And so my goal of reading all of the Discworld novels in order comes to an end. I'm very glad it was a Witches novels that closes out the series too as I've always loved them. Equal Rites was the first Discworld novel bought for me when I was a kid so that may be one reason, but there are other reasons that I've gone over before.
This book serves as an excellent close for the series, even despite it being a clearly unintended closure. We begin the novel with the death of Esme Weatherwax and the handing over of the title of head of the headless witches. It is, as has been telegraphed throughout the Aching series, handed down to the still very young but certainly very powerful Tiffany Aching. Much of Tiffany's story in the book is one of drawing the line between successor and heir and giving herself permission to be distinct despite the obvious blessings of Granny Weatherwax.
The world is changing in other ways too, as the sounds of the nearby trains regularly attest to. The industrialisation that other books have dealt with has brought a new age of iron and steel, which closes the Discworld off to those magical creatures averse to it, the elves. While the book has the elves as the main antagonist, there is little peril as the fact that the Disc is no longer good for them is overtly and always apparent. Finally, also we see something of the first male witch, or 'Calm-Weaver' in Geoffrey, along with his strange goat companion Mephistopheles. He gets the blessings of the other witches by the end, but its yet another sign of a world that has changed. On that note, Geoffrey/Mephistopheles' story, along with some hints of a deeper mystery behind Mrs Earwig, are the threads of further stories that we will unfortunately probably never get to see.
I have to admit that getting to the end of this book left a few little tears in my eyes. The Discworld is important to me and always has been and now it sits dormant outside of the media already existing for it. I've often wondered whether someone would attempt to add to the series at some point. It would be a difficult thing to do for anyone, because there will always be people who demand this legacy remains untouched. Unfair comparisons would be inevitable and Pratchett's style hard to measure against. But the alternative is a waste of a living world. I think, if it was to be done, then having a number of authors all release a licensed Discworld novel at the same time would be a good idea. A variety of voices that can be compared to each other but respecting an existing legacy by not standing in direct comparison to Pratchett's work. I dunno. Maybe we'll see something one day.
Finished reading - 24/08/26