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![Equal Rites: (Discworld Novel 3) (Discworld series) by [Terry Pratchett]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51tuOLIkyYL._SY346_.jpg)
Equal Rites: (Discworld Novel 3) (Discworld series) Kindle Edition
Terry Pratchett (Author) See search results for this author |
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'They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.'
Everybody knows there's no such thing as a female wizard. So when the wizard Drum Billet accidentally passes on his staff of power to an eighth daughter of an eighth son, a girl called Eskarina (Esk, for short), the misogynistic world of wizardry wants nothing to do with her.
Thankfully Granny Weatherwax, the Discworld's most famous witch, has plenty of experience ignoring the status quo. With Granny's help, Esk sneaks her way into the magical Unseen University and befriends apprentice wizard Simon.
But power is unpredictable, and these bright young students soon find themselves in a whole new dimension of trouble. Let the battle of the sexes begin . . .
'If you've never read a Discworld novel, what's the matter with you?' Guardian
'Pratchett uses his other world to hold up a distorting mirror to our own' The Times
Equal Rites is the first book in the Witches series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherTransworld Digital
- Publication date24 Nov. 2009
- File size3820 KB
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From the Publisher
Welcome to the Discworld
Magic is as integral to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld as gravity is to our own. And although some of its inhabitants are witches, dwarfs, wizards and even policemen, their stories are fundamentally about people being people.
The Discworld books can be read in any order, but this is a particularly good place to start.
‘If you've never read a Discworld novel, what's the matter with you?’ Guardian


Discworld novels starring the Witches:
- Equal Rites
- Wyrd Sisters
- Witches Abroad
- Lords and Ladies
- Maskerade
- Carpe Jugulum
Meet the Witches
Discworld’s witches are based around the rural and mostly vertical kingdom of Lancre.
They deliver babies, treat warts and keep an eye on troublesome kings, vampires or incursions from other worlds, which they do not hold with.
They don’t have leaders, but Granny Weatherwax is the most highly regarded of the leaders they don’t have.
She is helped by Nanny Ogg – mother of fifteen and brewer of lethally strong cider.
Magrat Garlick, often described as a "wet hen", is the third member of the coven.
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Equal Rites | Wyrd Sisters | Witches Abroad | Lords and Ladies | Maskerade | Carpe Jugulum | |
Read more about The Witches: | A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it’s not half so bad as a lot of ignorance. | Meddling in royal politics is a lot more complicated than certain playwrights would have you believe... | Inheriting a fairy godmother role seemed like an easy job at the time... | The fairies are back – but this time they don’t just want your teeth... | This isn't real life – it’s worse. This is the Opera House, Ankh-Morpork. | Welcome to Lancre, where the newest residents are a thoroughly modern, sophisticated vampire family. |
Product description
Review
- "If you are unfamiliar with Pratchett's unique blend of philosophical badinage, you are on the threshold of a mind-expanding opportunity." --"Financial Times"
- "Persistently amusing, good-hearted and shrewd." --"The Sunday Times"
- "Pratchett keeps getting better and better... It's hard to think of any humorist writing in Britain today who can match him." --"Time Out"
"Truly original....Discworld is more complicated and satisfactory than Oz.... Has the energy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and the inventiveness of Alice in Wonderland....Brilliant!"
-- A. S. Byatt
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.About the Author
Sir Terry Pratchett was the internationally bestselling author of more than thirty books, including his phenomenally successful Discworld series. His young adult novel, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, won the Carnegie Medal, and Where's My Cow?, his Discworld book for "readers of all ages," was a New York Times bestseller. His novels have sold more than seventy five million (give or take a few million) copies worldwide. Named an Officer of the British Empire "for services to literature," Pratchett lived in England. He died in 2015 at the age of sixty-six.
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.From the Back Cover
Every world has its rules--even a flat onecarried by four elephants riding on a giant turtle. That's why a dying wizard is searching for an eighth son of an eighth son to bestow his wizardly powers upon before meeting Deathin six minutes. Unfortunately it is quicklydiscovered--though not quite quickly enough--that the newborn babe the wizard anoints just before bidding the Discworld adieu is, in reality, a girl! What's done cannot be undone--despiteold Granny Weatherwax's attempts to bringthe child into the witchy fold--and little Eskis now a wizard, through and through. And she's destined to bring chaos and confusion to the all-male faculty of Ankh-Morpork'sUnseen University . . . who are alreadyfairly addled to begin with.
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.From the Inside Flap
The last thing the wizard Drum Billet did, before Death laid a bony hand on his shoulder, was to pass on his staff of power to the eighth son of an eighth son. Unfortunately for his colleagues in the chauvinistic (not to say misogynistic) world of magic, he failed to check on the new-born baby's sex...This is a third hilarious adventure by the author of The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic.
--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Synopsis
Review
- "If you are unfamiliar with Pratchett's unique blend of philosophical badinage, you are on the threshold of a mind-expanding opportunity." --"Financial Times"
- "Persistently amusing, good-hearted and shrewd." --"The Sunday Times"
- "Pratchett keeps getting better and better... It's hard to think of any humorist writing in Britain today who can match him." --"Time Out" --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Book Description
Product details
- ASIN : B0031RS6VE
- Publisher : Transworld Digital (24 Nov. 2009)
- Language : English
- File size : 3820 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 277 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: 5,517 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 16 in Arthurian
- 21 in Arthurian Fantasy
- 26 in Parodies (Books)
- Customer reviews:
About the author

Terry Pratchett sold his first story when he was fifteen, which earned him enough money to buy a second-hand typewriter. His first novel, a humorous fantasy entitled The Carpet People, appeared in 1971 from the publisher Colin Smythe. Terry worked for many years as a journalist and press officer, writing in his spare time and publishing a number of novels, including his first Discworld novel, The Color of Magic, in 1983. In 1987 he turned to writing full time, and has not looked back since. To date there are a total of 36 books in the Discworld series, of which four (so far) are written for children. The first of these children's books, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, won the Carnegie Medal. A non-Discworld book, Good Omens, his 1990 collaboration with Neil Gaiman, has been a longtime bestseller, and was reissued in hardcover by William Morrow in early 2006 (it is also available as a mass market paperback (Harper Torch, 2006) and trade paperback (Harper Paperbacks, 2006). Terry's latest book, Nation, a non-Discworld standalone YA novel was published in October of 2008 and was an instant New York Times and London Times bestseller. Regarded as one of the most significant contemporary English-language satirists, Pratchett has won numerous literary awards, was named an Officer of the British Empire “for services to literature” in 1998, and has received four honorary doctorates from the Universities of Warwick, Portsmouth, Bath, and Bristol. His acclaimed novels have sold more than 55 million copies (give or take a few million) and have been translated into 36 languages. Terry Pratchett lived in England with his family, and spent too much time at his word processor. Some of Terry's accolades include: The Carnegie Medal, Locus Awards, the Mythopoetic Award, ALA Notable Books for Children, ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Book Sense 76 Pick, Prometheus Award and the British Fantasy Award.
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Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 29 September 2015
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Equal Rites is the first of the novels to really reflect how Terry writes in the years to come, there is still a long way to go but it's impossible not to rate the novel highly and is a very entertaining and easy read.
‘Equal Rites’ by Terry Pratchett was originally published in 1987 and is Book 3 of The Discworld series and the first to feature the Witches. I did a dual read/listen with its unabridged audiobook narrated by Celia Imrie.
Drum Billet is a wizard and about to die and needs to pass on his wizarding staff to a suitable successor: the eighth son of an eighth son. He arrives at a remote village where the wife of the local smith, who is an eighth son, is about to give birth to their eighth child.
As the newborn is presented to the father, Drum steps in and passes on the staff to the child, oblivious that the baby is a girl. When he realises his error and moans ‘what have I done?’, the midwife, Granny Weatherwax, responds: ‘You’ve given the world its first female wizard.’
For seven years Granny Weatherwax, who is also a witch, keeps a keen eye on the child, named Eskarina, for any signs of magic. When these appear, Granny starts to train her in witchcraft and later they travel to the city of Ankh Morpork to seek entrance for Eskarina into the Unseen University, despite the fact that the wizards are adamant that only men can be wizards.
Granny Weatherwax is one of the Discworld’s most beloved characters. She is sharp-tonged yet down-to-Earth. Reclusive by nature, her foray into the wider world including the city of Ankh Morpork is quite amusing. Indeed, the novel is bursting with comical characters and interludes. Some are a little saucy.
Pratchett packs his tale with fantasy tropes including a spectacular magical duel and a few Lovecraftian references.
I somewhat envy readers who will be experiencing the Discworld novels for the first time though rereading brought its own pleasures.
The themes of the book are quite robust and do give the impression that they will last throughout the series of books, I am looking forward to the development of the different issues Mr Pratchett explores.