Fantasy

Previous Pratchett fans will recognize the pillars of the tale, with whom the story opens, but no prior Pratchett experience is necessary to be charmed by the characters. Granny Weatherwax and the irrepressible Nanny Ogg, resident witches of Lancre, are in need of a third witch to round out their coven. The girl they have in mind has left her hometown and gone to work in the city of Ank-Morpork, so Granny and Nanny decide to pay a visit to Agnes and take care of some other business in the city. But, when they arrive, the ladies discover that their candidate, Agnes, is working at the Ank-Morpork Opera. And that Opera, it would appear, has a Ghost and a stream of murders under its roof. It's up to our friends Nanny and Granny to go behind the mask and discover who is the Phantom of this Opera.

The characters of Maskerade are memorable and extremely amusing. For all their witchcraft, the hilariously drawn characters of Nanny and Granny will no doubt remind readers of someone in their pasts. Greebo, Nanny's cat, is a one-eyed, malevolent, randy, and mangy source of tears-in-your-eyes-laughter. Agnes, the aspiring (and overweight) soprano from Lancre, adds a depth of reality to this story; as the real heroine of the book, it is through her eyes that Pratchett slips in his own sharp commentary on a society preferring beauty over intelligence and undeniable talent. Phantom fans may look askance at first at the air-headed character of Christine here, but even in the flights of her ditziness, Pratchett makes her wickedly funny. For fans of Michael Crawford, the bumbling, beret-sporting character of Walter Plinge is an obvious and winsome tribute to Crawford's France Spencer from the "Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em" series; for general fans of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Pratchett does not miss his opportunity to lay some outrageously funny tributes at the composer's feet.

There's little not to love about Maskerade. This fantasy farce offers a sly and persistent adult wit to its readers. Moreover, the wildly shifting plotline is completely unpredictable, leaving the reader uncertain about the identity of the Phantom until the final pages. On the downside, for Phantom fans, the nature of Pratchett's writing does mean that the romantic nature of the myth is downplayed in favor of the humorous possibilities. Also, the characters sometimes display a sterling sense of morality reminiscent of old childhood cartoons. But that sense of the old-fashioned fairy tale just makes Maskeradeall the more endearing. At the close of the book, this unique novel will win a singular place in the hearts of readers and Phantom fans both.