Equal Rites

Let's play pretend and say this book was mixed up in the multiverse and was actually authored by Robin McKinley, not Terry Pratchett. Or at least, let's just do that for Comparison's sake. Although, I don't know anyone named Comparison nor why we should care for his sake.

Wizards, as we all know, have a few ways of becoming wizards. Most importantly, they are the eighth son of an eighth son. Because eight is the magical number. Not to mention the eighth color is the color of magic. But at the end of their lives and the beginning of a new wizard's life, the old wizard will pass on their magical staff to the new wizard being born. The eighth son of the eighth son; son being the key word. One wizard didn't check and passed it on to Esk.

Here's where Robin McKinley takes over. Esk is a McKinley character: she's spunky and in awe of magic and frankly has no clue as to the ways in which she will change the world. Especially because she grows up in a tiny town. And Bad Ass is the town's unfortunate name.

No other Pratchett tale in Discworld quite captures the spirit of youth like this one. I'm amazed at Pratchett's breadth, albeit terribly schizophrenic. But this was definitely an enjoyable tale because, unlike McKinley's tales, this presents the consequences of doing magic. In fact, I really appreciate that about the Discworld adventures: they all balance the wonders of fantasy with the realities of the disasters it would cause. Don't know what I'm talking about? This would be a good book to start on. Although The Light Fantastic is the ideal introduction to Discworld, Equal Rites is a fantastic secondary introduction, built especially well for younger readers.

I really liked this book for completely different reasons than why I like other Pratchett novels.