The Discworld is very much like our own - if our own were to consist of a flat planet balanced on the back of four elephants which stand on the back of a giant turtle, that is . . .

Fairy godmothers develop a very deep understanding about human nature, which makes the good ones kind and the bad ones powerful.

Inheriting a fairy godmother role seemed an easy job . . . After all, how difficult could it be to make sure that a servant girl doesn't marry a prince?

Quite hard, actually, even for the witches Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick. That's the problem with real life – it tends to get in the way of a good story, and a good story is hard to resist.

Servant girls have to marry the prince, whether they want to or not. You can't fight a Happy Ending, especially when it comes with glass slippers and a rival Fairy Godmother who has made Destiny an offer it can't refuse.