Title: [Maskerade]
Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre: Satiric Fantasy
Medium: Paperback
Acquisition: Purchased
Date Completed: February 12, 2017
Rating: ****
Nanny Ogg is worried about her friend Granny Weatherwax, who has fallen into a depression since Magrat became queen and found herself too busy for witchcraft. Afraid that Granny may become like Black Aliss, a dark witch of the passed whom Granny has surpassed in power, Nanny cooks up a plot to find a third witch to train, the better to keep Granny occupied. She quickly settles on Agnes Nitt, a promising potential craft practitioner, who seems to have wandered off...
Agnes Nitt is the kind of girl described as having beautiful hair and a nice personality; she's a sturdy country lass with good sense and a cool head, and none of the romantic qulities so often found in early nineteenth-century poetry. But with her gift for the craft, which she's determined to ignore, comes an extraordinary voice, and she determines to find her fortune on the stage of the AnkhMorpork opera. Unfortunately for Agnes, the fashion for rubenesque sopranos has passed in the city, but as Perdita Dream she is hired for the chorus, and explores the surreal world of the opera - complete with an opera ghost. Pratchett's twist on The Phantom of the Opera skillfully uses theatrical archetypes to satirize melodrama and theatrical culture, while maintaining its sense of fun and fair play.
