'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.

The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Wyrd Sisters is the second book in the Witches series.