Equal Rites

by Terry Pratchett

Paperback, 1989

Status

Available

Call number

823.914

Publication

Corgi (1989), Edition: New Edition, 282 pages

Description

In equal rites, a dying wizard tries to pass on his powers to an eighth son of a eighth son, who is just at that moment being born. The fact that the son is actually a daughter is discovered just a little too late.

User reviews

LibraryThing member ChrisRiesbeck

Third time's the charm. This is the Discworld book where things clicked into place, the first with Granny Weatherwax, and I believe Pratchett's first book featuring a juvenile hero(ine). I think these things are connected. Rincewind in the first two books was a buffoon who drove the story along

fantasy spoofing lines. Granny and Eskarina are competent agents, at the opposite ends of the timeline. Granny is mature and respected -- at least in her village -- and Eskarina is young and under-appreciated. These are characters that both writer and reader want to see succeed because of who they are, not because comic plots demand a happy ending. And one you start writing sympathetic main characters, you have to start adding some sympathetic grace notes to the secondary characters as well.

Others have noted with disappointment that Esk has not (yet) been featured in another Discworld novel. But to some extent, I think she has in the Tiffany Aching series.

Recommended.

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LibraryThing member stephmo

The eighth son of the eighth son is destined to become a wizard - simple enough formula, right? Unless you're an impatient wizard on the verge of death unwilling to listen to the midwife who is trying to help you avoid the embarrassment of passing along your wizardry rights to a baby girl. But such

is the danger of assumption and this is how Esk's destiny is decided the day she's born. Nevermind that everyone is quite sure that it's all bunk - since everyone knows there's no such thing as a girl wizard. But as things go, the witch that knows all things magic, Granny Weatherwax, eventually has to admit that they need to travel to Unseen University and figure out how to control her quickly developing powers, even if it's impossible for a girl to get in through the two traditional methods of entry. Now, if only the entire of existence weren't hanging in the balance when they get there...

Pratchett manages to weave not just a tale of the lore of wizardry on Disc World, but one of existence in general - a sort of philosophy within a philosophy with an overreaching philosophy sort of thing. With laughs. And quite a bit about hats.

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LibraryThing member thenightbookmobile

Discworld is a very large series. It can be overwhelming to know where to start. There are numerous charts available on the internet that list what books in the series tie together. I decided that my first Discworld novel would be the first book in the series of books centered around the witches of

the Discworld.

The main characters here are two very strong women. One old and very wise woman (and if she doesn't know something - she's going to pretend she does so that you don't suspect otherwise!) and one young girl who thinks herself very wise. This is a story about Granny Weatherwax and Eskarina Smith. Granny is a witch. She is present for the birth of Eskarina (Esk) and when a wizard comes calling to give her his powers. It is said that all wizards are the eighth son of an eighth son. Only... surprise! Esk is a female. This leads to Esk becoming the first female wizard. Only everyone tells her such a thing is not possible. Females simply cannot be wizards or attend Unseen University. Esk and Granny plan to change that.

The thing I really enjoyed about this story were the characters. Granny is very funny and doesn't care a thing for what anyone thinks she should do. Esk is very much like Granny in this way. She is determined to go after the things she wants and not to let anyone tell her that it's impossible.

Terry Pratchett has created a funny little world filled with humor and interesting characters. I'm excited to meet more of them as I continue reading this series.

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LibraryThing member Cassandra2020

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett - Very Good

Now I get it! Everyone told me I would like Terry Pratchett and I thought I would too, but my OCD dictates I read books in order and I found The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic kind of meh. It's taken me just over 5 years to have another go, the

impetus has being the author's sad demise and the fact that I was given all the books on kindle.

This book is a totally different kettle of fish to the first two. Different Discworld characters and much more engaging. The humour was more obvious too or maybe more my style. Now I don't know if that's because the author had matured into his style by book three, or because the characters suited me better or whether I am just in the right mood now. Regardless, the story of Esk and Granny Weatherwax and Esk's quest to become a female Wizzard was glorious and I shot through it in a couple of days.

Will definitely be reading the rest and the next one won't be waiting on the (kindle) shelf for another five years before I do.

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LibraryThing member jonbey

Equal Rites was the first Pratchett book I read. I was not a big reader at the time, and my English teacher told the class that we all had to go out and find a book, and read it. Anything. We were also told to never judge a book by its cover. I saw the book while shopping in Asda with my mum (I was

about 13 at the time) and thought, wow, what a great cover. I'll get that one. I read the blurb on he back, and did not understand it (my reading comprehension was that bad!). "Death laid a bony hand upon her shoulder" - I did not grasp the idea of death being a person, which is why I did not understand it. Damn, 20 years ago. Anyway, I read it, loved it, then read the Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, and absolutely adored those. I even cried at the end when Two Flower and Rincewind parted.

Recently got back into Practchett after a decade off. Reading Theif of Time at the moment. Good fun!

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LibraryThing member comfypants

Not as good as the first two books (this is the 3rd), but still great. The main characters were all new, and not nearly as entertaining as Rincewind or the luggage, but I'll still look forward to reading more books about them.

LibraryThing member London_StJ

The Eighth Son of an Eighth Son is destined to become a wizard, and a dying wizard may choose, as he nears death, to pass on his magical lineage to another when such a one is born. Equal Rites opens with a wizard traveling with just such a behest in mind, approaching a blacksmith as the

blacksmith's wife is busy bringing their eighth child into the world. Thinking that it wouldn't be such a bad thing to have a wizard in the family, the blacksmith doesn't hesitate to drag the midwife out with her bundle the moment the child is born, and neither man listens as she protests the rites of magical staff passage to the infant, followed by the wizard's immediate and expected demise. And thus the first female wizard is made, Granny Weatherwax is quick to retort, huffing at the mess these men have made.

At a time and place where witches are (women) useful members of society, curing ills, serving as midwives, and generally seeing to the natural order of things, and wizards are (men) magical intellectuals fretting about ceremonies and dinners and copious amounts of tobacco, a young girl starts to shake things up. Caring for her, Granny Weatherwax at first takes on the girl to train her as a witch, but as her powers grow Granny sees that Unseen University, the school of wizardry, is really the one place for her to learn to control her powers.

Equal Rites is the first book in the series to introduce Discworld Witches, Granny Weatherwax specifically, and the small communities of the Ramtops. It tackles gendered professionalism and education with wit and understanding, and establishes immediately and lastingly one of the biggest personalities of the series, who will continue to be a favorite throughout the sub-genre of Witch novels. With each novel the Discworld becomes more refined and just a tad sharper, and as the novels focus on characterization the charm of the canon is quickly developed. A great read.

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LibraryThing member theancientreader

Being rather new to the work of Terry Pratchett, perhaps I had and advantage over some of the more jaded Pratchett fans here. I personally loved this work; thought it hilarious, and simply set back and enjoyed it as a stand alone read. As with most authors, his one has works in print which are

simply not as good as others. No one can bat a thousand, and continually living up to all their reader’s expectations. Perhaps my ignorance of his other work got in the way of my not enjoying this one. His, the author’s, unique brand of wisdom holds many truths…if you just stretch things a bit.
It would seem that on Disc World there are no female wizards, never have been, and if all concerned have their way, there never will be. Wizardry is simply not “female work,” because as the whole world, in this case Disc World, knows, females simply are not up to the task; they are different than men, and should remain in their “place” and if they must indulge in magic, then they should stick to being witches which is something fitting only for females. The female mind just is not up to the task and they think differently then men. Women cannot be wizards and men cannot be witches, although, at times, men can become warlocks.

This entire premise of gender roles is suddenly challenged by Eskarina, a precocious young girl of eight, who was born at exactly the wrong time in the right place, or the right time in the wrong place and several combinations of the two. Esk is born a wizard and nothing or anyone is going to stop her. This is her story. She is helped along the way primarily by Granny Weatherwax, a rather unique and loveable, at times, witch. I understand that Granny is introduced in this story and appears later in others.

As usually, as with his other work, Pratchett has filled his world with a wonderful assortment of characters, quirky, different, non-logical, but all delightful in their own other world, magical way. One of this author’s many talents is word play, and we get plenty of that in this offering. I found myself constantly reading a line or two and asking myself “did I really read just what I think I read!” This poking fun at things; the world in general most of the time, either gently, or at times not so gentle, works quite well with his perchance for word play and the reader needs to take close note as she or he reads. There are plenty of chuckles in this work, even if you have to dig a bit deeper than is some of the author’s other works.

Another aspect of this author’s work I like is the fact that I can recognize characters. I have yet to run into one of them that I have not met here on mundane earth. Pratchett simply has and odd ball way of portraying so many of my friends and acquaintances. I can even spot bits and pieces of myself now and then.

For hardcore Pratchett fans this may not be their favorite work. For someone just starting his wonderfully imaginative work, it will certainly do. I would gently suggest though that if this work throws you into a complete snit because the author does not write his story the way you want, that you either skip the book completely; or better yet, write your own.

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LibraryThing member Mendoza

This is Discworld. I am not sure I need to continue my review. Pratchett's dry humor and tongue in cheek style continue to astound me. In Equal Rites he parodies gender stereotyping and discrimination when a dying wizard mistakenly gives his powerful magic staff not to the 8th son of an 8th son but

to a girl.

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LibraryThing member nonesuch42

After Colour of Magic, I was a little worried about reading another early Discworld book. But this was great. So great. It had a lot of the stuff I loved from the Tiffany Aching books, but had more Granny Weatherwax. It also told the origin story of Eskarina, who was one of the more intriguing

charters from the Tiffany books. Telling this story means taking a look at the gender roles ingrained in the magical jobs of the Disc. Wizards are male, witches are female. Anything else is ridiculous. Unless a wizard makes a mistake and gives his powers to a baby girl. Oh no. Now there are going to be problems. Good thing Granny Weatherwax and Esk are up to the challenge. Even if it does mean traveling to forn parts and telling some fortunes along the way. I loved the questioning of gender roles, I wish we could have seen more of Unseen University and how the wizards are trained, but I guess that's a trade secret.

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LibraryThing member quiBee

Females can't be wizards. Everyone knows that.
What happens when a baby girl is gifted with wizardly powers and sets off to seek her fortune (which girls aren't supposed to do either).
Fun, early Discworld.

LibraryThing member SoulFlower1981

My partner recommended this book to me because he loves this author, so I finally decided to give it a read. While this book didn't have a lot of shocking moments in it it was one of those great books that kept me interested in it the entire time. This was a wonderful book.

It was interesting to see

these characters develop from the first moment to the end of the book in ways that I hadn't expected. I had never read Terry Pratchett before this, but if this is what he does I am very interested in reading more of the Discworld series. His humor is very much on par with what I want to read as well. He took all the things that I expected to happen in a fantasy book and said nope that isn't going to happen but THIS IS and as a result I fell in love with this book.

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LibraryThing member applemcg

easily better for me than other pratchett's on my list; i was able to read this one and follow the interchange. where the players are talking to one another, without other influences in the scene, one can make some sense of the story.
Since it was only #3 in the Discworld series, one can imagine it

was more elemental; i think the idea is still fresh, "that's not in the lore" is still way to prevalent.

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LibraryThing member CarltonC

A very enjoyable (re)read, but not vintage Pratchett, as he has not yet climbed to the heights he was to scale later in the Discworld series.
When Pratchett really works, you cannot quote small sections, as it is the overall effect that warms your cockles. However his genius can be glimpsed in

quotes such as:
‘What’s an elephant?’ ‘A kind of badger,’ said Granny. She hadn’t maintained forest-credibility for forty years by ever admitting ignorance.

The whole panoply of the universe has been neatly expressed to them as things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. This frees the mind from unnecessary thoughts and gives it a cutting edge where it matters. Your normal animal, in fact, never tries to walk and chew gum at the same time.

He had the kind of real deep tan that rich people spend ages trying to achieve with expensive holidays and bits of tinfoil, when really all you need to do to obtain one is work your arse off in the open air every day.

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LibraryThing member jayne_charles

A definite step-up in qualilty from the previous two Discworld novels, this had a discernible plot, and introduced some of the more rural parts of the imaginary planet. I found most of the interest at the beginning of the book, though, as it seemed to get a bit convoluted towards the end.

LibraryThing member Cheryl_in_CC_NV

I have a love/hate r'ship with the Discworld books. I loved this book, and Esk.
I enjoy every encounter I have with Rincewind, the Luggage, and the Librarian.
Carrot is mildly interesting
Bits of concepts throughout the series are clever.
Pretty much the rest of the characters, and books, annoy and/or

frustrate me.

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LibraryThing member Herenya

The earliest Discworld novel I've read so far. In the Discworld only boys are allowed to study at the Unseen University and become wizards, but a dying wizard, mistakenly assuming that the blacksmith’s newborn child is the eighth son of an eighth son, passes along his powers to girl.

This story is

full of Pratchett’s unexpectedly amusing turns of phrase, observant commentary about society and satire of fantasy tropes. I liked eight year old Eskarina, and Granny Weatherwax, who I knew from the Tiffany Aching books, is just great -- practical, no-nonsense and able to think outside the box when it comes to Esk’s education. The audiobook narrator, Celia Imrie, is dynamic: when Esk whispers, she really whispers; when Granny talks with her mouth full of food, it’s very convincing. I was entertained!

I lost some interest in Equal Rites towards the end, as the focus shifted to a largely-magical problem, rather than being on Esk finding a place at the Unseen University. It’s the sort of climax I’d be unsurprised to find in a fantasy novel by a different author but wasn’t expecting here. Is it a less-polished ending because Pratchett wrote this earlier in his career? Or am I more interested in how he writes about people than how he writes about magic?

Or am I missing something because Pratchett’s parodying 1980s fantasy novels that I never encountered weren’t good enough to stand the tests of time? I’m not sure.

[...] a hint was to Esk what a mosquito bite was to the average rhino because she was already learning that if you ignore the rules people will, half the time, quietly rewrite them so that they don't apply to you.
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LibraryThing member Matke
In the third book of the series, and first of the witchy part of Disc World, we’re introduced to Granny Weatherwax, a witch who can hold her own with anyone, witch or wizard. Granny is in charge of Esk, a very young girl who seems destined to be a wizard. There’s one difficulty, though: Esk is
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female.
Nevertheless, through a series of deceptive acts, Esk goes to work at the Unseen University. She meets Simon, an apprentice wizard who has his own troubles.
The plot involves what can happen when magic runs amok. But Pratchett, as always, is much more concerned with character development and how to be a decent person in a most indecent world.
This book is quite controlled, even though it’s completely wacko. Pratchett was maturing with every book, and this one shows tremendous progress.
From the title to the last page there are puns and allusions. At times I had to close my eyes for a second just to enjoy them.
A most enjoyable book and highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member DLMorrese
I've been rereading Discworld, intending to do so in no particular order. Order, however, has imposed itself. After rereading the "Industrial Revolution" thread, and the later books in the "Watch" thread, I've returned to the "Witches." I reread Equal Rites last night. Granny Weatherwax, in this
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first appearance, is already a strong and well developed character. Unfortunately, we never see Eskarina again or any other female wizards at Unseen University as far as I can recall.

So why am I rereading Discworld? Because, despite the large number of new books available, I have yet to find a fictional world I enjoy visiting more than the Disc.
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LibraryThing member isabelx
When a dying wizard accidentally passes on his staff (and therefore his powers) to a baby girl called Eskarina, it rocks the status quo. Only men can be wizards, whose magic comes from the sky, while only women can be witches whose magic comes from the earth (the witches sneer at the mention of
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warlocks).

A story about the need for traditions to change with the times rather than being set in stone eternally.
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LibraryThing member PandorasRequiem
The third installment in The Discworld Series, this book mainly centers around Eskarina; the 8th child of an 8th child; who is visited by a dying Wizard on his deathbed and given a magical wizard's staff and foretold that she will become a Wizard. Unfortunately, this takes place before it is known
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that she is in fact FEMALE, and much trouble ensues because of that overlooked fact. This book also contains the first appearance of Granny Weatherwax, arguably one of the best-drawn Witches in Fantasy today.

What started out as an interesting premise for a story with some rather hilarious episodes in the conversations and teachings of Granny and Esk, soon seemed to be rather stretched thin towards the end. I am a big fan of Discworld and Terry Pratchett himself, but this book paled in comparison with the first two in the series. I didn't find it nearly as funny as the first two, and apart from Granny, I found the characters to be only half-drawn and lacking in interest for the most part. The ending as well felt a bit anti-climactic given the amount of time and energy it took to get to that point.
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LibraryThing member murderbydeath
My second ever Discworld novel, this one started out strongly with a lot great humour and some great one-liners, but it sort of petered out for me about mid-way.

The wizard Drum Billet knows that he will soon die and travels to a place where the eighth son of an eighth son is about to be born, but
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the newborn child is actually a girl, Esk. Billet notices his mistake too late, and the staff passes on to her. But a female wizard is something completely unheard of on the Discworld...

It's a good thing Esk is only 9 years old because if she were any older she'd be too stupid to live, but as a 9 year old, she's just precocious. Granny Weatherwax is... ok, I have to admit I didn't love Granny Weatherwax as much as I expected I would. I think her disdain for basic literary skills turns me off a little bit; I know that makes me sound like a sourpuss, but there it is. I loved her gumption and her pragmatism and I admired her refusal to take crap from anyone. Not to mention her ability to level someone with just her Look.

As I mentioned, the book lost steam for me mid-way; if it had been shorter by about a third I think I'd have enjoyed it more. The whole journey to the Unseen University felt endless to me, although things picked up once Granny and Esk arrive.

Still, Pratchett's weakest book is still a better book than just about most anyone else's best and I'm definitely interested in reading the "better" Discworld books.
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LibraryThing member 391
Equal Rites involves Esk, a young girl who wants to become a wizard. She's the eighth daughter of an eighth son, and comes equipped with a wizard's staff and Granny Weatherwax to Unseen University. I thought it was a solid novel, though I wish it didn't end so quickly - a few more things could have
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been better explained and developed. I wish we could see more of Simon and Esk, though I hear she may be making a cameo in the last Aching book!
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LibraryThing member CarltonC
A very enjoyable (re)read, but not vintage Pratchett, as he has not yet climbed to the heights he was to scale later in the Discworld series.
When Pratchett really works, you cannot quote small sections, as it is the overall effect that warms your cockles. However his genius can be glimpsed in
Show More
quotes such as:
‘What’s an elephant?’ ‘A kind of badger,’ said Granny. She hadn’t maintained forest-credibility for forty years by ever admitting ignorance.

The whole panoply of the universe has been neatly expressed to them as things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. This frees the mind from unnecessary thoughts and gives it a cutting edge where it matters. Your normal animal, in fact, never tries to walk and chew gum at the same time.

He had the kind of real deep tan that rich people spend ages trying to achieve with expensive holidays and bits of tinfoil, when really all you need to do to obtain one is work your arse off in the open air every day.
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LibraryThing member TadAD

You get to meet Granny Weatherwax in this book, though the rest of the witches don't come in until later volumes. The writing still isn't quite as good as the later books, but I definitely enjoyed this. The story line where the witches are the major characters continues in Wyrd Sisters, Witches
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Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Maskerade, Carpe Jugulum, and in the Tiffany Aching series.

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