Boek

Lords and Ladies

Lords and Ladies

Auteur Terry Pratchett
Eerste Uitgave1993
Uitgave1993
UitgeverijCorgi
Vormroman
TaalEngels
Bladzijden382 bladzijden
Gelezen2002-11-11
Score7/10

Inhoud

The Fourteenth Discworld Novel.
The fairies are back - but this time they don't just want your teeth... Granny Weatherwax and her tiny coven are up against real elves. It's Midsummer Night. No time for dreaming... With full supporting cast of dwarfs, wizards, trolls, Morris dancers and one orang-utan. And lots of hey-nonny-nonny and blood all over the place.

Bespreking

Lacks the spirit of its predecessors

The witches are back! After their disc-spanning adventures in "Witches Abroad" Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and the young Margrat return to the hilly Kingdom of Lancre. Not only is Margrat about to be wed to King Verence, also it is the period where the gates to the other world are not so tightly locked: Circle Time has just started. And everybody knows that one should not start dancing around old stones when during this period, if one is to avoid getting their head in a deep mess. And deep mess you are in if the Lords and Ladies break through to this world, because these Elves may be cute, but they can kick quite some ass and more.

Lords and Ladies is the fourteenth Discworld novel and the fourth time the three witches appear on the stage. This book is a bit of a slow starter, but once the stage is set nothing Terry's imagination goes completely wild. This time maybe a bit too wild, because it clearly results in a rather clumsy ending. Not that this will bother the reader much, because some of the settings really compensate for this flaw: one of the most refreshing scenes is surely the almost love-affaire between our dearest Granny Weatherwax and Arch-Chancellor Ridcully. Nanny Ogg also gets a stalker: Casanunda, the world's second greatest lover. The appearance of the "ook ook" Librarian and the cameo of DEATH makes this book an all-round classic episode in the Discworld saga. Sadly enough it lacks behind in comparison to its remarkable predecessors: "Weird Sisters" and "Witches Abroad".

The book is a parody on Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and if you are not acquainted with this work - like me, I must admit -, be prepared to miss the clues of quite a lot of jokes (I read it in combination with the annotations available on the internet).