A Book Review: Maskerade by Terry Pratchett (Discworld #18)

There is a phantom in the opera house!

What phantom? You mean, Gaston Leroux's novel, The Phantom of the Opera?

No no, I am not talking about the phantom in France. I am talking about the phantom who is murdering people in the opera house of Ankh Morpork! Oh, you haven't heard of this one yet. In that case let me tell you a little bit about a book called Maskerade. It is the 18^th installment in the Discworld series. Speaking of which, can we have some dramatic organ music? It would be even more atmospheric to have ever-rising female vocalizations in the background. Oh yes, play the soundtrack from the movie, The Phantom of the Opera. Ah ha, now we have the right ambience.

What is the story about? I don't want to spoil the book too much. Let's just say, in the buzzing city of Ankh Morpork an ex-owner of a cheese factory bought a majestic opera house. To his mind, running an opera house is just letting some people sing on the stage while he sits back and collects the money. How hard can that be, right? Well, this poor man doesn't know, within the walls of the opera house echoes the legend of a phantom, who not only brings luck to the actors and the actresses but also kills people. More recently, this resident phantom is setting loose a murdering spree. It sounds pretty grim, heh? Worry not, because Discworld's greatest witches, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, are coming into town for a night of fun and detective works that will make Agatha Christie proud.

Maskerade parodied The Phantom of the Opera, it poked fun at the world of opera and the high societies. I think this is the funniest (and my favorite) book out of all the Discworld novels featuring the witches. Every bit in this book is comical. Its eccentric characters and their dialogues tickled my funny bone. It is slapstick and I couldn't stop laughing with the story. The previous Witches books were all structured as quest stories set in the countryside, but this book took the shape of a crime thriller set in Ankh Morpork. The worldbuilding in Maskerade is rich and vibrant. This novel reminded me of the City Watch series, which are my favorite books of Discworld.

This book also expanded the character of Agnes Nitt, whose debut in Lords and Ladies was a minor role. I like Agnes and her story. Sir Terry used Agnes' character to touch on the issue of female body image in the entertainment industry. Speaking of the themes, we can always expect a Discworld novel is more than just a parody. In the case of Maskerade, while this book is not as philosophically complex as Small Gods, but it still explores very interesting questions. For example, I particularly liked the theme about masks – like the actors on the stage, we all wear masks to face our surroundings, and each time we face a different situation we put on a different mask. When is the mask on? When is it off? And who is the real you? In this book, I think Nanny Ogg is the only character who doesn't wear any mask. This is also why I like her the best.

Makerade has both style and substance, it reminded me why I fell in love with Discworld at the first place; the humor, the sharp observations about life, and the thought-provoking questions. This book is very different to the Witches book that came before it, and it has to be my top 10 favorite Discworld books.

Until the next time, happy reading.