Carpe Jugulum
Coming off one of my least-favorite Discworld books, we head straight into my favorite one. I don't necessarily think it's the best book in the series, though it's certainly up there. But it pits the Witches (my favorite main characters) against a family of vampires (my favorite villain). So of course I'm going to love it.
And there's a lot to love here. Magrat has just had a baby is trying to figure out how to be a queen and a witch while taking care of a newborn. Granny Weatherwax makes her biggest sacrifice yet in an attempt to defeat the vampires, and there's legitimate concern that her methods may cause her to join them instead. Agnes is still trying to figure out where she ends and Perdita begins, all while fighting off the unwelcome romantic attentions of one of the vampires. And an Omnian priest with serious doubts finds himself on an adventure he never asked for.
One of my favorite things about this book is the interactions between Agnes and Vlad, teenaged vampire. He becomes enchanted with her upon discovering that he can neither read nor control her mind. And while Agnes occasionally finds herself attracted to him against her will, she's always able to stand strong against his affections (or use them for her own ends). It ends up being a brilliant critique of Twilight, even if it was published a decade before Twilight. Just goes to show that there are no new ideas under the sun.
But the real highlight is the growing respect between Granny Weatherwax and Reverend Oats. It culminates in a brilliant conversation where Granny cuts through all of Oats' bullshit and conflicting ideas with the simple declaration that sin is treating people as things. No more, no less, and no shades of grey. Granny's world is a lot simpler than Oats', but her straightforwardness helps him find his faith again.
I'm sad that this is the last of the witches books until we pivot to Tiffany Aching. There's so much more potential for Agnes, and she doesn't show up again except for a single sentence in the very last book. But at least they went out on such a high note.
It's a little strange, on this re-read, to recognize this as the point in the series where Pratchett changes things up. Gone are Rincewind and the witches, to be replaced soon by Moist von Lipwig and Tiffany Aching. I've just barely started the next book, but even that is showing major changes in Ankh-Morpork, which is starting to embrace technology. I'm not sure if it was the new millenium or something else that inspired Pratchett to start moving the series in a different direction, but it makes the Discworld an even more rewarding place to visit.
And there's a lot to love here. Magrat has just had a baby is trying to figure out how to be a queen and a witch while taking care of a newborn. Granny Weatherwax makes her biggest sacrifice yet in an attempt to defeat the vampires, and there's legitimate concern that her methods may cause her to join them instead. Agnes is still trying to figure out where she ends and Perdita begins, all while fighting off the unwelcome romantic attentions of one of the vampires. And an Omnian priest with serious doubts finds himself on an adventure he never asked for.
One of my favorite things about this book is the interactions between Agnes and Vlad, teenaged vampire. He becomes enchanted with her upon discovering that he can neither read nor control her mind. And while Agnes occasionally finds herself attracted to him against her will, she's always able to stand strong against his affections (or use them for her own ends). It ends up being a brilliant critique of Twilight, even if it was published a decade before Twilight. Just goes to show that there are no new ideas under the sun.
But the real highlight is the growing respect between Granny Weatherwax and Reverend Oats. It culminates in a brilliant conversation where Granny cuts through all of Oats' bullshit and conflicting ideas with the simple declaration that sin is treating people as things. No more, no less, and no shades of grey. Granny's world is a lot simpler than Oats', but her straightforwardness helps him find his faith again.
I'm sad that this is the last of the witches books until we pivot to Tiffany Aching. There's so much more potential for Agnes, and she doesn't show up again except for a single sentence in the very last book. But at least they went out on such a high note.
It's a little strange, on this re-read, to recognize this as the point in the series where Pratchett changes things up. Gone are Rincewind and the witches, to be replaced soon by Moist von Lipwig and Tiffany Aching. I've just barely started the next book, but even that is showing major changes in Ankh-Morpork, which is starting to embrace technology. I'm not sure if it was the new millenium or something else that inspired Pratchett to start moving the series in a different direction, but it makes the Discworld an even more rewarding place to visit.
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