Equal Rites (1987)
Equal Rites is a 1987 fantasy book written by Terry Pratchett.
On the Disc, wizardry belongs to men and witchcraft to women, and never the two shall mix. A dying wizard, in a hurry, passes his staff and his power to the eighth son of an eighth son, then dies before anyone thinks to check that the baby is a girl. Her name is Esk. Granny Weatherwax, the formidable village witch, takes the child in hand, but Esk's borrowed magic keeps pulling her toward the Unseen University, where no woman has ever been allowed to study. Terry Pratchett's third Discworld novel is a bright, pointed comedy about who gets to hold the power.
Quick answers
What is Equal Rites about?
On the Disc, wizardry belongs to men and witchcraft to women, and never the two shall mix. A dying wizard, in a hurry, passes his staff and his power to the eighth son of an eighth son, then dies before anyone thinks to check that the baby is a girl. Her name is Esk. Granny Weatherwax, the formidable village witch, takes the child in hand, but Esk's borrowed magic keeps pulling her toward the Unseen University, where no woman has ever been allowed to study. Terry Pratchett's third Discworld novel is a bright, pointed comedy about who gets to hold the power.
When was Equal Rites published?
Equal Rites was published in 1987.
Who made Equal Rites?
Equal Rites was written by Terry Pratchett.
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Equal Rites in our writing
- Companion guide: Academies of Magic: The Complete Guide to Magic Schools
- Companion guide: Discworld: The Complete Guide to Terry Pratchett's Flat Planet
A few thoughts on Equal Rites
Little Witch Academia puts the same outsider-fights-to-belong-at-magic-school story into a bright anime key. Brave shares a heroine who refuses the role her world assigned her, set in its own folklore-thick landscape. And Matilda offers another small girl whose quiet power unsettles the grown-ups certain they know better.
Girls who take up power nobody thought was theirs to hold
Equal Rites hands Esk a wizard's staff by accident and then makes her fight the whole institution of Unseen University just to use it. These four follow the same shape: an ordinary or overlooked girl claiming real power in a world built to keep it away from her, without asking permission first.