loppear reviewed Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett (Discworld (3))
re-read with my daughter
4.0 stars
Will Unseen University accept a gifted girl to train as a wizard? Love this early Pratchett.

Equal Rites (AudiobookFormat, Penguin Audio)
'They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.'
Everybody knows there's no such thing as a female wizard. So when the wizard Drum Billet accidentally passes on his staff of power to an eighth daughter of an eighth son, a girl called Eskarina (Esk, for short), the misogynistic world of wizardry wants nothing to do with her.
Thankfully Granny Weatherwax, the Discworld's most famous witch, has plenty of experience ignoring the status quo. …
'They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.'
Everybody knows there's no such thing as a female wizard. So when the wizard Drum Billet accidentally passes on his staff of power to an eighth daughter of an eighth son, a girl called Eskarina (Esk, for short), the misogynistic world of wizardry wants nothing to do with her.
Thankfully Granny Weatherwax, the Discworld's most famous witch, has plenty of experience ignoring the status quo. With Granny's help, Esk sneaks her way into the magical Unseen University and befriends apprentice wizard Simon.
But power is unpredictable, and these bright young students soon find themselves in a whole new dimension of trouble. Let the battle of the sexes begin....
Equal Rites is the first book in the Witches series, but you can listen to the Discworld novels in any order.
7h 27m
Published by Penguin Audio.
Will Unseen University accept a gifted girl to train as a wizard? Love this early Pratchett.
Will Unseen University accept a gifted girl to train as a wizard? Love this early Pratchett.
Me lo he leído de dos sentadas, bastante mejor que los dos primeros de los magos aunque todavia se nota que no está a tope.
Lo primero que me ha llamado la atención ha sido la incongruencia entre la introducción de las mujeres en la universidad invisible y que luego en toda la saga de los magos eso siga siendo un tabú y que personajes tan, en principio, emparentados con los magos no hayan tenido cameos (como si han tenido la muerte o Vimes).
A parte de esto tenemos una historia muy interesante, llena de mensaje empoderante desde el máximo sentido común de una niña que desconoce aún los roles que impone la cultura establecida y por lo tanto se empeña en romperlos dejando a los adultos en muchos casos sin salida. Bravo.
Es un libro fácil de leer, ingenioso y entretenido.
Tiene una lectura crítica sobre los roles de género, una crítica bastante básica pero que se podría ajustar al contexto de Terry Pratchett.
Me gusta cómo ridiculiza los roles de género a lo largo del libro y cómo los pone en evidencia de forma bastante graciosa. Por otro lado, se podría entender a Esk como la personificación de quien no ha sido aún contaminade por este pensamiento binario y arbitrario, que simplemente no lo entiende por lo que sigue sus deseos sin estar atada al binarismo. Es bonito ver cómo Yaya Ceravieja va aprendiendo y cómo se cuestiona a través de Esk las ideas preconcebidas sobre cómo son las cosas.
No le doy 5 estrellas por alguna frase machista o racista fuera de lugar, aunque nada que ver con los libros anteriores de la saga de Mundodisco, "El …
Es un libro fácil de leer, ingenioso y entretenido.
Tiene una lectura crítica sobre los roles de género, una crítica bastante básica pero que se podría ajustar al contexto de Terry Pratchett.
Me gusta cómo ridiculiza los roles de género a lo largo del libro y cómo los pone en evidencia de forma bastante graciosa. Por otro lado, se podría entender a Esk como la personificación de quien no ha sido aún contaminade por este pensamiento binario y arbitrario, que simplemente no lo entiende por lo que sigue sus deseos sin estar atada al binarismo. Es bonito ver cómo Yaya Ceravieja va aprendiendo y cómo se cuestiona a través de Esk las ideas preconcebidas sobre cómo son las cosas.
No le doy 5 estrellas por alguna frase machista o racista fuera de lugar, aunque nada que ver con los libros anteriores de la saga de Mundodisco, "El color de la magia" y "La luz fantástica", que hace una objetivización constante de los personajes femininos. En este libro cambia considerablemente esa dinámica y pone en valor a los personajes femeninos del libro.
The first flight on the rod scene, to me, is more epic than Luke getting the lightsaber.
Amazing rhyme of the two storylines of the main characters, a counter-position between the cozy and contained village life and dramatic path to the city, as well as events that followed, genius driven by dark conspiracy, ah. So much of this is absolutely badass.
Half a point nudged off for Pratchett's favorite idea of putting enough machinae around to pull dei out of those by their ears.
What a fun book! This is my very first Terry Pratchett. After the stories of the Discworld have been on my to-read list for way too long I was finally convinced to try one and Equal Rites is definitely a very good start into the series.
It was fun, honest, critical and everything what you want. So much magic and quirkiness, but not in a bad way—I enjoyed this book very much and definitely cannot wait to be drawn even deeper into the Discworld!
I always adore stories of this nature, particularly because I love to see the kinds of journeys that take place among the characters and how that develops them.
While I know Esk was meant to be the primary main character, Granny Weatherwax really takes on a whole chunk of the story. She's someone with whom I very much find myself identifying, and it's because of the constant "Well, it's got to happen one way or the other, so we may as well do it" personality she exudes. She's very stubborn but incredibly caring for the people around her, even if it seems otherwise.
Also, she has a thing for old fabric.
This perfectly ridicules the arbitrariness of gender stereotypes. Everybody knows that only men can be wizards, everybody knows it’s part of the lore, but nobody actually knows where it is written or why it should be the case. And Esk just ignoring both her role as a wizard and a witch and rescuing Simon and herself by not using magic is about the best possible ending.