Wintersmith | Terry Pratchett

Wintersmith | Terry Pratchett | A laugh out loud book

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Wintersmith

	Wintersmith Terry Pratchett HarperTeen, 2006 - 336 pages average customer review:based on 84 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Shall we dance?

This is the section of the Discworld series where young readers should not fear to tread. However, even little angels should be warned to tread very carefully when selecting this book, mainly because of all the adults stampeding to get their copies of book three of the Tiffany Aching adventures.

The story picks up a couple of years after A Hat Full of Sky, with Tiffany attending a performance of the Black Morris, the secret dance that welcomes winter. The music soon has her toes tapping, and before long, her feet follow suit and she joins the dance, realizing too late that this is a big no-no.

Unknowingly, Tiffany cuts in to an age-old dance between winter and summer, and finds herself in a seasonal love triangle when her dance partner, the Wintersmith, goes Rodgers & Hammerstein on her:

"We've just been introduced,
I do not know you well,
But when the music started
Something drew me to your side.

So many men and girls,
Are in each others arms.
It made me think we might be
Similarly occupied."*

So now the Wintersmith, an elemental, has a huge crush on a human, and starts doing all the dopey things that are done when love is in the air, except that his love tokens ultimately result in a cold shoulder. With all the large and small gods looking on at the entertaining spectacle, the Wintersmith decides to take it further, and armed with a children's nursery rhyme, he channels Westlife as he sets about assembling the components he needs.

"Tell me what makes a man
Wanna give you all his heart
Smile when you're around
And cry when you're apart"

Tiffany realizes that she has to deal with her mistake, which is spiraling out of control, and with a little guidance from the elder witches, she learns to cope with little inconveniences like flowers blooming where she walks and the unheralded arrival of the horn of plenty. Realizing that she needs some help, the elder witches enlist the Nac Mac Feegles (because these stories wouldn't be any fun without them) to find someone who can, namely - a hero.

"I need a hero
I'm holding out for at hero 'till the end of the night
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight"**

They do find the hero, even though at first it seems unlikely that he measures up to the requirements, and whisk him down to the underworld to retrieve the only hope for saving Tiffany.

Packed with all your favorite characters and some new ones, and even Horace the cheese, the main story is neatly ensconced between humorous supporting stories of witches and warts, and a whole load of Boffo!***

This book is highly recommended for young readers up to the age of approximately 99, give or take a few years, but reading the other two books first is strongly encouraged, just because they are also really, really good.

The Wee Free Men
A Hat Full of Sky

Amanda Richards, January 12, 2008

*From The King & I, but you already knew that
**Bonnie Tyler, but you knew that too
***You'll know what this is when you read the book

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A laugh out loud book

The latest (and hopefully not the last) in the series of Tiffany Aching and the Wee Free Men. Again, Terry Pratchett should be commended for his riotous writing.

A hymn to Nature and simplicity.

This is the third book is the Tiffany Aching series (after The Wee Free Men and A Hat Full of Sky, and before When I Am Old I Shall Wear Midnight).

It's the beginning of a long, cold winter, and twelve-year-old Tiffany Aching has to save the lambs.

Tiffany's an apprentice at Miss Treason's, the very, very old (she's 113) and blind witch. She likes working there, helping around, even though she finds it slightly irritating when the witch borrows her eyes. There she also learns about the "Boffo".

One night in a clearing, they witness the Dark Morris and Tiffany's dragged into the dance. The Wintersmith falls in love with her, and starts making Tiffany-shaped snowflakes and icebergs. And he wants to become human, too. For sure the girl is flattered, but if she doesn't do something about it, winter will never end, springtime will never come again.

To cap it all, Miss Treason is about to die. She makes it spectacular though! And naturally now the young Lancre witches are competing for her cottage, and since Annagramma's the oldest, she's most likely to get it. The problem is, she thinks witching is about Magick, whereas it's more like settling quarrels between farmers and midwiving, really. Hopefully, Tiffany's here to help (but shh, don't tell the other witches).

Of course, the Feegles are always around to lend their big wee hag a hand.

True to the Tiffany Aching books tradition, this third volume is a perfectly balanced mix between the funny (the Nac Mc Feegle's appearances for example, or Horace the cheese) but also real-world-relevant sides of Discworld, and a more bucolic, pastoral, romantic and nostalgic hymn to Nature and simplicity. Have I said I really really love the Tiffany Aching books?

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Great Read!

Wintersmith may be my new favorite Pratchett book - and that says a lot, considering how much I've enjoyed the rest of his works! Fans of the Discworld will recognize many old favorites, including Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Tiffany Aching, and the Feegles, and will be introduced to many new ones. I highly recommend the book, it was a very enjoyable way to unwind after the mad holiday rush.

Wintersmith

I've been a fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series for many years, but have only recently begun reading his children's books. Frankly, I prefer his books to the Harry Potter series for a couple of reasons. First, Pratchett's style and stories are much lighter and funnier. He has an eye and ear for the comic which is just dead on. Also, I really like Tiffany Aching, who is a delightful heroine and smart, honest and unpretentious. Wintersmith is the 3rd book about her, the first is The Wee Free Men, and the second is A Hatful of Sky. I love them all. They are slightly skewed retellings of traditional fairy tales (think Fractured Fairy Tales).

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