The Witches of Lancre are arguably among the best characters in the Discworld universe. Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg are extremely memorable and their no-nonsense approach to everything brings plenty of laughs on every page.

In Lords and Ladies they are confronted by an absent Magrat, on account of her marrying the new fool king of Lancre, and with a bunch of rebellious teenagers who think that all this witching business should better be handled by someone young and adventurous and, in their ignorance, they open the door for the return of the so-called “Lords and Ladies”. So it befalls Granny & Nanny to rescue Lancre, Lancre’s youth and Lancre’s future queen, using headology and some actual magic.

World-building

What is there to say about world-building at this point ? This is my 7th (or something like it) Discworld novel, and the world-building is always the same. Very consistent, very funny and very clever. At this point we can just call it Iconic, and be done with it.

Characters

Granny and Nanny take up the forefront of the action in this one, but we also get plenty of facetime with Magrat as she mentally prepares herself for a life as Queen of Lancre and we have some pleasant forays into the POVs of some wizards and the country’s standing army of one, Jason Ogg. As always, each one has their own distinct karikature character and due to the narrator’s skill (I’m a huge fan of the audiobooks), they are distinguishable by voice. Great, memorable characters all around.

Story

The story this time focuses heavily on the threat of the Lords and Ladies returning and Magrat’s struggle with her future. Both were interesting, but I must confess that I wasn’t as invested in the actual storyline as I was with e.g Guards! Guards! or Men at Arms.

Writing

It’s a Pratchett novel, his writing is solid all around, constantly playing with words, metafors, dialects and sounds. It’s fun to read, but it’s even better to listen to.

Conclusion

Another solid work in the Discworld series, even though this book really excells with the characters and the writing that it does with the story. I had a lot of fun and am looking forward to the next time I get to meet the Witches of Lancre.

5 stars.