A review by icarusabides
Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett

funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Equal Rites is a solid early outing into the Discworld containing a lot of the building blocks that will become core elements of a Witches book but as yet without the refinement that will progress it from solid to truly great, ala Witches Abroad. 

It provides a good early contrast of the differences between Witches and Wizards in the series, Headology vs Fireballs as it were, and coming as it does on the back of two Rincewind books it works quite well in that regard. It's got the usual Pratchett wit sprinkled throughout but the overarching story of a young girl finding herself split between the worlds of Witching and Wizarding does get quite sidetracked in the end by a sort of cosmic big bad that helps to resolve the plot a little inelegantly. 

'They're both magic. If you can't learn to ride an elephant, you can at least learn to ride a horse.'

'What's an elephant?'

'A kind of badger,' said Granny. She hadn't maintained forest-credibility for forty years by ever admitting ignorance.'

The characters are interesting certainly but not quite there yet, especially in the case of Granny Weatherwax who is something of a Proto-Granny here, the shape is there but there's still some marble needs chiselling away to really find her. That and the lack of Nanny Ogg to act as her counterweight leaves things feeling a little unbalanced too. 

"Granny, meanwhile, was two streets away. She was also, by the standards of other people, lost. She would not see it like that. She knew where she was, it was just that everywhere else didn't."

Esk is a nice character with plenty of potential but the book doesn't quite take the time to give her the depth she really needs which is a shame because the idea was sound.