Book Thoughts: Equal Rites

Title: Equal Rites
Author: Terry Pratchett
Series: Discworld #3
*Imported from tumblr.*

Eskarina wants to be a wizard. The problem? She’s a girl, and women can’t be wizards — it’s against the lore. But good luck convincing Esk to be anything other than exactly what she wants to be.

This is the third Discworld book I’ve read and I loved it. Terry Pratchett has a knack for satire that I can’t quite put words to. It had me laughing out loud and reading passages to whoever was in hearing range. It’s a feminist book that doesn’t feel like a feminist book, and it’s a bundle of hilarity that manages to hit close to home.

Also, I want Granny Weatherwax to be my granny. It’s worth reading just for her sass and steeliness.

tl;dr if you’ve never read Terry Pratchett, you should.

Book Thoughts: The Demon King

Title: The Demon King
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Series: Seven Realms #1

I read this at the prompting of both my roommate and my brother and was not disappointed. It has the air of a typical fantasy novel: small villages and ornate palaces, swordfights (no gunpowder), and a mysterious history riddled with magic. And of course, there are evil wizards (and not-so-evil wizards).

I can't give this book a summary that does it justice (seriously, check out the Goodreads link), but I can tell you that I was sucked into both the lore and the story and very much drawn to the characters. Raisa is an awesome mix of kick-ass and the more typically feminine traits, and Han is a wonderful hero as well.

Fortunately, my brother has the second and third books in the series, so I'll be stealing borrowing those soon!

Book Thoughts: The Color of Magic/The Light Fantastic

Title: The Color of Magic (book 1), The Light Fantastic (book 2)
Author: Terry Pratchett
Series: Discworld #1 and 2

Rincewind is a failed wizard. Twoflower is the Disc's first tourist. The Disc? It's a flat world carried through space on the back of a giant turtle.

It sounds strange, but bear with me. Brilliant satire. Intelligent, laugh-out-loud humor. Bizarre adventures. Excellent writing.

Not to mention some ridiculous shenanigans involving a Spell that has lodged itself in Rincewind's mind, a magical picture-box, some barbarians, RP-ing gods, and of course, the Luggage that has a mind of its own. The Luggage may be my favorite character. (Unless Death is my favorite character.)

There is some seriously awesome world-development going on here, plus some stories that you will not want to miss. They're very difficult books to describe to anyone, but they are definitely worth reading.