Witches Abroad: Difference between revisions

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Quoting the back cover blurb:

{{quote|It seemed like an easy job... after all, [[What Could Possibly Go Wrong?|how difficult can it be]] to make sure that a servant girl ''doesn't'' marry a prince?

But for [[The Hecate Sisters|the witches]] [[Never Mess with Granny|Granny]] [[Cool Old Lady|Weatherwax]], [[Team Mom|Nanny Ogg]] and [[Granola Girl|Magrat Garlick]], travelling to the distant city of Genua, things are never that simple. Servant girls ''have'' [[Because Destiny Says So|to marry the prince]]. That's what life is all about. You don't fight a [[Esoteric Happy Ending|Happy Ending]].

At least, up until now...}}

 

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: Early in the book Magrat explains a bit about the judo-like martial arts she's studying; namely that it's based around using your enemy's power against them. While the other witches don't seem impressed by it at the time, {{spoiler|during the climax, Granny defeats Mrs Gogol, who is threatening her with a [[Voodoo Doll]], by thrusting her hand into a blazing torch up to the elbow, causing the doll to burst into flames while her arm is unscathed.}} Even for Granny, this is a [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]]. She even glances at Magrat before doing so as a subtle acknowledgement.

* [[Cinderella Circumstances]]: Ella, of course.

* [[Dances and Balls]]

* [[Dangerously Genre Savvy]]: Lily is ''very'' familiar with the way stories work, and she's not afraid to abuse that knowledge.

* [[Deconstruction]]: Of the happy ending and several fairy tales.

* [[Dystopian Edict]]: Everyone in Genua ''has'' to abide by fairy tale prototypes.

* [[Esoteric Happy Ending]]: Many of Lily's 'stories' end this way... at least, the ones that ''have'' [[Downer Ending|happy endings]]...

* [[Even Evil Has Standards]]: It's mentioned that the Assassins' Guild has pulled out of Genua under Lily's rule because "some things sicken even jackals".

* [[Everything's Better with Princesses]]: Ella.

** ''Ember''ella.

* [[Twice-Told Tale]]: Many of the jokes don't make sense if you don't know "[[Cinderella (novel)|Cinderella]]". Good thing everyone does, isn't it?

** In a more meta interpretation of the trope, part of the book's theme is the idea that fairytale stories repeat themselves, wear a groove in the world and then subvert reality so that, for example, "it is now actually ''impossible'' for the third and youngest son of a king to set out on a quest that has claimed his two older brothers, and ''not'' succeed." Lily's power comes from manipulating the stories to her own ends.

* [[Utopia Justifies the Means]]: Lilith feels fully justified in using totalitarian methods to create a fairy tale kingdom.

* [[When the Clock Strikes Twelve]]: [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] to hell when {{spoiler|Nanny Ogg intentionally makes it strike a bit earlier than scheduled.}}

 

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