Strong Female Reads book club discussion

Wyrd Sisters

Thread to discuss 'Wyrd Sisters' by Terry Pratchett.

(I haven't started this yet as I'm in the middle of a great fantasy series that I need to finish before my kindle unlimited trial runs out!)

HAVE READ. HAVE LISTENED. HAVE THOUGHTS. MUST SHARE.

**SPOILER WARNING**

This was a reread for me, but I only read it about 5 years ago, when I started getting into the series systematically. So it was interesting to come back to, with a greater understanding of the world.

Given I’ve read more Discworld, this is not my favourite book, but the witches are some of my favourite characters, and I agree this is a good place to start if you haven’t read any Discworld. I love the relative depth he gives to characters - there are no 2D characters: the playwright is a dwarf with no talent for mining, the fool is loyal but intelligent, even the guard who arrests the wrong witches does so because he was scarred by a Punch and Judy show as a child. Having said that, perhaps the one character with not enough depth is the Duchess, who is just selfish and cruel without further description beyond mistakenly believing she looks good in red.

As noted in the podcast, some of his descriptions of women do come from a male gaze. The witches are always great, but younger women - and young women in particular - aren’t quite as well developed until a good dozen books or so into the series. In fact my favourite series within Discworld is the Tiffany Aching books - starting with Wee Free Men (#34) - in which he provides a character well aware of what is expected of her or not because she is a girl, and provides a Strong Female Lead with such strength that I want to be her when I grow up, even if she is only 11. In fact in I Shall Wear Midnight (also with Tiffany Aching), he explores what is alluded to by the plays and the power of words in Wyrd Sisters, by examining how insidious baseless hatred can become.

Some of the little subversions of Wyrd Sisters I love: like the Duke being the one with the ‘out damn spot’ obsession, taken to its gruesome extreme; the Fool and Tomjon being brothers, but not by the king.

Last time I read it from a borrowed hard copy, so this time I bought the ebook. So I can see where I’ve highlighted parts, which I rather enjoy. So here’s one:

“Only in our dreams are we free. The rest of the time we need wages.”

To the broader point of a feminist perspective of Discworld, even with legitimate criticisms of the female characters in his books - there’s not enough, and they don’t always get to talk to each other, and they get better in his later books than in his earlier books - I would not hesitate to recommend him as a writer who argues vehemently for social justice and social equality in his books. It’s a small point but one important feminist lightbulb moment for me was when reading Men at Arms when the ‘diversity hires’ of a (female) dwarf and a woman/werewolf are talking and point out that it’s not enough to do what men do, you have to do it the way men do it. I was really moved to reread Raising Steam recently and realise how strongly he’s demonstrating that people are people - whether human, dwarf, troll, goblin, vampire, zombie, werewolf, or Nobbs. In fighting for the ‘other’ his books provide a voice for many marginalised groups which have been ‘othered’.

If you’re new to Discworld and want to read on after this, I’d suggest keep reading the witches books (google Discworld reading order and you’ll find it organised into threads), or jump to Wee Free Men. Monstrous Regiment is interesting for playing with the trope of the girl who disguises herself as a boy to go to war to find her brother/be with the man she loves/insert man-based reason. I didn’t love it but it’s interesting for that. For the broader world of Discworld, I’d recommend the Guard books, although perhaps start with Men at Arms.

As you’re all podcasters, you might be interested in the PratChat podcast - an Australian-based monthly podcast choosing a new Discworld book each month. Only 3 eps in so far, AND they also chose Wyrd Sisters so their ep should be out 8 February!

Hope you all enjoy!

Great recommendations and input, Jodi! Thanks for posting.
Keen on the werewolf one now as they are the best monsters.