Sadly, there can be no more Discworld, at least not by its original author. March 12th, despite being the 8th birthday of my cousin Ava and the 14th birthday of my friend Megan, also happened to be the day that Sir Terry died of Alzheimer's. On the bright side, I think that it must help readers to get over the death of a favorite author when said author created a humorous Death WHO TALKS ALL IN CAPITALS. HELLO, SIR TERRY. WE MEET IN PERSON AT LAST.
Anyway!
Equal Rites. The first two Discworld books feature Rincewind, a wizard who only knows one spell, and Twoflower, the Disc's first tourist. Equal Rites introduces a new set of characters, bringing us into the world of witches, wizards who are not failures, and the inner workings of the Unseen University, where wizards are educated.
One stormy day, Drum Billet arrives in the little town of Bad Ass, high up in the Ramtops. He knows that he will die in approximately six minutes, but before he does, he must pass on his wizardly powers to an eighth son of an eighth son. Unfortunately, the specific newborn baby destined to become a wizard...is a girl. When you only have six minutes left of life, it's a bit hard to find a different baby to give your magic staff to, and so Drum Billet has no time to correct his mistake, and Eskarina Smith becomes the Disc's first female wizard. As she grows up, Granny Weatherwax, Bad Ass' witch, believes that she can train Esk to be a witch, but it soon becomes apparent that it's no good. Esk has learned the ways of witches quickly, but the wizard magic just aches to come bursting out of her. The only way around it is to get Esk accepted to the all-male Unseen University and have her properly trained up. In their journey, Granny and Esk must face cities, innkeepers, rivers, low-quality travel, stuttering boys, monstrous Things, and the prejudices of the University's faculty.