Wyrd Sisters (book)
 2012 paperback edition with art by Josh Kirby | |
| Author | Terry Pratchett |
|---|---|
| Audio read by | Tony Robinson (Corgi) Celia Imrie (Isis) Indira Varma (Penguin) |
| Cover artist | Josh Kirby |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Series | Discworld |
Release number | 6 |
| Sub-series | Witches |
| Genre | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Gollancz/Corgi |
Publication date | 1988-11-12 |
| Preceded by | Sourcery |
| Followed by | Pyramids |
Wyrd Sisters is the sixth Discworld novel, and the first “proper” Witches book, introducing Granny Weatherwax’s coven of Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick. It also introduces many of the people and places of Lancre who would go on to appear in most of the subsequent witches books. It is broadly parodies Shakespeare, in particular the plays Macbeth and Hamlet.
Blurbs
Corgi paperback
Witches are not by their nature gregarious, and they certainly don't have leaders.
Granny Weatherwax was the most highly-regarded of the leaders they didn't have.
But even she found that meddling in royal politics was a lot more difficult than certain playwrights would have you believe...
2012 paperback
‘Destiny is important, see, but people go wrong when they think it controls them. It's the other way around.’
Three witches - Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick - have gathered on a lonely heath. A king has been cruelly murdered, his throne usurped by his ambitious cousin. An infant heir and the crown of the kingdom, both missing...
Witches don't have these kind of dynastic problems themselves – in fact, they don’t have leaders.
Granny Weatherwax was the most highly-regarded of the leaders the witches don't have. But even she found that meddling in royal politics was a lot more complicated than certain playwrights would have you believe...
Podcast episodes
Major appearances
These are episodes primarily devoted to discussing this book.
| Date | Show | Episode | External link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-10-23 | Radio Morpork | "The Lancrastian Play" | radiomorpork.wordpress.com |
| 2018-02-08 | Pratchat | "Enter, Three Wytches" | pratchatpodcast.com |
| 2019-04-15 | The Death of Podcasts | “Wyrd Sisters” | aalgar.com |
| 2019-07-28 | Wyrd Sisters | “Wyrd Sisters” | wyrdsisters.podbean.com |
| 2020-03-09 | The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret | "Schrodinger's Canape" (1/3) | thetruthshallmakeyefret.com |
| 2020-03-16 | The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret | "State of Mind: Eggs" (2/3) | thetruthshallmakeyefret.com |
| 2020-03-23 | The Truth Shall Make Ye Fret | "Horse in My Zen Garden" (3/3) | thetruthshallmakeyefret.com |
| 2020-03-22 | Desert Island Discworld | "Gabby Hutchinson Crouch and Wyrd Sisters" | desertislanddiscworld.com |
| 2020-05-26 | The Compleat Discography | “Wyrd Sisters” | compleatdiscography.page |
| 2020-08-19 | Who Watches the Watch | "ART" (1/3) | pinecast.co |
| 2020-08-29 | Who Watches the Watch | "Anypercent Rom-Com Speedrun" (2/3) | pinecast.co |
| 2020-09-06 | Who Watches the Watch | "Ayn Randy" (3/3) | pinecast.co |
| 2021-05-01 | Unseen Academicals | “Wyrd Sisters” | anchor.fm |
| 2021-05-19 | The Disc-Course | "Witchery Science Theater 3000" (1/6) | shows.acast.com |
| 2021-06-02 | The Disc-Course | "The Huffel Figurine" (2/6) | shows.acast.com |
| 2021-06-17 | The Disc-Course | "A 26-Year-Old Mall Goth" (3/6) | shows.acast.com |
| 2021-07-01 | The Disc-Course | "Unrelated Clown Mugging" (4/6) | shows.acast.com |
| 2021-07-14 | The Disc-Course | "Timothee Charlemagne" (5/6) | shows.acast.com |
| 2021-07-29 | The Disc-Course | "Granny's Final Smash" (6/6) | shows.acast.com |
| 2021-06-02 | Disc Coverers | “Wyrd Sisters” | anchor.fm |
| 2021-06-28 | Stuck on Arrakis | "Discworld Book Six" | buzzsprout.com |
| 2021-10-13 | Nanny Ogg's Book Club | “Wyrd Sisters” | fireside.fm |
| 2023-02-20 | I’ve Never Read Discworld | “Book 6. Wyrd Sisters” | anchor.fm |
| 2023-04-04 | Dragon Babies | “Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett” | dragonbabiespodcast.com |
| 2024-04-28 | Dining Table Discworld | “Wyrd Sisters” | podbean.com |
| 2024-05-28 | No Preamble | “"Wyrd Sisters" by Terry Pratchett - Ethan introduces Sarah to Disc World!” | nopreamble.net |
| 2024-06-27 | Spilled Inklings | “Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett Part 1” (1/3) | spotify.com |
| 2024-06-27 | Spilled Inklings | “Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett Part 2” (2/3) | spotify.com |
| 2024-07-04 | Spilled Inklings | “Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett Part 3” (3/3) | spotify.com |
| 2024-06-30 | Two English Majors Walk Into A Bar | “Episode 35: Jingle Away Angrily” | spotify.com |
| 2024-11-01 | Discworld Order | “E05 - Wyrd Sisters” | Spotify |
Other appearances
Episodes where there's significant discussion of the book, but it's not the focus of the episode.
| Date | Show | Episode | External link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-11-06 | The Pratchett Podcast | “The Pratchett Podcast episode 12a” | thepratchettpodcast.wordpress.com[1] |
| 2012-12-18 | The Pratchett Podcast | “The Pratchett Podcast episode 14”[2] | thepratchettpodcast.wordpress.com[1] |
| 2021-07-08 | Fiction Fans | “The Last Wish (The Witcher) & Wyrd Sisters” | fictionfanspodcast.com |
| 2021-11-27 | Media-eval | “Discworld”[3] | soundcloud.com |
Adaptations
- Wyrd Sisters was the first Discworld novel to be adapted for the stage by Stephen Briggs. It was first performed by his company, Studio Theatre Club, in 1991.[4] The script was published in 1996.
- In 1995 Wyrd Sisters was adapted for BBC Radio 4 in four parts by Vince Foxall.
- Wyrd Sisters was the second Discworld novel animated by Cosgrove Hall. It was adapted in six parts by Jimmy Hibbert, and originally broadcast on Channel 4 in May and June, 1997. The cast featured Annette Crosbie, June Whitfield, Jane Horrocks, Eleanor Bron and Christopher Lee.
External links
- Wyrd Sisters at the L-Space Wiki
- Wyrd Sisters on Wikipedia
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Post with info only; audio no longer available.
- ↑ This episode includes co-host Rhys giving his thoughts on the book, having missed the deadline to read it for the previous episode.
- ↑ Also discusses Small Gods.
- ↑ See the Studio Theatre Club website for information.