For my thirty-fifth book of 2023, I picked up Terry Pratchett’s ‘Equal Rites’.

My wife is a huge Pratchett fan and has encouraged me to read his witch series (a part of the Discworld series) for a while. I’ve always loved what I’ve read of Pratchett and decided that autumn and Halloween would be as good a time as any. You can read the Discworld books in any order, but I decided to start with the start.

‘Equal Rites’ follows Esk. Esk is a girl whom a wizard—in his dying moment—betroths a magical staff. This act means that Esk is to be the wizard’s replacement in the world. One problem with that, though. Women can’t be wizards. Witches, sure. Wizards? Not a chance. Hence, the fabulous title.

As I’ve come to expect from Pratchett’s work, his writing is hilarious and wonderful. The book whizzes past, always staying within its welcome. Pratchett shows other fantasy novelists that you don’t need a series of 600-page tomes to tell a tale. His imagination crackles with the colour of magic. And, of course, he was lightyears ahead of the rest of us. Pratchett tackles complex issues such as institutionalised sexism and gets it bang on. And this was back in the eighties.

Delightful, creative, philosophical—’Equal Rites’ more than stands up today.