This is the story of the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley, who like Cold War spies who have been working against each other for a very long time, find that they have more in common with each other than their respective home offices. When the anti-Christ is born, they start working together in earnest to stop the events that must follow, leading to the Apocalypse. Aziraphale and Crowley like Earth just as it is and don’t wish to see it destroyed. Too bad they don’t actually know where the anti-Christ is. Anathema Device has her ancestor Agnes Nutter’s book of prophecies and following its predictions, moved to a village in Oxfordshire, England to find the anti-Christ. The Witchfinder Army, once responsible for Nutter’s death, now consists of Sergeant Shadwell and Private Pulsifer. The Hellhound is on its way to his master’s side and the Four Horsemen are preparing to ride. Can Crowley and Aziraphale figure out what’s happening in time to stop it all? Did Agnes Nutter predict all of this?
I’ve read this book a few times now, and find something new and delightful each time I read it. I watched the TV series on Amazon Prime before rereading this most recent time, and you will never find a more faithful adaptation of a book than this. It’s wonderful and I can’t recommend the show enough. I love the characters and the love they have for one another. It really is a love story. And it’s wickedly funny. This book holds a special place in my heart for many reasons, and I’m sure I will continue to reread it often in the future.
Review by Jessica A.
Eric is the ninth book in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, and the fourth featuring Rincewind the Wizzard. In this, a 14-year-old boy summons a demon à la Faust, but ends up summoning Rincewind, whom we last saw entering the Demon Dimension at the end of Sourcery. The demon king has been scheming to use Eric and is perturbed to learn that Rincewind, rather than one of his own demons, ended up in Eric’s summoning circle. Still, Eric expects his demands to be answered to by Rincewind, and the demands are fairly typical: ultimate power, an introduction to the most beautiful woman on the planet, and everlasting life. The surprising part is that when Rincewind snaps his fingers, he is able to grant these wishes. Sort of. All the while, the Demon King is trying to catch up to them.
One of the few Discworld books that works as a standalone title, Monstrous Regiment is the story of Polly who dresses as a boy in order to enlist in the army and find her brother who never came back from the wars. And she’s not the only girl to enlist. Sergeant Jackrum, who is near retirement but refuses to accept it, leads this particular recruiting party. Lieutenant Blouse is a paper pusher sent to the front who wants to be like the heroes he reads about in history books. This is the last regiment to be recruited because the war is going so poorly, but no one is allowed to admit that.
Teppic is a student in the Assassin’s Guild who comes from the Old Kingdom, very similar to Ancient Egypt in our world. When his father dies and he returns to his homeland, he wants to bring modernity to the land. He finds himself thwarted by the High Priest Dios, who is very adamant on keeping to the old traditions. One such tradition is building pyramids for dead kings. Funny thing about pyramids though: they sort of store up time, which is why the Old Kingdom always seems stuck in the past. In a very real sense it is in the past. Dios and Teppic have the largest pyramid ever built for the dead king and, well, it causes some problems with the space-time continuum. It’s up to Teppic, a handmaiden named Ptraci, and the dead king (who finds himself resurrected, sort of) to sort out the mess before the Old Kingdom gets destroyed by its own gods.
Wyrd Sisters is the first book in the Discworld series to involve the witches of Lancre, a small kingdom whose king has just been killed (or clumsily fell down the stairs to his death, depending on who is telling the story). This means that you can easily read this book without having read any other Discworld book. Granny Weatherwax is a formidable witch who doesn’t trust what she can’t see with her eyes and, frankly, doesn’t trust many people either. Nanny Ogg is a mother and grandmother of so many I doubt even she can keep count. But you can always count on her for a dirty joke or two, at which Granny will scoff. Magrat Garlick is a new-age witch, who likes her crystals and candles, but still has a lot to learn as far as the other two (more traditional) witches are concerned. What’s concerning them right now is the baby that’s been left at their feet, a royal baby who father is now dead. They do the proper thing and hide the child and the crown and settle back into normal life in Lancre. Except Lancre itself is no longer normal. What does one do when the very country itself (more than just the people within it) rejects the usurper to the throne? What does the usurper do to rewrite history? Should the witches even involve themselves in the matter?