King Verence of Lancre has been murdered by Duke Felmet, who then takes over the throne. This is all well and good — that’s what kings and dukes do, after all. But Felmet soon turns out to be a bit of a pain. The kingdom soon grows tired of all his killings and village burnings. When he decides to get rid of all witches, three local witches decide to band together and do something about it. Granny Weatherwax, always practical, is the leader. Nanny Ogg is a homebody, as concerned about her large family as she is about witchery. Magrat is a young witch, bursting with enthusiasm and carrying on a flirtation with Felmet’s official court Fool.

Right after Verence was murdered, his infant son Tomjon was delivered to the witches for safekeeping. They handed him off to a troop of traveling players to get him out of the kingdom. Now it’s time to get the kid back to be the new king. But he’s only four years old! Weatherwax conjures up a complicated spell that moves the entire kingdom of Lancre forward in time 15 years. Tomjon is summoned back. The playwright of his troop, a troll named Hwel (who writes in a style very close to Shakespeare’s) writes a play to make Felmet look like a hero. The witches intervene and change the wording to tell the true story of Verence’s death and Tomjon’s right to the throne. Felmet goes crazy and throws himself off the castle wall.

But there’s a problem — Tomjon doesn’t want to be king. He wants to be an actor. So Weatherwax conjures up a story about the Fool being Tomjon’s brother. Everyone is happy so long as Felmet is gone, and the Fool and Magrat carry on.

Cute, as all the Discworld novels have been so far. The cleverness lies in the wordplay, however, not in the plots, which serve simply as vehicles for Pratchett’s style. Still, it’s a good quick read.