I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett
If this is the last book in Tiffany Aching series - well, I just hope it's not. But if it is, Terry Pratchett has taken it to a wonderful end. Of all his "series" that I've read (the Guards books, the DEATH books, the witches books), this is the strongest and best. Each book builds on the last, and each sets the bar higher. If I had to choose just one TP book, it would probably being Going Postal - but it might be one of the Tiffany books.
In this book, Tiffany is finally back on the Chalk, as the witch of her own village, her own people. She is 16, on her own, with people's lives in her hands, including the Baron's, who is dying. Suddenly there are hints of witch fever, talk of curses and evil spells, from people who have known Tiffany all her life but who now see her as different, and maybe dangerous. The Cunning Man is abroad.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Tiffany story without the Nac Mac Feegle there to protect their Hag o'the Hills, and in the end their kelda and their hill. Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg make their appearance late in the story, but they leave Tiffany to find her own solutions (they're just there as insurance), though she does get help from the legendary woman wizard Eskarina Smith. Tiffany even gets to travel to Ankh-Morpok, where she meets not just Mrs. Proust of Boffo fame, but also Carrot, Vimes, and Angua [apparently I missed her promotion to Captain]. I'm sure the Patrician was fully briefed on the affair of the King's Head; sadly he was absent from the story, though Death has a walk-on role. Which did make me wonder, what would Tiffany and Susan Sto Helit make of each other?
It was interesting to see connections with Lark Rise to Candleford, of all things, as in the "rough music" and the fair that opens the book. It's explained partly by the author note at the end, where TP talks about growing up in a Lark Rise-ish cottage.
I hear there is a new Vimes book coming this year. I'm so thankful that Terry Pratchett is well enough to continue writing, and writing so well.
Showing posts with label Tiffany Aching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tiffany Aching. Show all posts
Friday, March 18, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Witches & queens & elections
The Queen of Attolia, Megan Whalen Turner
I have had the latest Tiffany Aching book (I Shall Wear Midnight) on the TBR pile since last year. It has been so long since I read one of the Tiffany books, though, that I thought I'd re-read Wintersmith, just to sort of set the stage. I'd only read it once, when it came out in 2007 - so other than the dance with the Wintersmith, I remembered nothing. It's such a perfect book, one of Pratchett's best - one of those that blend the humor with the more serious elements, and really make you think - and it has not only Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, but my favorite minor character/goddess Anoia. It was such a good read that when I sat down with I Shall, it was a disconnect. I wanted more of the Wintersmith/Lancre story.
So I set it aside for the moment, and picked up The Queen of Attolia. Turner has been highly, enthusiastically & repeatedly recommended on the Dorothy Dunnett lists to which I belong. I bough The Thief last year and enjoyed it - and after getting the other three books from the library & not reading them, I of course bought them & added them to the TBR pile. The Queen is very different from The Thief - in the 3rd person, with the story shifting away from Gen for much of the book. I found some of the politics confusing, and I think a map would be a great help. I'm interested to see where this marriage goes, since I'm not totally convinced it's a love match. But I do love Gen (and Eddis) - who has some Lymondish qualities. And that's one more off the recent TBR pile.
When I got tired of Attolian politics, I read Rebecca Traister's Big Girls Don't Cry, about "The [2008] Election That Changed Everything For American Women." I found it inspirational, informative, and even infuriating in spots (not Traister herself, but the instances of blatant sexism that Hillary Clinton faced every day of that campaign). And proving that all roads lead to Jane Austen, she pops up in the chapter on "Pop Culture Warriors." This was a library book, but I may need a copy, just to remind myself.
I have had the latest Tiffany Aching book (I Shall Wear Midnight) on the TBR pile since last year. It has been so long since I read one of the Tiffany books, though, that I thought I'd re-read Wintersmith, just to sort of set the stage. I'd only read it once, when it came out in 2007 - so other than the dance with the Wintersmith, I remembered nothing. It's such a perfect book, one of Pratchett's best - one of those that blend the humor with the more serious elements, and really make you think - and it has not only Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, but my favorite minor character/goddess Anoia. It was such a good read that when I sat down with I Shall, it was a disconnect. I wanted more of the Wintersmith/Lancre story.
So I set it aside for the moment, and picked up The Queen of Attolia. Turner has been highly, enthusiastically & repeatedly recommended on the Dorothy Dunnett lists to which I belong. I bough The Thief last year and enjoyed it - and after getting the other three books from the library & not reading them, I of course bought them & added them to the TBR pile. The Queen is very different from The Thief - in the 3rd person, with the story shifting away from Gen for much of the book. I found some of the politics confusing, and I think a map would be a great help. I'm interested to see where this marriage goes, since I'm not totally convinced it's a love match. But I do love Gen (and Eddis) - who has some Lymondish qualities. And that's one more off the recent TBR pile.
When I got tired of Attolian politics, I read Rebecca Traister's Big Girls Don't Cry, about "The [2008] Election That Changed Everything For American Women." I found it inspirational, informative, and even infuriating in spots (not Traister herself, but the instances of blatant sexism that Hillary Clinton faced every day of that campaign). And proving that all roads lead to Jane Austen, she pops up in the chapter on "Pop Culture Warriors." This was a library book, but I may need a copy, just to remind myself.
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