Review: Lords and Ladies

Title: Lords and Ladies

Series: Discworld #14 (Witches #4)

Author: Sir Terry Pratchett

Genre: Low Fantasy

Trigger Warnings: Violence, injury, kidnapping, mind control, death, animal cruelty

Spoiler Warning: This book is 14th in a series, and though it does contain mild spoilers for a previous Witches book, Wyrd Sisters, neither the book nor this review contains spoilers of any other Discworld book.

Back Cover:

Magrat Garlick, witch, is going to be married in the morning. Everything ought to be going like a dream. But the elves have come back, bringing all those things traditionally associated with the magical glittering realm of Faerie: cruelty, kidnapping, malice and evil, evil murder.

Review:

I was a little apprehensive to start this one. Actually, a lot apprehensive, since I had so many issues with Granny Weatherwax in the previous Witches book, Witches Abroad. I had hoped that there would be some more books before I came to another Witches book, but there weren’t. So I went into this worried that I would spend the whole thing raging at Granny Weatherwax’s bullying.

But I was pleasantly surprised. Against a backdrop of attempting to stop elves (the inhuman, unfeeling, cruel variety) from getting into the world, Magret grew a spine and Granny Weatherwax ate some humble pie. Not a whole lot – this is Granny Weatherwax we’re talking about – but she’s starting to have some of that character development I knew had to come between Witches Abroad and the first Tiffany Aching book. It’s promising, anyway. And with Magret starting to take back her own agency and Granny starting to become less cruel, I’m liking the Witches sub-series more. It’s still not my favorite sub-series (currently, that honor is tied between Tiffany Aching and the first six Rincewind books), but it’s becoming tolerable.

I had a weird sense of almost deja vu with this plot. The main idea is that elves are trying to get through from their dimension into the world, and this is a very bad thing. It’s been so long since elves have been around that most people either think they aren’t real or aren’t so bad, so it’s up to the witches to stop them. Since I have read the books out of order, your reading experience might be different. But the basic plot is very, very similar to The Wee Free Men, just with a different cast of witches trying to stop it. I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but it did make it feel less unique than other Discworld books.

In my opinion, this is one of the weaker Discworld books. I haven’t loved the Witches series generally, and this one is no exception. It lacked much of the humor and wit I’ve come to expect, there weren’t many serious themes (I can’t think of any at the moment, actually), and since I’d read The Wee Free Men previously the plot itself felt like it had been done before. The main redeeming quality – which, to be fair, is majorly redeeming – is the start of some fantastic character growth for Magret and Granny Weatherwax. This book is perfectly okay, if not fantasic, but I have hope that future Witches books will get better.

The Discworld series:

1. The Colour of Magic
2. The Light Fantastic
3. Equal Rites
4. Mort
5. Sourcery
6. Wyrd Sisters
7. Pyramids
8. Guards! Guards!
9. Eric
10. Moving Pictures
11. Reaper Man
12. Witches Abroad
13. Small Gods
14. Lords and Ladies
15. Men at Arms
16. Soul Music
17. Interesting Times
18. Maskerade
19. Feet of Clay
20. Hogfather
21. Jingo
22. The Last Continent
23. Carpe Jugulum
24. The Fifth Elephant
25. The Truth
26. Thief of Time
27. The Last Hero
28. The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents
29. Night Watch
30. The Wee Free Men
31. Monstrous Regiment
32. A Hat Full of Sky
33. Going Postal
34. Thud!
35. Wintersmith
36. Making Money
37. Unseen Academicals
38. I Shall Wear Midnight
39. Snuff
40. Raising Steam
41. The Shepherd’s Crown