Product Description

The show must go on, as murder, music and mayhem run riot in the night...The Opera House, Ankh-Morpork...a huge, rambling building, where innocent young sopranos are lured to their destiny by a strangely-familiar evil mastermind in a hideously-deformed evening dress...At least, he hopes so. But Granny Weatherwax, Discworld's most famous witch, is in the audience. And she doesn't hold with that sort of thing. So there's going to be trouble (but nevertheless a good evenin's entertainment with murders you can really hum...)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #44317 in Books
• Published on: 1996-11-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 380 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
There are strange goings-on at the Opera House in Ankh-Morpork. A ghost in a white mask is murdering, well, quite a lot of people, and two witches (it really isn't wise to call them "meddling, interfering old baggages"), or perhaps three, take a hand in unravelling the mystery. Fans of the popular Discworld series will be happy to see some old friends again in Maskerade, the 18th novel in the series.

Independant
Pratchett is as funny as Wodehouse and as witty as Waugh.

Synopsis
The show must go on, as murder, music and mayhem run riot in the night...The Opera House, Ankh-Morpork...a huge, rambling building, where innocent young sopranos are lured to their destiny by a strangely-familiar evil mastermind in a hideously-deformed evening dress...At least, he hopes so. But Granny Weatherwax, Discworld's most famous witch, is in the audience. And she doesn't hold with that sort of thing. So there's going to be trouble (but nevertheless a good evenin's entertainment with murders you can really hum...)

Customer Reviews

Wonderful return to the discworld novels
I started reading the discworld novels when I was a kid (with the ZX Spectrum Colour of Magic game by Delta 4 to be exact). I read the last one about 5 years ago and got a bit bored to be honest. I thought I'd try this one but I was dubious as I always thought the witch books were not my cup of tea. This was excellent, it reminded me of Terry's Sourcery/Pyramids/Mort high points (to me anyway). I laughed my head off and I thought that the satire was particularly great in this book. Can't wait to catch up on the rest I've missed now!

Maskerading as
Terry Pratchett's satirical eye doesn't spare anybody or anything, and in his nineteenth Discworld book "Maskerade," it's opera's turn to suffer. In his typically barbed prose, he gleefully spoofs the "Phantom of the Opera," lampoons opera in general, and takes the opportunity to take everyone's favorite witches out to Ankh-Morpork.

Magrat Garlick is newly married and crowned. As a result, Granny Weatherwax is moody and bored, while Nanny pens an erotic cookbook -- and when it turns out that she's being cheated of royalties, Granny decides to go to Ankh-Morpork and confront her publisher. Meanwhile, the primary witch-maiden candidate, Agnes Nitt, has also gone to Ankh-Morpork to become an opera singer.

But the opera isn't all it's cracked up to be -- Agnes finds herself providing the voice for pretty, airheaded Christine, and the opera ghost is causing some major disasters. Granny and Nanny immerse themselves in the backstage -- and onstage -- drama of the opera, trying to figure out who the Phantom is... and why he's a friend one minute and a foe the next.

It's obvious that the opera holds no awe for Pratchett. Sure, the novel is a spoof of Gaston Leroux's novel, but Pratchett's real intention here is to constantly make fun of the opera, both as entertainment and art form. The entire climax of the book is devoted to making fun of opera's illogic, lack of acting, and such time-honored traditions as a dying person flawlessly singing for about fifteen minutes before expiring.

But it's not all opera spoofery. Despite some grisly deaths and the psycho Phantom (who sends notes filled with maniacal laughter), getting the witches out of Lancre gives the whole story a light, fun feel. It has some darker scenes, such as Granny playing cards with Death for a baby's life, but most of it is dedicated to the witches doing the sort of weird things they'd never do at home (impersonating duchesses, for one).

Pratchett sprinkles the storyline with hilarious dialogue, wacky situations (Nanny Ogg moonlights as the world's fattest ballerina), and some swashbuckling. And he includes a small message as well, about being the sort of person we actually want to be -- and how "masks" on the outside can change us.

Agnes Nitt has a lot of pagetime, but she seems rather fussy and pallid next to Granny and Nanny -- we get to see just how strong their friendship really is, despite their bickering. Granny shines especially, courtesy of a shopping spree, some coach rides and some dodgy darkish magic. And we have a wide array of timid janitors, annoying managers and airheaded sopranos to round out the cast.

"Maskerade" is a gleeful, glorious spoof of opera in general, and a fun outing for the Lancre witches. Definitely a solid entry for Pratchett.

Maskerade review.
Maskerade is another show-stopping book by Terry Prattchett.In Maskerade a normally well-behaved phantom at the Ankh-Morpok opera house has started to hinder the performances and Granny Weatherwax,Nanny Ogg,Agnes Nitt and Greebo the cat must uncover his true identity before he drives the opera house to its final curtain.If you like reading sci-fi,fantasy or even going to the opera then read Maskerade.If you enjoy this book then try books 3,6,12,14 and 23.