped in this weird and wonderful world. 

Author: Terry Pratchett, 1987

Published: First edition published in Great Britain by Victor Gollancz, 1987. This edition published by Corgi, London, 1987.