Equal Rites | Fiction - www.zzdbook.com

Equal Rites

Jul 29, 2025 9:05 PM

Author:Terry Pratchett,Indira Varma,Peter Serafinowicz,Bill Nighy

Equal Rites

Brought to you by Penguin.

The audiobook of Equal Rites is narrated by Indira Varma (Game of Thrones; Luther; This Way Up). BAFTA and Golden Globe award-winning actor Bill Nighy (Love Actually; Pirates of the Caribbean; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) reads the footnotes, and Peter Serafinowicz (Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace; Shaun of the Dead) stars as the voice of Death. Featuring a new theme tune composed by James Hannigan.

'They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it is not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.'

Everybody knows there's no such thing as a female wizard. So when the wizard Drum Billet accidentally passes on his staff of power to an eighth daughter of an eighth son, a girl called Eskarina (Esk, for short), the misogynistic world of wizardry wants nothing to do with her.

Thankfully Granny Weatherwax, the Discworld's most famous witch, has plenty of experience ignoring the status quo. With Granny's help, Esk sneaks her way into the magical Unseen University and befriends apprentice wizard Simon.

But power is unpredictable, and these bright young students soon find themselves in a whole new dimension of trouble. Let the battle of the sexes begin...

'If you've never read a Discworld novel, what's the matter with you?' Guardian

'Pratchett uses his other world to hold up a distorting mirror to our own' The Times

Equal Rites is the first book in the Witches series, but you can listen to the Discworld novels in any order.

The first book in the Discworld series - The Colour of Magic - was published in 1983. Some elements of the Discworld universe may reflect this.

Reviews

If you are unfamiliar with Pratchett's unique blend of philosophical badinage, you are on the threshold of a mind-expanding opportunity

—— Financial Times

Persistently amusing, good-hearted and shrewd

—— The Sunday Times

Pratchett keeps getting better and better...It's hard to think of any humorist writing in Britain today who can match him

—— Time Out

Brilliant and devastating. Four Treasures of the Sky tells the story of Daiyu, who is brought to America against her will and forced to hide who she is even as she grows into her true self. Weaving together myth and history, Zhang's work is both timeless and utterly necessary right now.

—— Anna North, author of the New York Times bestseller Outlawed

An instant and necessary classic, easily among the best novels of this past decade. The story lingers long after its final pages

—— T Kira Madden, author of Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls

An astonishing novel propelled by private and public histories, rich with reflections on self-making, moral calling, great love, and profound injustice

—— Megha Majumdar, author of A Burning

This unforgettable novel dazzles. An exhilarating rush of character, history and storytelling

—— Kali Fajardo-Anstine, US National Book Award finalist author of Sabrina & Corina

Brings alive a heroine for the ages, an indomitable teenage girl whose relentless spirit and self-reinvention carries this story. Daiyu is sure to take her place in the canon of great Western heroines next to True Grit's Mattie Ross

—— Juliet Grames, author of The Seven or Eight Deaths of Stella Fortuna

This book is haunting, luscious and precise - it's historical fiction as we most want and need it to be. Four Treasures of the Sky paints a neglected chapter in history with sharp and devastating brushstrokes

—— Julia Fine, author of The Upstairs House

A lyrical and sweeping Bildungsroman, fierce and moving

—— Publishers Weekly, starred review

A book to sit alongside Yaa Gyasi's Homecoming and Anna North's Outlawed, this is a powerful tale of reclamation, spun with soul by a remarkable new talent

—— Lauren Puckett, Shelf Awareness

An engulfing, bighearted, and heartbreaking novel. Illuminates the shocking injustices suffered in the 1800s, and in doing so, makes us stop and consider how much of that cruelty and injustice survives to this day

—— Ann Patchett

A sweeping adventure of identity, love, and belonging

—— C Pam Zhang, Man Booker longlisted author of 'How Much of These Hills are Gold'

Brilliant and devastating. Weaving together myth and history, it is both timeless and utterly necessary right now

—— Anna North, 'Outlawed'

An instant and necessary classic, easily among the best novels of this decade. The story lingers long after its final pages

—— T Kira Madden, acclaimed author of 'Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls'

An exhilarating rush of character, history, and storytelling. This unforgettable novel dazzles

—— Kali Fajardo-Anstine, National Book Award finalist author of 'Sabrina & Corina'

Biting and very funny

—— The Times

A compelling page-turner rendered in exquisite prose

—— Shelley Harris

Whip-smart and thoughtful with a dark vein of humour. Compulsively readable. I loved it

—— Christina Sweeney-Baird

An important novel . . . Jo Harkin does a masterful job . . . this mind-bending debut will certainly make you think

—— Book Reporter

A terrific read - I enjoyed it tremendously

—— The Ryan Tubridy Show, RTÉ Radio 1

Jo Harkin has created a speculative novel which digs into our instinctual curiosity and our need to know everything

—— Irish Examiner

Filled with delightful characters... this heart-warming book explores relationships and the dilemmas of everyday life

—— Candis

Tackling many relevant issues, it's a heart-warming read

—— Heat

Poignant, totally joyful, this is a great read

—— Fabulous

A feel-good read, with great characters to care about, it takes current issues seriously but adds plenty of humour

—— Choice

[It leaves] the reader with that fuzzy feeling you want from a feel-good book. Fans of her previous hit, The Authenticity Project, will not be disappointed

—— Woman's Weekly

A feel-good tale about the power of real-life connections

—— Sun

You can always rely on Pooley to deliver not just wonderful, lively characters but a story that leaves you feeling uplifted and hopeful

—— CultureFly

Previous Article：The Echo Chamber Next Article：Carpe Jugulum

Comments

Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.