Rating: 
Summary: This is opera!
Review: Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax, the two most infamous Discworld witches, have some urgent financial business to take care off in Ankh-Morpork. Who would have guessed that Nanny Ogg's cookbook "The Joye of Snacks" would turn out to be such a success? Certainly if one takes into account that it only contains recipes of dishes that greatly improve one's nightly actions in bed, like Celery Astonishment or Strawberry Wobbler. One certainly would not have guessed that the Ankh-Morpork publisher, one of the nobelest professions on the Discworld, did not prefer to share its profits with the author. Granny Weatherwax is bound to undertake some slight corrective actions to the mindset of the publisher. When both witches arrive in Ankh-Morpork, they see Agnes Nitt, alias Perdita X. Dream and born in Lancre, avoiding being noticed and failing miserably. Agnes wants to be an opera singer, but Nanny Ogg does not think that having all the talents of an opera singer makes Agnes suitable for a career in the Opera House. But Nanny should not meddle in other people's lives... or should she? In this eighteenth episode of the Discworld saga Terry Pratchett proves that the witches are not yet fin-de-career. Now that Magrat is gone (see Lords and Ladies), Nanny Ogg is searching for a replacement witch. The search brings them to the world of Opera. Or is it the world of Musical? The story starts as a typical Discworld novel by introducing some colorful new characters like Mr Bucket, Senior Basilica and Walter Plinge, and some old friends, like Death, the Librarian and sweet-smelling Nobby. But quickly you notice that it all fits nicely as a parody on The Phantom of the Opera, only this time it is more like The Ghost of the Opera. As such this book compares easily with Weird Sisters and Moving Pictures, where Pratchett plays with those other entertainment businesses: theater and film. The plotline of The Phantom really is a grateful base for extremely funny situations. Pratchett is at full speed in the hilarious closing sequence.
Rating: 
Summary: Among the Best of Discworld
Review: This Discworld novel plays off Phantom of the Opera. Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg set off to Ankh-Morpork to find out why they have not received royalties due Nanny for her best-selling cookbook of naughty erotic and aphrodisiac delicacies, and to check up on Agnes Nitt, who has gone to seek her fortune and is singing in the background for a young airheaded opera starlet who looks good in a sequined costume, in a sort of Milli-Vanilli scenario. She has not yet joined the coven, but has found she doesn't seem to fit in anywhere else; her alter-ego, Perdita, is also not yet developed into the alternate personality it becomes in later books. This one is quite funny, and the plot moves along well. There's a pseudo-Italian imposter tenor, Greebo makes an hilarious appearance in human form, and we get to experience a lot of Granny, my favorite witch character. It loses a star only because it dissipates some of its energy on one too many minor characters and subplots.
Rating:
Summary: Another bullseye for Terry
Review: Yep, Terry Pratchett strikes again, this time with a hilarious parody on 'The Phantom of the Opera'. With Magrat Garlick finally settled nicely as the Queen of Lancre, the remaining witches, Esme 'Granny' Weatherwax and Gytha 'Nanny' Ogg, travel to the big city of Ankh Morpork to visit young Agnes Nitt - a promising potential witch from Lancre who went to Ankh to find her future in the Opera. While they're there, the witches help solve a series of mysterious murders at the Opera House. The Witch books seem to get better every time, and the characters of Nanny and Granny are, on Maskerade, more full and charming than ever before. The new characters - Agnes, Senor Basilica, Walter Plinge and the rest - are all hilarious and very well-written. And let's not forget cameos by old favorites like 'Nobby' Nobbs, Sgt. Detritus and the Librarian. One of Terry's most intelligent parodies, equals Lords And Ladies but much, much funnier - Maskerade is essential for Pratchett fans and Discworld veterans.
Rating:
Summary: Another bullseye for Terry
Review: Yep, Terry Pratchett strikes again, this time with a hilarious parody on `The Phantom of the Opera'. With Magrat Garlick finally settled nicely as the Queen of Lancre, the remaining witches, Esme `Granny' Weatherwax and Gytha `Nanny' Ogg, travel to the big city of Ankh Morpork to visit young Agnes Nitt - a promising potential witch from Lancre who went to Ankh to find her future in the Opera. While they're there, the witches help solve a series of mysterious murders at the Opera House. The Witch books seem to get better every time, and the characters of Nanny and Granny are, on Maskerade, more full and charming than ever before. The new characters - Agnes, Senor Basilica, Walter Plinge and the rest - are all hilarious and very well-written. And let's not forget cameos by old favorites like `Nobby' Nobbs, Sgt. Detritus and the Librarian. One of Terry's most intelligent parodies, equals Lords And Ladies but much, much funnier - Maskerade is essential for Pratchett fans and Discworld veterans.
Rating:
Summary: Pratchett just keeps getting better and better!
Review: You know what I think? I think Terry Pratchett is breaking the rules. He's not writing these books for his publisher, or even for us - I think he's writing for himself. And I'm so glad he is. Because instead of sticking to some "formula for success," which usually results in most sequels turning out to be pale, thin imitations of the books that made us ask the author for more, Pratchett just keeps on turning out great STORIES and each one gets richer and better as his characters and his world develop and become more real. But enough of my half-formed Theory of Great Literature. Here is why you want to read Masquerade: It has Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg in it. And, as if that weren't enough to make you want to read it (well, it was enough for me!) Death shows up (of course he's everywhere, right?) in a very interesting cameo, wherein we get to wonder just who - Granny or Death - IS the most powerful character on the Disc. Dear (?) ol' Greebo gets a large speaknig part in this one, too (mee-yowl!) This is the story of how Agnes/Perdita Nitt came to be involved in in the unconventional coven. It's also a murder mystery (people are dropping out of the flies like flies) and it's a belly-busting look at opera and the entertainment industry and - as always - human nature overall. It never ceases to amaze me how Pratchett manages to make me say "wow, that is so deep, that is so true," and yet laugh so hard I have to put the book down for a few minutes - every few minutes.
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