Mass Market Paperback, 213 pages
English language
Published March 1, 2000 by HarperTorch.
Equal Rites is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett. Published in 1987, it is the third novel in the Discworld series and the first in which the main character is not Rincewind. The title is wordplay on the phrase "Equal Rights". The novel introduces the character of Granny Weatherwax, who reappears in several later Discworld novels. The protagonist Eskarina Smith does not return until I Shall Wear Midnight, which was published 23 years later. Pratchett based the character Esk on his daughter Rhianna Pratchett.
Pratchett has a great sense of wit and humor and it comes through in this piece. Great for a first foray into the DiscWorld. I appreciated the ending on this one more than I did on the other two I've read, and both my partner and I had plenty of laugh-out-loud moments while reading
What a fun book! This is my very first Terry Pratchett. After the stories of the Discworld have been on my to-read list for way too long I was finally convinced to try one and Equal Rites is definitely a very good start into the series.
It was fun, honest, critical and everything what you want. So much magic and quirkiness, but not in a bad way—I enjoyed this book very much and definitely cannot wait to be drawn even deeper into the Discworld!
This perfectly ridicules the arbitrariness of gender stereotypes. Everybody knows that only men can be wizards, everybody knows it’s part of the lore, but nobody actually knows where it is written or why it should be the case. And Esk just ignoring both her role as a wizard and a witch and rescuing Simon and herself by not using magic is about the best possible ending.
