The witches are in good form in this fun-packed caper. They’re doing their best not to meddle, as the king of Lancre is deposed by a power hungry duke, and the witches are left holding the baby. Literally.
The mysterious baby that the witches find themselves with gets left in the care of the kindly leader of a travelling band of actors, and their fates are intertwined with the duke and the kingdom of Lancre, ably assisted (not meddling, honest!) by the witches. The story is littered with Shakespeare references - most strongly Macbeth, with the three witches, and the duke obsessively cleaning the blood from his hand - to little snippets and references to other plays, as the playwright in the band of actors crafts subtly familiar lines into his plays.
There are also nice little touches of satire creeping in, as the duke realises the power of language to “reinterpret” history, and attempts to use the mass media of the time (travelling theatre) as a form of propaganda. The book was written in 1988, but I suspect if it had been written after 2020, the phrase “fake news” might even have appeared. The satire, however minimal, is done with a deft hand and is full of humour.
I was smiling and chucking the whole way through this book. And while the overall story arc was largely predictable from the beginning, the journey was very enjoyable. The characters were all solid, and it’s lovely to see the three witches having their own distinct characters, as more of the witch lore is established. I’m looking forward to enjoying in the later books in the witches sub-series.
My rating: ★★★★☆
No comments:
Post a Comment