Trapped: Fairytale in Pratchett and Lackey

Abstract

This article examines Terry Pratchettʼs "Witches Abroad" and Mercedes Lackeyʼs "The Fairy Godmother". Both books look at stories from the other side, they actualise the (sometimes) cliché that stories are powerful, and can shape people. In "The Fairy Godmother" and "Witches Abroad", stories have taken over. Tales have power of their own, and will shape the surrounding people or circumstances to suit, regardless of what the characters themselves think of it. Taking the concept that stories have power a step forward and literalising that power allows both Pratchett and Lackey to explore fairy tales from a different, feminist, perspective.