Review: The Wee Free Men

Title: The Wee Free Men
Author: Terry Pratchett
Nationality: British
Year: 2003
Publisher: Corgi
Length: 200+ pages
Rating: 8.5/10
Summary: A great addition to Discworld

The outline

Tiffany Aching is a far-from-ordinary nine year old and when her younger brother goes missing she must learn to be a witch to rescue him. As the second Discworld book for children and the first of four about Tiffany, it’s inevitably a far cry from Harry Potter or the Worst Witch.

Sample

‘You’d better tell me what you know, toad,’ said Tiffany. ‘Miss Tick isn’t here. I am.’ 
‘Another world is colliding with this one,’ said the toad. ‘There. Happy now? That’s what Miss Tick thinks. But it’s happening faster than she expected. All the monsters are coming back.’ 
‘Why?’ 
‘There’s no one to stop them.’ 
There was silence for a moment. 
‘There’s me,’ said Tiffany.

The verdict

Although I’ve read most of the Discworld books, until now I never got around to reading the Tiffany Aching series. I think it was down to a combination of factors: they’re children’s books, they’re focussed on new characters and The Wee Free Men is the only Discworld book where Death doesn’t appear, so it couldn’t be real Discworld, could it? However, after reading some very positive reviews for the fourth and final Tiffany Aching book, I Shall Wear Midnight, I decided to give the first of the series a go. I’m certainly glad I did.

It’s not quite the normal Discworld (the whole story is told from one character’s viewpoint - with chapters! - and many of the familiar motifs are missing) but that doesn’t mean it’s no good. Tiffany is an instantly likeable protagonist, a tough female character in the spirit of Granny Weatherwax. The Wee Free Men is witty, imaginative, creepy and made me laugh out loud on several occasions. It stands up in comparison to best of the Discworld novels and is a wonderful addition to the series.