“And stars don’t care what you wish, and magic don’t make things…”

There are currently 175 reviews missing.
The last time I was up to date with reviews was 2022-01-31. Since then, 208/383 books (54.3%) have been reviewed. We'll get there … eventually.

And stars don’t care what you wish, and magic don’t make things better, and no one doesn’t get burned who sticks their hand in a fire. If you want to amount to anything as a witch, Magrat Garlick, you got to learn three things. What’s real, what’s not real, and what’s the difference—”

Witches Abroad

by Terry Pratchett · published 1991 · read 2006-01-01

★★★★★

By a wide margin the earliest Pratchett book that I can give five stars. It's still part of his silly phase, and it predates Night Watch by eleven years, but there's a hard core, flinty and unwavering and willing to punch you in the feelings. In particular, it punched feelings I needed punched. Compared to later Witches books, the whole "people don't always want what they need" arc is soft and fluffy, of course, and it's not what drew me. No: what's stuck in my head is the final scene in the mirror, with Granny and her sister. It's powerful and I'm happy to ignore a book full of Oz references to get there.