People don’t have to invite witches, they just know we’ll turn up if we want to.’ It stands alone but is probably best read after ‘ Wyrd Sisters’.‘We weren’t invited. Still, it's one of the better early Discworld books. I liked reading this book again and am glad I have done so, but I didn’t find it quite as enjoyable as I did last time. They debate whether fate - or at least expected fate - can be stopped in its tracks, and whether it’s possible to force everybody to be happy. And a rather less light-hearted ending to the book, involving philosophical discussions about the nature of good and evil, and the inevitability of stories. There are some clever references to fairy stories, legends and other literature throughout the book, some of which I didn’t see coming at all. She has been given a magic wand, which makes her a fairy godmother… but she can’t work out exactly how to make it do what she wants.

She’s stereotyped as a younger, health-conscious person who still hasn’t quite understood headology and the way that the witches CAN do direct magic, but choose not to. She gets far more uptight and stressed than Nanny the two are about as different as it’s possible to be, yet are still very good friends.Īs for Magrat, youngest by far of the three, she’s still learning. Granny is far more prudish, a mixture of kindness and abruptness which is explained in a way I had forgotten in this book. She’s fond of alcoholic drinks too, and delighted to find one that’s basically bananas, which are, after all, a health food… She likes men, even in her advanced years, and is full of innuendoes. Nanny Ogg, mother and grandmother of many, was quite promiscuous in her youth, if Granny is to be believed.

I like the way that the characters of the witches are developed in this book, and we learn more about their backgrounds. There are some amusing conversations, as Nanny Ogg tries her hand at ‘speaking foreign’, which involves pseudo-French, German, Spanish and probably other European languages in unexpected ways. The first part of the book involves their travels through various different regions of the Disc, encountering various people, leaving a trail of confusion and (at times) rejoicing.

The basic storyline is that the three Lancre witches - Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick - travel to ‘foreign parts’ in order that Magrat can ensure that a princess does not marry a particular person…. It’s the twelfth book in the lengthy series and I’ve always considered it one of my favourites. In gradually re-reading Terry Pratchett’s Discworld’ series, I was quite pleased to reach ‘Witches Abroad’.

Terry pratchett three witches