Cheap Maskerade (Discworld Novels (Paperback)) (Book) (Terry Pratchett) Price

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Customer Reviews of Maskerade (Discworld Novels (Paperback))

"When shall we thr...er, two meet again?"
Nowadays I don't get all that many opportunities to open a new Terry Pratchett book. Countless years of reading him has left me patiently waiting for his next effort. So the discovery of one that I've missed is a moment to be treasured. So now, ten years after I should have read it, I've had the delight of reading Maskerade for the first time. Even better, it's a Lancre witches tale, starring the indomitable Granny Weatherwax, and Nanny Ogg, the original Benny Hill. <
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>"Wait," you exclaim, "Where's Magrat?" Off to be queen, of course, leaving Nanny and Granny to party alone before the marshmallow toasting fire. Nanny decides the Agnes Nitt, a large girl with a very large voice would make the perfect replacement. Unfortunately Agnes has had another idea entirely. Tired of being the girl with the 'great personality' and 'beautiful hair' she has left Lancre for Ankh-Moorpark were she is trying to make her living as an opera extra. <
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>In Ankh-Moorpork, it should come as no surprise, the opera house comes complete with a whacko ghost with a white mask, a huge chandelier, and, of course, a beautiful blond named Christine. Agnes (now Perdita) can sing, but Christine cannot, so in no time we have a voice hoax, an angry ghost, and Nanny, Granny, and Greeb, the cat with the original bad attitude. <
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>Pratchett is merciless, as he lampoons witching, opera, publishing, cookbooks, show music, leaving home to make it in the big city, psychology, and growing up the hard way. Trust Esme Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg to find the loophole in everything the encounter, outmaneuver the villains, and bedazzle the crowds. Trust pratchett to leave no opportunity for wry humor unturned. <
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>Agnes/Perdita is a great character on her own. Too fat to be anything else but a 'nice' girl she also has a mind almost as sharp as Granny Weatherwax. Agnes doesn't want to be a witch because that is almost the only career opportunity Lancre has for someone with brains and generous proportions. But neither does she want to be a bump on a log. She has a knack for seizing those opportunities that appear, and enough sense to make it through her own identity crisis. <
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>While this isn't one of Pratchett's tour-de-farces, it is an excellent effort, one that you will relish for some time to come. The Lancre stories are consistently the most humane and personal of his efforts, while the Ankh-Moorpork tales tend to hand grander scopes and characterizations. Maskerade sits smack dab in the middle on an elephant all it's own. Have fun!

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outrageously funny
Pratchett in his humorous and cynical style shows us the world of an Opera House in Ankh-Morph - "This isn't real life, this is opera. It doesn't matter what the words mean." <
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>Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax reach the opera house to recruit Agnes for their witch clan. On reaching the opera house, they find the place inhabited by a ghost... what follows is mayhem and fun! <
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>Of the two characters, granny is more serious. Nanny is just adorable. She is funny and also innocent as she gets fleeced by a book publisher who doesn't give her royalty for her bestseller ('The Joye of Snacks,' "`Bye A Lancre Witch."). <
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>Highly recommended if you have a fetish for nonsensical humor.

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make opera fun
I've got to admit: I'm not an opera fan. I've seen a few, though in a modern setting... So I don't know a lot about the 'real' opera world, only the thing you read about in books, magazines or see on tv or in movies... But Terry Pratchett makes it all so real. He says in the beginning of the book he's not a real fan and in the book he makes fun of it all: the superstitions, the little rituals, how opera doesn't make sense... And I really loved the book. I like all of his work, but especially the ones with the whiches and death... <
>So I was in for a treat. Agnes, born and raises in Lancre, has a great personality and great hair (in other words: she's a BIG girl). She also has a great voice and goes to the city to make it in the singing world... Nanny Ogg and granny Weatherwax go to after her to convince Agnes that she has to become their third which. And of course they also get mixed up in the theaterworld. And there is also the small matter of the cookbook that nanny wrote... using granny's name...