Witches Abroad
- Author: Terry Pratchett
- Page count: 305
- Started on: 2026/08/20
- Finished on: 2026/09/03
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
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In my continuing quest to read Pratchett’s Discworld books, starting from the highest rated subseries and working backwards, I am now going through the Witches works and just finished Witches Abroad. There is no Stephen Briggs narration of this one, so I listened to Indira Varma’s audiobook narration.
In Witches Abroad, Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat Garlick travel to a distant kingdom where a fairy godmother is forcing people’s lives into fairytale stories. The witches confront those stories, the idea of destiny, and the ideal of happily ever after.
All of it is told in a way that only Terry Pratchett can, with constant winks to the danger of good intentions and forcing people into expected roles1, and the importance of free will and self-restraint. While his treatment of deep moral issues is still a bit more obvious and less nuanced than in many of the later Discworld books I’ve read, it’s already a long way from the earliest works in the series. Pratchett wrote 41 Discworld novels in 32 years, and I find it fascinating (but not always satisfying) to read his evolving style and craftsmanship.
Footnotes
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The fairytale damsel-in-distress is named Emberella, which gave me a good chuckle. ↩
