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Equal Rites

Equal Rites

FantasyHigh Fantasy
Pages
288
Published
1987
Language
English

Synopsis

When a dying wizard accidentally passes his staff and powers to the eighth child of an eighth son — who turns out to be a girl — the Discworld faces a problem it has never encountered: a female wizard. Eskarina Smith and her reluctant mentor, the formidable witch Granny Weatherwax, must battle Unseen University's entrenched prejudices to claim Esk's rightful place. The third Discworld novel and the introduction of Granny Weatherwax, published January 1987.

Prose complexity
6/10

Vibe

FunnyThought-ProvokingSatiricalAdventurous
Coming of AgeFish Out of WaterMentor Figure

Genres

Fantasy High Fantasy Comic Fiction Humor Satire

About the author

T
Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) was an English author best known for the Discworld series, a sequence of forty-one comic fantasy novels set on a flat world carried through space on the backs of four elephants standing on a giant turtle. Across four decades, the Discworld grew from a parody of sword-and-sorcery fantasy into one of the most sustained works of social satire in English literature, examining politics, religion, science, gender, race, capitalism, and the nature of stories themselves. Pra...

Characters

Eskarina SmithProtagonist

The first female wizard on the Discworld — a girl who inherits a wizard's staff and must fight institutional prejudice to be recognized for what she is.

Granny WeatherwaxSupporting

The Disc's most formidable witch, who becomes Esk's reluctant guardian. Her first appearance in the Discworld series.

Simon (Discworld)Supporting

A stammering but magically gifted apprentice at Unseen University who befriends Esk; his experimental magic tears open a portal to the Dungeon Dimensions.

Drum BilletSupporting

The elderly wizard who, believing a newborn to be the destined eighth son of an eighth son, passes his staff and magic to her before dying — setting the whole plot in motion.

Archchancellor CutangleSupporting

The Archchancellor of Unseen University, who resists the idea of a female wizard before coming to Esk's aid.

All characters in Equal Rites

Frequently asked questions

  • What does the title Equal Rites mean?

    A triple pun: 'equal rights' (gender equality), 'equal rites' (equal ritual/magical standing for women and men), and 'rites' in the formal sense of magical tradition. Published in January 1987.

  • Is Equal Rites the start of the Witches sub-series?

    Technically yes — it introduces Granny Weatherwax. But the Witches books as most readers know them (Granny, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat as a trio) begin with Wyrd Sisters (1988). Equal Rites stands somewhat apart.

  • Does Eskarina Smith appear in other Discworld novels?

    Eskarina makes a brief cameo in I Shall Wear Midnight (2010) after an absence of over 20 novels — a moment that delighted long-term readers.

  • What is the significance of 'eighth son of an eighth son'?

    On the Discworld, magical power is passed from the eighth son of an eighth son — a numerologically significant birthright. The crisis of this novel is that the child born at this auspicious moment is a girl, something the magical rules never anticipated.

  • When was Equal Rites published?

    First published on 15 January 1987 by Victor Gollancz. It is the third Discworld novel.

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