A Book Review: Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #14)

Have you ever heard of elves?

“Yeah of course, who hasn't?” You said, “Check out The Lord of the Rings, the Elves are beautiful and lovely; the elves are so much better than us and they are like... Lords and Ladies”.

But how do you know the elves are lovely? Have you met them? What if the elves are evil, sadistic bastards?

Ah ha, I see questions in your eyes. There is a book called Lords and Ladies, it is written by Terry Pratchett and it is also the 14^th installment in the Discworld series. What is this book about? On a hot Midsummer Night, the elves broke the barriers of imagination and stepped into the reality. Everyone thought the elves would be nice, but they turned out to be evil, sadistic bastards who like to torture people for fun. After the elves showed up, things quickly went pear-shaped and spooky. Luckily, Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Margrat Garlick, three witches who met every Tuesday night, they stood up and took on the elves. But I won't tell you anymore of the story lest I spoil it.

You said, “But Daniel, both The Lord of the Rings and this book are fictions. Elves are fictions. So, what is the point?”

Elves are fictitious, you got that right! Look, aside from the fact that Lords and Ladies is well written, witty, and humorous, but I also think Sir Terry was trying to tell us a thing or two about the danger of myth and the attraction to the unreal. After I read it, I thought the book is trying to tell us that we ought to be more earthy, like Granny Weatherwax, who always plants her foot on earth, then we will discover what appears to be the mundane and the normal in the everyday life are in fact, miracles already and they are worth celebrating; life won't become more fulfilling from chasing the unseen stuff, when we chase air we only end up with more air.

Does this book sound good to you? I think Lords and Ladies is both entertaining and interesting. Read, think, and form your own conclusions. I recommend this book to those who like novels but also looking for something more than just the stories. By the way, Lords and Ladies is also a parody to the Shakespeare’s A Midsummer's Night's Dream. Before you read Lords and Ladies though, you should read the three books preceding it; Equal Rites, Wyrd Sisters, and Witches Abroad. Enjoy!