Wyrd Sisters

Image credit: fantasyhyllan.se

After a lengthy hiatus in my quest to read the entirety of my partner’s Terry Pratchett collection in the library, I am back into it having just closed the cover on book six in the Discworld series: Wyrd Sisters.

On a dark and windswept night on the moors, three witches meet to… well, just catch up. Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat make up a most unlikely coven, each with different ideas about what the life of a witch should look like. But one thing they can agree on: witches never meddle in politics. However, this firm stance is subjected to severe reconsideration when the King is murdered and a mad Duke takes over the kingdom of Lancre; one who would see all witches in irons. As the ghost of King Verence and indeed the Kingdom itself begs for a bit of meddling, it falls to the ‘wyrd sisters’ to set to… and it’s not as easy as some playwrights would you have believe.

Pratchett’s Discworld series is established as one of the greatest, comedic, fantasy series in publication and there’s no question as to why. Aside from establishing a very weird and original world; the lore, history, and geography of which is drip-fed to readers through their perseverance in the series, each book is a parody or funny discussion about the phenomena that make up human history. Wyrd Sisters, obviously a reference to Shakespeare’s Macbeth puts the theatre under the scrutinising spotlight of the author.

A humorous retelling (sort of) of the story of Macbeth, Pratchett flips the roles around so that it’s the witches who become the heroes and the hero falls back to supporting character. While the central drama is happening, Pratchett then looks at the magic of the theatre: the actors’ abilities to captivate audiences, the craftsman’s ability to make something fake look like the real thing, and the awesome power of words to bend and twist the minds and beliefs of the people so that even history and truth becomes unstable.

We see the return of Granny Weatherwax, the highly regarded witch who first appeared in Equal Rites, and get to see her use magic like she never has yet. Indeed, Weatherwax and the Lancre coven become a very funny narrative tool that is metafictively analysed midway through the book, bringing an even cleverer layer of humour to an already towering cake.

Image credit: Penguin Books Australia

Filled with magic, murder, madness, and meddling, Wyrd Sisters is a hugely entertaining story that makes up the history of the Discworld.

Author: Terry Pratchett, 1988

Published: Published in Great Britain by Victor Gollancz. 1988. Corgi edition (pictured) published 1989.

Wyrd Sisters is the sixth book in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, following behind The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Equal Rites, Mort, and Sourcery.