Lords and Ladies

Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett

This was the third Terry Pratchett book I’ve read – and I had to pick one of the few he says isn’t stand-alone. He recommended that it be read after one of the Witches of Lancre books (I forget which). I found the book to be alright as a stand-alone book, but it would have been more enjoyable if I knew more about the characters from before, the witches especially.


The witches were the most interesting characters. Granny Weatherwax was probably the most impressive, but I liked Nanny Ogg and her family the best. Magrat was probably the most sympathetic, with her indecision and wounded pride. The elves were more like the faeries of the old tales, much like the fairies in Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. They were more like aliens than the glamourised elves from Tolkien tradition.

Terry Pratchett is hilariously irreverent, and the humorous footnotes add more in jokes to the ironic tone of the narrator. I liked that the characters were so over the top and that the descriptions were unflattering. In fact, in real life the characters would probably be extremely off putting and disgusting. However having so much described in such a way made it a little less enjoyable because I kept wrinkling my nose at the descriptions. I guess I have some delicate sensibilities that haven't been wrenched out of me by Stephen King and the like yet.