★★★★☆ Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett, Indira Varma (Narrator), Peter Serafinowicz (Narrator), Bill Nighy (Narrator)
Sir Terry takes on opera
Maskerade
Terry Pratchett, Indira Varma (Narrator), Peter Serafinowicz (Narrator), Bill Nighy (Narrator)
Sir Terry takes on opera
Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg have a problem. Magrit Garlick, who used to be the third witch of their little coven, has degraded herself and become a queen. Granny and Nanny's little coven has gotten even littler -- now they're down to two, and that is not enough. At least, that's what they tell themselves. The real truth is that both Granny and Nanny are domineering old ladies and they can't be entirely satisfied without a younger witch to push around. Granny can push Nanny around, but the thing about Nanny is, you can push on her, but you have no idea what direction she'll go in after.
So they're now thinking about Agnes Nitt, who they realized some time ago has innate witchy talent. The problem, though, is that Agnes has ideas of her own. She knows full well that Granny and Nanny would like to have her under their thumbs, and she's not enthusiastic. What's more, Agnes, aside from her witchy abilities, has an extraordinary voice.
There are a few recurring types of novels in the Discworld, and Maskerade is two of them. Some Discworld novels present Sir Terry's take on some aspect of culture. (By that I mean some aspect of human culture on this, our Earth, transplanted to the Discworld.) For instance, we have Moving Pictures, which is about Hollywood and the movies, and Soul Music, which is about Rock and Roll. Maskerade is of this sort -- it's about opera. Second, occasionally Sir Terry does a pastiche on some well known work. Thus we have Wyrd Sisters, which is mostly Macbeth but also Hamlet, and Eric, which is Goethe's Faust. Maskerade is also of this sort -- it's a pastiche of Phantom of the Opera. (The musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, not so much the book by Gaston Leroux.)
So, it's fun, of course. It's not one of the great Discworld novels. Pratchett is not, in my opinion, at his best when he's making fun of other people's work. He comes off as dismissive and less creative than when he has a story all his own to tell. In fact, the best part of Maskerade in my opinion is not so much all the opera-related stuff as the dynamic among the witches.