The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

Nine-year-old Tiffany Aching needs magic--fast! Her sticky little brother Wentworth has been spirited away by the evil Queen of faerie, and it’s up to her to get him back safely. Having already decided to grow up to be a witch, now all Tiffany has to do is find her power. But she quickly learns that it’s not all black cats and broomsticks. According to her witchy mentor Miss Tick, "Witches don’t use magic unless they really have to...We do other things. A witch pays attention to everything that’s going on...A witch uses her head...A witch always has a piece of string!" Luckily, besides her trusty string, Tiffany’s also got the Nac Mac Feegles, or the Wee Free Men on her side. Small, blue, and heavily tattooed, the Feegles love nothing more than a good fight except maybe a drop of strong drink! Tiffany, heavily armed with an iron skillet, the feisty Feegles, and a talking toad on loan from Miss Tick, is a formidable adversary. But the Queen has a few tricks of her own, most of them deadly. Tiffany and the Feegles might get more than they bargained for on the flip side of Faerie!


This is a stand alone DiscWorld book, though the first of 3 books in series. I have wanted to read this ever since reading Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (which I have read 3 times, so I must love it).

Did I love Tiffany as much as Maurice? No I didn't, but that is not to say I didn't enjoy this book. I could see myself rereading it. I think with Prachett rereading is necessary because there are is always so many quirky one liners that you missed the first time.

What I loved about this book was Tiffany's drive, she knew what she wanted and by golly nothing was getting in her way. Not Miss Tick (her loans Tiffany her talking frog), Rob Anybody and I smiled everytime 'Slightly Bigger Than Wee Jock But Not So Big as Middle-Sized Jock Jock' had something to say.

Looking forward to A Hat Full of Sky and see what happens next.

This book NOT added to Where Are You Read? (because really I don't where Discworld is)

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

I read Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett as required reading for a course. I enjoyed it the first time and again the second time and even the third time. I loved the quirky comments that put a smile to my face. The characters stood out and I am on the lookout for a little cat and rat figurine to put on my shelf.

This year I will start to go through the DiscWorld series, starting with The Colour of Magic. This time I am recording some of the quirky comments and quotes that grab my attention.

Here are some of them:

Page 165
It was a backwards memory of an event in his future too terrifying that it had generated harmonics of fear all the way along his lifeline.
This was not the event, but it was good practice for it.

" `Why must you always panic ?' asked Twoflower petulantly.
`Because the whole of my future life just flashed in front of my eyes, and it didn't take very long, [...].'"
- Rincewind panics

Kring - "What I'd really like to be a ploughshare. I don't know what that is, but it sounds like an existence with some point to it."

Page 199
Rincewind speaking to Twoflower
"Don't you get scared of heights?" he managed to ask.
"No" he said, "why should I? You're just as dead if youfall from forty feet as you are from four thousand fathoms, that's what I say."