The Wee Free Men

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is the first of Pratchett's "Tiffany Aching" young adult novels, which reached their conclusion with his just-released final book, The Shepherd's Crown. Fans of the Discworld series, particularly those familiar with his witches, will not be disappointed. Nine-year-old Tiffany Aching learns her connection to the land and comes into her grandmother's inheritance while retrieving her young brother from the clutches of a Faerie Queen. While the book is supposedly intended for younger readers, it doesn't talk down to its audience, and if anything contains much less wisecracking than some of his earlier novels. The Nac Mac Feegle "pictsies" embody Pratchett's inherent irreverence, and are a welcome addition to the canon. "The Chalk" invokes the Downs of southern England, very much "another part of the Disc" from the witches of Lancre, who have a brief appearance at the end. The book is filled with Pratchett's nuggets of wisdom, and should be required reading for any apprentice witch ;).



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