Maskerade

Nowadays I don't get all that many opportunities to open a new Terry Pratchett book. Countless years of reading him has left me patiently waiting for his next effort. So the discovery of one that I've missed is a moment to be treasured. So now, ten years after I should have read it, I've had the delight of reading Maskerade for the first time. Even better, it's a Lancre witches tale, starring the indomitable Granny Weatherwax, and Nanny Ogg, the original Benny Hill. "Wait," you exclaim, "Where's Magrat?" Off to be queen, of course, leaving Nanny and Granny to party alone before the marshmallow toasting fire. Nanny decides the Agnes Nitt, a large girl with a very large voice would make the perfect replacement. Unfortunately Agnes has had another idea entirely. Tired of being the girl with the 'great personality' and 'beautiful hair' she has left Lancre for Ankh-Moorpark were she is trying to make her living as an opera extra. In Ankh-Moorpork, it should come as no surprise, the opera house comes complete with a whacko ghost with a white mask, a huge chandelier, and, of course, a beautiful blond named Christine. Agnes (now Perdita) can sing, but Christine cannot, so in no time we have a voice hoax, an angry ghost, and Nanny, Granny, and Greeb, the cat with the original bad attitude. Pratchett is merciless, as he lampoons witching, opera, publishing, cookbooks, show music, leaving home to make it in the big city, psychology, and growing up the hard way. Trust Esme Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg to find the loophole in everything the encounter, outmaneuver the villains, and bedazzle the crowds. Trust pratchett to leave no opportunity for wry humor unturned. Agnes/Perdita is a great character on her own. Too fat to be anything else but a 'nice' girl she also has a mind almost as sharp as Granny Weatherwax. Agnes doesn't want to be a witch because that is almost the only career opportunity Lancre has for someone with brains and generous proportions. But neither does she want to be a bump on a log. She has a knack for seizing those opportunities that appear, and enough sense to make it through her own identity crisis. While this isn't one of Pratchett's tour-de-farces, it is an excellent effort, one that you will relish for some time to come. The Lancre stories are consistently the most humane and personal of his efforts, while the Ankh-Moorpork tales tend to hand grander scopes and characterizations. Maskerade sits smack dab in the middle on an elephant all it's own. Have fun!

Maskerade, the eighteenth Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, is a very funny parody of opera, and the Broadway show Phantom of the Opera more specifically. You can certainly tell that Pratchett doesn't like opera, as he skewers it to within an inch of its life. The parody of Phantom is right on as well, as Pratchett takes the story and turns it on its head in a most entertaining manner.I'm not an opera fan, so I really appreciated how much Maskerade made fun of the whole genre. I laughed out loud when the characters would make comments about how the story doesn't need to make sense as long as it's sung well, and I especially enjoyed how the villain kept "coming back to life" to make another statement after he's been killed, much like how a person who's killed in an opera often has time to sing a death chorus before succumbing.This book is just hilarious all the way through. I'm really becoming a fan of the Witches with the last two books (Lords & Ladies and this one). Perhaps it's because I enjoy the personality clashes between Granny and Nanny. They are so well written and so three dimensional that it's a joy to read about them. They argue a lot, but there's an underlying affection beneath all of that which makes the arguments superficial. It's Granny who instigates the trip to Ankh-Morpork after realizing what an unscrupulous publisher has done to her friend. She doesn't like to see a friend get cheated. There's also a compassion in both of them that is very touching. It's even more surprising from Granny because she has such a gruff exterior. Both of their interactions with Walter Plinge, the rather slow odd-jobs man who everybody at the Opera House ignores, are just brimming with this compassion. It's not just the compassion, though, that makes them great characters. They are very funny as well. Especially good is the stagecoach ride where, by implied witchery, they end up having the coach to themselves while everybody else sits on top. The other characters, while not as fully developed, still do their job very well. Most of the opera players fill their assigned roles to a T. There's Christine, who the Ghost takes a liking to. Christine is excessively vain and dumb as a post, but everybody's fallen in love with her. Meanwhile, Agnes is the talented singer, but she's on the large side, and thus can't get anybody to recognize that. She's used to sing Christine's part for her, while Christine just looks good. The new owner of the Opera House wants it to start making money, which can't happen with all of the strangeness going on. There are many others as well. None of them are terribly well-developed, but it's certainly good enough for this book.I know that this book has received lukewarm reviews, but I found it incredibly funny. The goings-on backstage at the Opera House were great fun, with intrigue and humour being mixed in liberally. The ending of the book is extremely fitting, with enough twists and turns to keep

If you've never heard of Terry Pratchett, you're clearly living on the wrong planet. So join the rest of us in Pratchett's Discworld and enjoy the antics of Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, the Disc's best-known witches. Visit Ankh-Morpork's Opera House with them (accompanied by their lunatic guests). You'll marvel at the amazing scenes of chaos that Pratchett can conjure up, seemingly without trying. And no matter what the topic, Pratchett is able to satirize it and make you question your former opinions - and you'll howl with laughter as you do so. I've read quite a lot of Discworld books and there are not many that have not held a chuckle a page and a full belly laugh a chapter. Maskerade lives up to its author's reputation in full, satirizing opera, theatre production, the lot - and all with a smile on his face. If, after reading Maskerade, you are in any doubt that Terry Prachett is not the most creative and funniest contemporary author around, you've obviously got a funny bone missing somewhere. Although it is not his best work, Maskerade is still hilarious and well worthy of five stars.

Pratchett has an outstanding capacity to research a topic, then present his findings with peerless clarity and wit. This book presents so many aspects of theatre production, operatic lore and, amazingly, book publication they're nearly overwhelming. His prose and humour leave us breathless with mirth and astonishment. Still, one has to wonder what motivated the writing of Maskarade. It's a departure from previous Discworld efforts. Magrat Garlick's married and out of the coven. This imbalance must be restored. Her potential replacement is a new Pratchett character, Agnes Nitt. Agnes, however, has a different career in mind. She wants to be a diva in the opera troupe in Ankh-Morpork. A lofty ambition, indeed. And a voice lofty enough to project throughout the hall - right up to the loft, in fact.As always, the opera business is fraught with problems. Underpaid [and underfed] choir girls, prima donnas who consider their voice grander than its quality justifies, eccentric crew, and the ever present issue of money. Oh yes, and there's a ghost - with a reserved box seat.If the Ankh-Morpork's opera team wasn't having enough to deal with, they are about to be confronted with the remnants of Lancre's witches' coven, Esme Weatherwax and Gytha Ogg. Nanny Ogg's become the Julia Childs of the Ramtops, but with variations on a particular theme. She's published a book about it, but Granny Weatherwax isn't convinced the payment justified. Esme Weatherwax as an author's agent is a formidable figure. As if this transformation wasn't enough, she also becomes a patron of opera.Pratchett's gone slightly awry from his usual path with this book. He raises a host of pretty serious questions with the characters and the plot. It's still in the best of PTerry's style - his wit through the persona of Granny and Nanny Ogg has, if anything, improved. But there are some issues uncommon in Discworld books, and the reader is left more than just entertained. There's some post-laughter thinking required of the reader. Opera is, after all, serious business.

Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax, the Lancre Witches, are suddenly out one member of their coven. What's a wise crone and a many-times mother to do without a maiden to flesh out the female trio? Unfortunately in Lancre, it's hard to find many qualified women, and the only one close enough moved to Ankh-Morpork, a city whose major industry is greed. However, with a little manipulation from Nanny, it's off to Ankh-Morpork to seek Ms. Nitt, aka Perdita, a potential witch with an amazing voice and a desire to do something with her life. Of course, if you have an incredible voice, where do you end up? Opera! And, of course, what would an Opera House be without ledgends, rumors, superstitions, and a strange masked figure lurking about? Well, safer for a start - and Granny and Nanny are determined to figure out just what's going on in the life of their hopeful recruit. This novel is both a parody of Phantom of the Opera, and a more realistic portrayal. The "Opera Ghost" is both who you'd expect AND who you wouldn't. There are hilarious and subtle parodies, mixed with serious looks at how we percieve people. Best of all, Pratchett's Phantom of the Opera parodies point out what I've always felt - that in the musical, most of the characters were complete idiots. If you love Pratchett, buy it and read it. And if you know someone who liked Phantom, and doesn't mind starting a series in the middle, you may have a way to introduce them to Discworld . . .