The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky & Wintersmith
I've been thoroughly enjoying my time this year with a large clan of small blue men in kilts known as the Nac Mac Feegle, and I think I might be a little bit in love with their creator, Terry Pratchett. So I'm finally getting around to telling all of y'all about these three YA novels that I've been quoting from and referring to off and on for months now. As a disclaimer, I should note that this post was a pain to write, in part because I could wax eloquent about these books at length, and would in fact love to do so. Why this is problematic is that, of course, I'd completely spoil the books for you. So I'm afraid that this post errs well on the side of telling you far too little. You shall have to judge for yourselves.
The Wee Free by Terry Pratchett
First off, I have to thank Jo Knowles for talking about this book, which is why I purchased it. I'm only sorry I left it sitting around for as long as I did before I finally fished it out of my TBR pile.
In this book, we are introduced to a nine-year old girl named Tiffany Aching, who turns out to be a witch. Tiffany comes into her own as a witch shortly after being warned by a couple of small blue men with red hair to get her brother away from the stream. Turns out that the fairy world is starting to break through to mix with Tiffany's world, and in the fairy world, dreams are real. Tiffany is quick to sort out that dreams being real isn't the nice idea it sounds like at first. Because it's not just the happy bits that come true, you see.
The men referenced in the title are the small blue men with red hair (and kilts! I love men in kilts), also known as the Nac Mac Feegle. Tiffany and the Nac Mac Feegle are some of my favorite characters in recent memory. And I think the Nac Mac Feegle are up there among my favorites ever, for sayings like the one in the icon: they all have their own battle cry, you see, and that's someone's particular cry. "Shove it up your trakkens!" is another, I believe. And so is "You take the high road and I'll take yer wallet!"
There are some lovely quotes about story and reading in this book. The relationships between Tiffany and her grandmother and Tiffany and the Nac Mac Feegle are marvelous. The writing almost glimmers on the page. This book made me laugh aloud repeatedly, and at one point, it made me cry real tears.
I also listened to the audiobook of this CD after finishing Wintersmith, and I have to say that Stephen Briggs does a brilliant job with the voices. The Nac Mac Feegle can take a bit of getting used to, on account of their brogue, but the audio is otherwise really great. My friend Angela (angeladegroot) wonders whether some of the Scots terms used by the Feegles will be understandable by young listeners (e.g., "bairn"), and I must say, that seems like a sensible thing to wonder about. I don't know the answer, however.
A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett
In this book, we catch up with Tiffany Aching two years later. Tiffany is now 11, and is setting off to learn some witchcraft from senior witches. The Nac Mac Feegle are keeping an eye on her, which turns out to be a good thing because as readers learn at the start of the book, Tiffany's being followed by a hiver. Once again, Tiffany learns what it is to be a witch, helped along by possibly the most powerful witch, Granny Weatherwax. It's certainly not sexy, nor does it involve much in the way of hocus pocus. But it does involve responsibility and duty and story.
Tiffany meets other young witches, with some mixed results, and is apprenticed to a witch with a most peculiar life situation. Her knowledge and skills improve as a result of being an apprentice, but the notion of being guided by one's own moral compass or inner life really shines through.
I believe I laughed a bit less while reading this book than I did with The Wee Free Men, but in some ways it was a more satisfying story. Perhaps it's because I already had a platform to build on. Perhaps the addition of so many other characters made it more complicated. I can't say for sure, but it was decidedly made of awesome.
Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
The most recent of the Tiffany Aching stories. In this book, Tiffany is 13, and she's been apprenticed to a witch who usually doesn't manage to keep apprentices. Tiffany is unusual, even for a witch, so of course it stands to reason that she makes it work.
This book opens present-tense, in the midst of a climactic scene, during which the reader is a wee bit at a loss, because it's obvious that quite a lot has been going on, and we don't know what all of it is, or who some of the characters are. In chapter two, we start at the true beginning of this tale, and work our way forward to where this scene should be. Pratchett cleverly omits it later in the book, trusting his reader to know what went down. That is one of the things that I admire about his writing, along with the humor and brilliance and the depth and the thoughtfulness: he really trusts his readers and doesn't make things simple or easy for them. There's something to be said for and learned from that, methinks.
Anyhoo - Tiffany, the Nac Mac Feegle, Granny Weatherwax and more are back to share in this adventure. The title refers to one of the new characters introduced in the book: the Wintersmith is Winter himself, who joins in the dance to trade places with Summer, in accordance with ancient British Isle beliefs. Only for reasons which become abundantly clear, something is a bit amiss during this year's dance, and the Wintersmith has fallen hard for Tiffany. This time, it's not just Tiffany who has a major role to play in sorting out her situation; Roland, the Baron's son, has somewhat to do as well.
Once again, there is more about story here. And about myth. And we can chart the growth of the characters not only in age, but in maturity. And man, I can't wait for the next book in the Tiffany Aching series, which has been rumored to have a possible title of I Shall Wear Midnight, and may be out in 2010. I remain hopeful that treatment of Terry's Alzheimer's disease works well, so that he can continue to write his Discworld novels, including the tales of Tiffany Aching.
You can also check out Sheila's review at Wands and Worlds, which includes the extra information that Wintersmith was nominated for a CYBILS award. Which reminds me: I hope you're all keeping lists of the best books you've read thus far this year, so you'll be ready when the nominations open.
The Wee Free by Terry Pratchett
First off, I have to thank Jo Knowles for talking about this book, which is why I purchased it. I'm only sorry I left it sitting around for as long as I did before I finally fished it out of my TBR pile.
In this book, we are introduced to a nine-year old girl named Tiffany Aching, who turns out to be a witch. Tiffany comes into her own as a witch shortly after being warned by a couple of small blue men with red hair to get her brother away from the stream. Turns out that the fairy world is starting to break through to mix with Tiffany's world, and in the fairy world, dreams are real. Tiffany is quick to sort out that dreams being real isn't the nice idea it sounds like at first. Because it's not just the happy bits that come true, you see.
The men referenced in the title are the small blue men with red hair (and kilts! I love men in kilts), also known as the Nac Mac Feegle. Tiffany and the Nac Mac Feegle are some of my favorite characters in recent memory. And I think the Nac Mac Feegle are up there among my favorites ever, for sayings like the one in the icon: they all have their own battle cry, you see, and that's someone's particular cry. "Shove it up your trakkens!" is another, I believe. And so is "You take the high road and I'll take yer wallet!"
There are some lovely quotes about story and reading in this book. The relationships between Tiffany and her grandmother and Tiffany and the Nac Mac Feegle are marvelous. The writing almost glimmers on the page. This book made me laugh aloud repeatedly, and at one point, it made me cry real tears.
I also listened to the audiobook of this CD after finishing Wintersmith, and I have to say that Stephen Briggs does a brilliant job with the voices. The Nac Mac Feegle can take a bit of getting used to, on account of their brogue, but the audio is otherwise really great. My friend Angela (angeladegroot) wonders whether some of the Scots terms used by the Feegles will be understandable by young listeners (e.g., "bairn"), and I must say, that seems like a sensible thing to wonder about. I don't know the answer, however.
A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett
In this book, we catch up with Tiffany Aching two years later. Tiffany is now 11, and is setting off to learn some witchcraft from senior witches. The Nac Mac Feegle are keeping an eye on her, which turns out to be a good thing because as readers learn at the start of the book, Tiffany's being followed by a hiver. Once again, Tiffany learns what it is to be a witch, helped along by possibly the most powerful witch, Granny Weatherwax. It's certainly not sexy, nor does it involve much in the way of hocus pocus. But it does involve responsibility and duty and story.
Tiffany meets other young witches, with some mixed results, and is apprenticed to a witch with a most peculiar life situation. Her knowledge and skills improve as a result of being an apprentice, but the notion of being guided by one's own moral compass or inner life really shines through.
I believe I laughed a bit less while reading this book than I did with The Wee Free Men, but in some ways it was a more satisfying story. Perhaps it's because I already had a platform to build on. Perhaps the addition of so many other characters made it more complicated. I can't say for sure, but it was decidedly made of awesome.
Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
The most recent of the Tiffany Aching stories. In this book, Tiffany is 13, and she's been apprenticed to a witch who usually doesn't manage to keep apprentices. Tiffany is unusual, even for a witch, so of course it stands to reason that she makes it work.
This book opens present-tense, in the midst of a climactic scene, during which the reader is a wee bit at a loss, because it's obvious that quite a lot has been going on, and we don't know what all of it is, or who some of the characters are. In chapter two, we start at the true beginning of this tale, and work our way forward to where this scene should be. Pratchett cleverly omits it later in the book, trusting his reader to know what went down. That is one of the things that I admire about his writing, along with the humor and brilliance and the depth and the thoughtfulness: he really trusts his readers and doesn't make things simple or easy for them. There's something to be said for and learned from that, methinks.
Anyhoo - Tiffany, the Nac Mac Feegle, Granny Weatherwax and more are back to share in this adventure. The title refers to one of the new characters introduced in the book: the Wintersmith is Winter himself, who joins in the dance to trade places with Summer, in accordance with ancient British Isle beliefs. Only for reasons which become abundantly clear, something is a bit amiss during this year's dance, and the Wintersmith has fallen hard for Tiffany. This time, it's not just Tiffany who has a major role to play in sorting out her situation; Roland, the Baron's son, has somewhat to do as well.
Once again, there is more about story here. And about myth. And we can chart the growth of the characters not only in age, but in maturity. And man, I can't wait for the next book in the Tiffany Aching series, which has been rumored to have a possible title of I Shall Wear Midnight, and may be out in 2010. I remain hopeful that treatment of Terry's Alzheimer's disease works well, so that he can continue to write his Discworld novels, including the tales of Tiffany Aching.
You can also check out Sheila's review at Wands and Worlds, which includes the extra information that Wintersmith was nominated for a CYBILS award. Which reminds me: I hope you're all keeping lists of the best books you've read thus far this year, so you'll be ready when the nominations open.