It wasn't until I was outside that I realised I'd taken out Wyrd Sisters instead by accident.
Now, I am a huge Sir Pterry fanboy. A list of my favourite books would feature his name over and over, more than any other author I've encountered. But I have to admit that when it comes to the early Discworld books, I'm somewhat ambivalent. I find them the works of an author whose storytelling talent had yet to match his imagination, who had yet to learn that less sometimes had better impact than more when it came to humour, and who was more parodist than satirist and humanist.
As such I wasn't too sure whether I'd done a good thing. I couldn't remember whether this was a book I truly loved reading.
Wyrd Sisters, for those who don't know, is a rather loose parody of Macbeth told from the perspective of the three witches - but here they don't encourage the paragon of vaulting ambition, but rather oppose him when they manage to stop bickering with each other.
It is also where the Witches sub-series truly begins. Oh, I know that Granny Weatherwax and the Kingdom of Lancre appears in Equal Rites, but it starts as one idea and becomes another one here. The introduction of Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick automatically change Granny's character by introducing different, better dynamics to her interactions. Lancre itself becomes a defined world.
And it is a very good book.
What makes it good for me is how much I cared about the characters and, even in a re-read, how much I enjoyed the tension of what would happen to them. This isn't a book that can deliver huge twists - the general shape of the plot is very obvious to anyone with a nodding acquaintance with the Scottish play - but it can deliver splendid characterisation and that is nowhere more apparent than Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg.
Every time I see a complaint about the lack of roles for older actresses, I wistfully wish that some one would give the Witches series the screen treatment and normally I don't want to know about my favourite books getting such a mangling. But the contrast and chemistry between is so fantastic that I want everyone to experience it. Its like a buddy cop movie, except featuring very cranky, very powerful old ladies instead. And arguably they are at their best here.
A lot of my thoughts about Sir Pterry's first ten books remain the same after re-reading Wyrd Sisters. I laughed at some of the jokes, but not all. I think it could have been a better story if it had strayed further from its inspiration and had done more with the Felmets (the Macbeth expies). But some of them have changed. I think I'd state that the clear premise of Pratchett's later career is "We all have terrible urges for that is being human but we can rise above them because that is also being human, and fuck those who won't." And that is so very clearly evident here.
So in sum totality, what do we have here? Wyrd Sisters is a comedy, although it is more than that. It is a story about ambition and power, about female friendship and rivalry, about stories themselves. I think it still lacks something when put next to the later books, but then Snowdon would lack something if put next to Everest. Its still a mountain.
And this is still a very good book.
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