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Rating: 
Summary: Whatever happened to Esk?
Review: Drum Billett, an elderly wizard, is dying, and is waiting to pass on his magical staff to the newborn eighth son of an eight son before he expires. Unfortunately, the eighth son turns out to be a daughter, but Drum Billett finds this out too late, he's already given her the staff. Eskarina grows up showing signs of having strong magical powers, so her perplexed parents apprentice her to the witch Granny Weatherwax (making her first apperance in the saga). Granny becomes convinced that Esk really does have wizard powers, so they set off on the long journey to Ankh-Morpork to try and convince the wizards of Unseen University that Esk is fit to be a wizard. Nobody at Unseen University has any time for Esk, except a young apprentice wizard called Simon. It seems there are sinister forces at work in the university, and only Esk and Simon can stop them. Granny Weatherwax is a less complex character in this book than she later becomes, but still formidable. The magical battle between Granny and Cutangle, the chancellor of the University, is one of the highlights of the book. One thing about this story ahs always puzzled me though. At the end of the book, Cutanlge decides that Esk can be admitted to the University, and he is considering admitting more female students. He even suggest an exchange programme with Granny Weatherwax (with whom he seems rather smitten). But in subsequent Discworld novels, the charming Esk has vanished without trace, and Unseen University is as much a male bastion as ever. I wonder why? This was the first Discworld novel I ever read, and it is still one of my favourites.
Rating: 
Summary: Still a bit early
Review: Equal Rites is, again, a step forward for the series. While Esk isn't as dynamic as one might hope, and Granny Weatherwax is only on her way to her "true self," Equal Rites is by no means a bad book.
Rating: 
Summary: A story about sex
Review: Sir Terry Pratchett is, of course, the foremost writer of comedic fantasy these days. If you haven't yet read Pratchett, then there is a large gap in your education. Pratchett is best known for his Discworld novels, the Discworld being a disc (hence the name, obviously) that is travelling through space on the backs of four giant elephants who are, in turn, standing on the back of an enormous turtle. Magic works on this unique world, which is populated by a wide variety of fantastical creatures. This is the setting for Pratchett's funny, satirical, and insightful comments on the real world and the idiotic things that people do.
Equal Rites is the third Discworld novel, and in it Pratchett has, for the time being, taken leave of Rincewind, the hero from the first two Discworld adventures. We are instead introduced to the next major Discworld character, Granny Weatherwax, the pre-eminent witch of the Ramtops (Pratchett appears to have reused the last name of the late Archchancellor from The Light Fantastic, who is later revealed in The Discworld Companion as having been a distant relative of Granny's). The Ramtops area seems to have a large concentration of the magically apt (this having to do with the fact that the strong magical field of the Discworld earths itself here), since the current Archchancellor, Cutangle (who, like so many of the early Archchancellors, only appears in one book), also originally hailed from this area. Yes, I do have a life.
Every one knows that the eighth son of an eighth son will become a wizard, so when the wife of the smith in the village of Bad Ass - the smith himself being an eighth son - gives birth for the eighth time, it surprises no one that the wizard Drum Billet shows up to pass on his powerful wizard's staff to the newborn infant before he dies (and is reincarnated as an apple tree, and later as an intelligent ant). The only problem is, the good old wizard forgot to check the baby's sex.
As Pratchett says on the first page of the book, this is a story about magic, and also a story about sex. And it's a story about eight-year-old Eskarina Smith, commonly known as Esk, who is the eighth son of an eighth son, only she's a daughter. And girls can't become wizards, that's the lore (a pun, perhaps, on the way some English-speaking snobs can't properly pronounce the word "law"). So Esk becomes Granny's apprentice instead, training to become a witch. But in time it becomes clear that she has wizard's magic in her also, and this magic can't stay bottled up forever. Esk is protected by her staff, which has great power and a personality of its own (much like the Luggage), but ultimately the only place where Esk can find the help she needs is Unseen University in Ankh-Morpork, the high seat of wizardly magic on the disc. So she sets out on her journey, accompanied by Granny.
While on the way, Esk meets the boy-genius Simon, who has a permanent stutter and an even more permanent hayfever. Eventually, after some adventures, she arrives at Ankh-Morpork, but things do not go as she had hoped there. Instead, she gradually finds herself heading for a confrontation with the Things from the Dungeon Dimensions, who are always seeking to find a way into reality, and have now finally found that way. Only Esk can stop them.
In this story, Pratchett deals with the perceived differences and inequalities between the genders. He doesn't delve too deeply into this, however, which is a good thing. Equal Rites isn't quite Pratchett at his funniest best, and this book is perhaps a slightly weaker entry in the saga, between the peaks of The Light Fantastic and Mort. The ending is a bit anti-climactic, and there are, at times, gaps in the story where more could have been done. But, all in all, it's still a good story, and interesting enough to be an easy and lightly entertaining read.
Rating:
Summary: I was warned
Review: Some friends told me that Equal Rights was quite a departure from the first two Discworld books, and they were right. When I first started the book, I felt a bit like I was reading a different author. I struggled to find the humor in the book. The characters were interesting, but did not seem as flawed as Twoflower and Rincewind. The story kept me in it though, and I'm glad it did. The end was just what I have come to expect from Pratchett. I happen to think that the exchange between Granny and the Head Wizard is some of his funniest writing so far, which is saying something.
Rating:
Summary: Equal but Opposite
Review: Terry Pratchett once again takes readers on a romp through Discworld, however, in a departure from style, Pratchett chooses to make this book much more serius than his past two books. Although his writing style has changed, it continues to improve in the way he is able to describe things with not only increadible detail and realism, but also to make the reader laugh, chuckle, chortle, or whatever other reaction the reader has to a good joke.
This book leaves the characters of Rincewind and Twoflower and opens with a wizard giving his power to the eigth son of an eigth son. Because he is in a hurry, however, and because the father is convinced the child is going to be a boy, they don't discover that the son is actually a daughter until after the transferance of power ritual is completed. The girl, named Eskarina (Esk for short) is raised normally until the age of eight, when a family friend, the witch Esmerelda ("granny") Weatherwax, offers to raise the child and help her with her gift, which had recently manifested itself after an incident between Esk and her brothers. From there, Esk begins to question the way of things, that all wizards are men and all witches are women, and decides that she is going to be the first female wizard. Thus begins their journey to the city of Ankh-Morpork to take Esk to the Unseen University, the center of magic on Discworld.
I suggest you read the first two Discworld books first, however it's not necessary: This book contains almost no references to the first book. It's also a short read, so pull up a chair, get something to eat, and hold on to your hat (and broomstick) as Terry Pratchett takes us once again to the beautiful, waterfall encircled world of Discworld.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty Good
Review: There are three ways to look at "Equal Rites". First we view it as a farce, just like Pratchett's first two Discworld novels. Second, we can view it as an honest story about a girl's coming of age. Thirdly, we can view it as a sophisticated parody of fantasy conventions. But any way you slice it, "Rites" works pretty well. This is the start of Pratchett's rise from screwball comedy to literary greatness.His talent shines forth in the careful blending of the three different approaches to telling the story. There will be long patches of apparently serious prose, during which we see the interaction between the little girl Esk and Granny Weatherwax. Then, right when you least expect it, Pratchett gets you with a killer punchline. I think that my favorite moment is when Granny Weatherwax launches a diatribe against the wizard's staff that symbolically divides her from her pupil, after which the omnipresent narrator comments: "The staff regarded her woodenly." He he. Is it any wonder this guy is the second best-selling author in British history? Also of note is Pratchett's clever word choices and bizarre imagery. In one scene in the library where the books escape, the narrator notes "a flock of thesauruses" flying past.
Rating:
Summary: Better than Sourceror, but not the best of Discworld
Review: This an early, shorter Discworld novel (number 3), but it is notably better than Sourcery (number 5), which has a similar plot. As a baby, young Eskarina, the 8th "son" of an 8th son, is given a staff and power by a dying wizard who discovers, too late, that she is actually a daughter. Granny Weatherwax takes the girl under her wing as an apprentice witch, but it eventually becomes clear that young Eskarina must learn wizardry to control her powers. Granny's scenes are the best parts of this book: she seems to be Pratchett's earliest, best-developed, and favorite witch. Eskarina's dialogs with adults she meets along the journey are very funny, but we don't get to see her character develop very well. Pratchett's puns are in fine form in this book. The story's point, which seems to be about the separate-but-equal nature of witch and wizard magic, becomes confused and diluted; the sexist wizards, who are openly contemptuous of the idea of a female wizard, are never really shown up, and although Granny muses repeatedly about her distaste for wizard magic, she eventually winds up in a wizard's duel with Archchancellor Cutangle of Unseen University in which she matches him spell-for-spell. Is a witch really a wizard with extra psychic powers and practical skills in herbalism, "headology," and the good sense to know when to use psychology instead of magic? In that case, it is the wizards that are the simplistic, sexist stereotype, and I fail to see the value in fighting sexist stereotypes with different sexist stereotypes. As happens with frustrating frequency in Pratchett's novels, the ending becomes somewhat muddled: Eskarina is largely ignored in favor of scenes between Granny and Cutangle, and as the book winds up, she has yet to learn to read her first wizard spell, and a potentially interesting character, the powerful young wizard, Simon, is somewhat wasted as the story ends, like Sourcery, in a random spectacle of excess magic.
Rating:
Summary: Witchcraft vs. wizardry on Discworld
Review: When Eskarina was born she was bestowed with a dying wizard's magic staff and his powers because the wizard mistakenly thought she was the eighth son of an eighth son. Granny Weatherwax, the town witch who delivered young Esk, knows that the girl must now learn to control the extraordinary powers she has been bequeathed before they start to control her. She takes Esk under her wing and begins to teach her about witchcraft and magic. After Esk has had several years of apprenticeship, Granny decides to enroll Esk in Unseen University, the training ground for wizards. The two of them set off for Ankh-Morpork, the home of the famous wizard school. But everyone in Discworld knows that wizardry is the bastion of men and that a woman can never become a wizard... or can she?
In "Equal Rites," Terry Pratchett parodies gender stereotyping and discrimination as Esk is confronted with society's view of the differences between witchcraft, a traditionally feminine profession, and wizardry, an exclusively male domain. As Granny sees it, wizardry is high magic composed of science, "jommetry" and power, while witchcraft is a magic grounded in nature, herbs and "headology." Esk feels she can handle either type of magic and she turns wizardry on its ear as she proceeds to demonstrate what she can accomplish. Before reading this book, I thought that Rincewind was the most bumbling of wizards. I now realize that Unseen University is full of them!
This book is not as wickedly funny as the two books that precede it, but it does contain several humorous scenes such as the magic conjuring duel between Granny and the Archchancellor of the university. Although Pratchettisms are sprinkled here and there throughout the book, the story line takes precedence over the satire. Sometimes the metaphorical descriptions of the landscape and sunlight of Discworld go a bit overboard. As a result I give the book only four stars instead of the five I gave the previous books in the series. I did enjoy the story, however, especially the characterization of strong-minded and wise Granny, who is depicted as a non-stereotypical witch who abhors flying on broomsticks and who looks down upon the traditional fortune telling and parlor tricks favored by so many other witches. I look forward to reading the other Discworld witch books.
Eileen Rieback
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