SPOILERS Witches Abroad Discussion Group
- Thread starter Tonyblack
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*raises eyebrow* Hmm... I've seen the second cover, but seeing as I have the original, I never bothered with getting another copy. Of course it's "meh" compared to the Josh Kirby cover... but I have another question. "Three witches make a Godmother an offer she can't refuse", it says... where does that happen? Desiderata Hollow dies before Granny, Nanny and Magrat even start their voyage - and as for Lily... I don't recall G, N & M making her any kind of offer at all.
As for the first cover, I'm just not going to bother since it doesn't look like Granny, Nanny or Magrat at all... do the people who draw these covers even bother to read the books...?
I don't blame them. In my not-so-humble opinion, Kirby's (and, later, Kidby's) covers are authoritative. Terry himself said that Josh put in so many little details from the books into the covers. For example, there's the very famous case of the cover for "The Colour of Magic", where Twoflower has four eyes - a reference to Twoflower being called "Foureyes", or maybe Josh simply misunderstood...
As for the first cover, I'm just not going to bother since it doesn't look like Granny, Nanny or Magrat at all... do the people who draw these covers even bother to read the books...?
I don't blame them. In my not-so-humble opinion, Kirby's (and, later, Kidby's) covers are authoritative. Terry himself said that Josh put in so many little details from the books into the covers. For example, there's the very famous case of the cover for "The Colour of Magic", where Twoflower has four eyes - a reference to Twoflower being called "Foureyes", or maybe Josh simply misunderstood...
Whoops! *blush* Tamar, you're right. I got the Godfather reference right away (I thought the "make him an offer he can't refuse" is too obvious a reference to mention), but I forgot about Granny's offer to Lily. Strange, too - it's one of the highlights of their showdown, if I remember rightly.
Granny offers to take Lily home and rehabilitate her, but Lily refuses in a grand show of hauteur, which undoes her in the end.
I wonder if the "offer she can't refuse" is the "stay out of this" discussion with Mrs. Gogol. All three witches (all three are fairy godmothers at this point, too) were present for that one, though only Granny was in active conflict. Mrs. Gogol does accept that Granny will take care of the revenge element, which Granny has no intention of doing, of course, at least not the way Mrs. Gogol thinks it will be. Mrs.Gogol also agrees to stay out of Ella's life too. Genua has become Granny's territory.
That first cover Tony posted is the one on the copy of WA I own. I found it in a used bookstore for three dollars, and a PTerry book in any secondhand store is a downright anomaly so I couldn't not pick it up. I also found Equal Rites and Wyrd Sisters there, but I already own the US mass market paperback of WS, so I just picked up EQ. I hate to break up a set but...
This was the cover for EQ, by the way:
The second cover Tony posted is the Harper Collins US cover style and they're what most of my collection is made up of. They're certainly drab compared to the UK covers, but I like them. They're the first covers I knew for Discworld, so there's charm there, at least for me.
This was the cover for EQ, by the way:
The second cover Tony posted is the Harper Collins US cover style and they're what most of my collection is made up of. They're certainly drab compared to the UK covers, but I like them. They're the first covers I knew for Discworld, so there's charm there, at least for me.
The first cover Tony posted for WA and the Equal Rites cover you posted are the American SF Book Club covers. They are on the whole not bad, just different. I rather like most of them, despite their flaws. They are far more likely to show up inexpensively because the traditional book dealers don't like book club books, even when, as with many early Pratchett books, they actually are the first US hardback edition. Nobody pays the big bucks for them, but they are perfectly good books, well made and durable, a good thing in a book that is going to be read over and over.
Not to mention that strange animal behind her. It can't possibly be intended as an orang-utan. I guess it might be intended as a Thing from the Dungeon Dimensions. Still, it does give the general flavor of the story: child with powers and a staff, witch mentor, weird critters. I've seen worse covers.
Back to WA: Although Granny thinks she's being kind, and Lily seems to take it that way, I'm not so sure. What if Lily had accepted Granny's offer? She'd be back in Lancre, where everybody knows she was kicked out, not just for being wanton but for severely breaking the rules of witchcraft, misusing her magic to compel people's obedience. She'd be beholden to Granny for a place to live, and everyone would know it. And she would have lost, and would have had to live there knowing she'd lost and that everyone else knew she'd lost - a classic witch revenge. Frankly, the mirror universe is a kinder fate. At least there she theoretically has a chance to figure out who she is and escape. She would never escape Lancre again.
Back to WA: Although Granny thinks she's being kind, and Lily seems to take it that way, I'm not so sure. What if Lily had accepted Granny's offer? She'd be back in Lancre, where everybody knows she was kicked out, not just for being wanton but for severely breaking the rules of witchcraft, misusing her magic to compel people's obedience. She'd be beholden to Granny for a place to live, and everyone would know it. And she would have lost, and would have had to live there knowing she'd lost and that everyone else knew she'd lost - a classic witch revenge. Frankly, the mirror universe is a kinder fate. At least there she theoretically has a chance to figure out who she is and escape. She would never escape Lancre again.
That seems probable, MrsWizzard. Granny's hat is also very much off; for a start, it's missing the hatpins. On another point, she doesn't normally have a hatband of any kind, much less red. (In Witches Abroad, we find out that she very much disapproves of Nanny's red shoes).
So it's very probable that the artist never read any pTerry. Oh well - that's his loss!
So it's very probable that the artist never read any pTerry. Oh well - that's his loss!
My favourite WA.cover is the one we didn’t have, in the books of illos by Paul Kidby. He’s quite exact, with Granny swooping down terrifyingly serious, hatpins in place, the “point” of the “three flying ducks” comparison to a British ‘70s kitsch decoration. Josh Kirby always seems to draw a “crone” with her face fallen in through being a thin elderly lady with no teeth: we’re specifically told that Granny had three sugars in her tea and she’d have rocked that look for being underestimated, but what she is is severe.
Then there’s Nanny playing the banjo (and probably singing a lewd song about hedgehogs or wizards) festooned with tourist tat, red stockings, and Greebo, the Chaucer’s Wife of Bath figure of.the witches.
And “last and very much least”, Magrat, with her unravelling hair and expression of hopeless goodwill—the one whose desire for everything to be nice and kind (the way the world frequently isn’t) and well-researched like Goodie Whemper (maysherestinpeace) is so effortlessly undercut by both her elder colleagues’ practicality.
Then there’s Nanny playing the banjo (and probably singing a lewd song about hedgehogs or wizards) festooned with tourist tat, red stockings, and Greebo, the Chaucer’s Wife of Bath figure of.the witches.
And “last and very much least”, Magrat, with her unravelling hair and expression of hopeless goodwill—the one whose desire for everything to be nice and kind (the way the world frequently isn’t) and well-researched like Goodie Whemper (maysherestinpeace) is so effortlessly undercut by both her elder colleagues’ practicality.
Do you mean this one, Woofb?
I have that one on the cover of my prized "Wyrd Sisters" DVD set. =) One second -- I just noticed Magarat's many bits of occult jewellery, but there's no godmother's wand-with-a-star to be seen. On the other hand, Nanny clearly has her red boots.
So is this "Wyrd Sisters" or "Witches Abroad"? Just wondering ...
By the way: I may be too young to remember the "three flying ducks", but this picture always reminds me of Magrat's offer to start a broomstick flying service, and call it 'Three Witches Airborne'. (Note the initials...)
I have that one on the cover of my prized "Wyrd Sisters" DVD set. =) One second -- I just noticed Magarat's many bits of occult jewellery, but there's no godmother's wand-with-a-star to be seen.
On the other hand, Nanny clearly has her red boots.So is this "Wyrd Sisters" or "Witches Abroad"? Just wondering ...
By the way: I may be too young to remember the "three flying ducks", but this picture always reminds me of Magrat's offer to start a broomstick flying service, and call it 'Three Witches Airborne'. (Note the initials...)
