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4.33 AVERAGE
4.33 AVERAGE
This was yet another amazing book from Terry Pratchett, although bittersweet when I realized he knew he was dying when he wrote it. I could relate so much to the characters, Pratchett's understanding of people was always so good <3 It's funny and thought provoking and it left me with a sense of inner peace.
This book is obviously not finished to Sir Terry's usual standards (understandably) but I'm glad he wrote it and I'm glad I read it.
I love Terry Pratchett's work and I've read every single Discworld novel. And this last one is good and painful. Because if you read between the lines, if you pay attention to the small details you realize that he knew he was going. And there's sadness woven into the fabric of this novel.
Alas, the world's achanging. And the only thing I can add is "Crivens".
Alas, the world's achanging. And the only thing I can add is "Crivens".
challenging
emotional
funny
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is Sir Pratchett's last book. It's a masterpiece, like most of his other works. It is the crowning finale to Tiffany's storyline. I felt many many things while listening to this book, not all of them were joyful, but I'm better for every one of those emotions.
Well this was the book that broke me. I knew it'd happen one day. I confess to having wept through quite a lot of this. Not because Terry Pratchett decided to change his style but because thus was his last novel. There is an epilogue explaining Sir Terry's last years and his writing process and I ran out of dry handkerchief space long before that.
The book itself is definitely darker than others. We have a loss in the first few chapters that truly shook me and if you've been reading Discworld from the start then you'll understand why.
In I Shall Wear Midnight we saw the beginning of the strands of the various parts of the Discworld come together to help Tiffany fight The Cunning Man. In The Shepherd's Crown Sir Terry marshalls the collective might of the witches to literally battle an old foe.
But he doesn't leave them short handed. Even in this last novel he introduces new characters who are so cleverly written you wonder if you've missed them being introduced before. My favourite characters of the Tiffany Aching novels have been the Wee Free Men, the Nac Mac Feegles. They are tough, they are tiny, they are unstoppable. But Sir Terry had more characters for you to fall in love with in every book so watch out for Jeffrey and Mephistopheles who bring a twist on headology and boffo.
I loved it. I've loved them all. I weep every Christmas for the Terry Pratchett shaped hole in my life. But wait, what's this? Another set of 5 books co-written with Stephen Baxter. Then there's Nation which I inexplicably haven't read and even a so-called children's book or two. Let's start with Father Christmas's Fake Beard and other stories. And, since it's December, it would be rude not to listen to Hogfather again.
The book itself is definitely darker than others. We have a loss in the first few chapters that truly shook me and if you've been reading Discworld from the start then you'll understand why.
In I Shall Wear Midnight we saw the beginning of the strands of the various parts of the Discworld come together to help Tiffany fight The Cunning Man. In The Shepherd's Crown Sir Terry marshalls the collective might of the witches to literally battle an old foe.
But he doesn't leave them short handed. Even in this last novel he introduces new characters who are so cleverly written you wonder if you've missed them being introduced before. My favourite characters of the Tiffany Aching novels have been the Wee Free Men, the Nac Mac Feegles. They are tough, they are tiny, they are unstoppable. But Sir Terry had more characters for you to fall in love with in every book so watch out for Jeffrey and Mephistopheles who bring a twist on headology and boffo.
I loved it. I've loved them all. I weep every Christmas for the Terry Pratchett shaped hole in my life. But wait, what's this? Another set of 5 books co-written with Stephen Baxter. Then there's Nation which I inexplicably haven't read and even a so-called children's book or two. Let's start with Father Christmas's Fake Beard and other stories. And, since it's December, it would be rude not to listen to Hogfather again.
Review also available at https://wordsmithantics.wordpress.com/2015/11/08/the-shepards-crown-by-terry-pratchett-discworld-41/
Deep in the Chalk, something is stirring. The owls and the foxes can sense it, and Tiffany Aching feels it in her boots. An old enemy is gathering strength. Tiffany and her Nac Mac Feegle's are once again battling a formidable foe; The Elves, reading to retake Discoworld for their own pleasures, under the new rule of Lord Peaseblossom. The now de-throned Queen Nightshade goes to the only person who could ever best her; witch of The Chalk, Tiffany Aching, to help her in the final Discworld novel.
Tiffany Aching is my favourite character in the Discworld novels, she is a witch because that is what she chose to be, and she is such a role-model for me as the kind of person id like to be. When she is named to successor to the late Esme Weatherwax, Tiffany struggles with her duel responsibilities to The Chalk and to Lancre, while trying to train her new witch, whose not really a witch but just a boy with calming abilities, and on top of that deciding what kind of witch she should be. If that was not enough for our young witch , the Elves are trying to take Discworld and together, witches must stand to face them.
As I read this book , I had a large sense of it being unfinished. Terry Pratchett's death was a great loss felt across the world and this book seems to have been only in it's early stage when he passes, I feel the obviousness of editing choices here and there, getting cameos of old characters in and trying tie loose ends, but its not Practchett writing, most of the early chapters do not flow correctly and the book barely feels complete. The underlying plot of Geoffrey is rushed and non-conclusive, his powers poorly demonstrated and in no universe would I believe he would be the one to inherit Esme's cottage.
I loved this book alot, even though I have slated it quite a bit, because I grew up on Discworld. It was home to be for much of my life and I will miss it, but I can always go back, even right to the start, to rediscover it all, The Unseen University, and Hex, The Night Watch, and the city where most things happen, Ankh-Morpork. Terry Pratchett gave the world something unique, somewhere where everyone has their place, full of wonder and strange, written in humbleness and comedy, and I for one, am grateful.
Deep in the Chalk, something is stirring. The owls and the foxes can sense it, and Tiffany Aching feels it in her boots. An old enemy is gathering strength. Tiffany and her Nac Mac Feegle's are once again battling a formidable foe; The Elves, reading to retake Discoworld for their own pleasures, under the new rule of Lord Peaseblossom. The now de-throned Queen Nightshade goes to the only person who could ever best her; witch of The Chalk, Tiffany Aching, to help her in the final Discworld novel.
Tiffany Aching is my favourite character in the Discworld novels, she is a witch because that is what she chose to be, and she is such a role-model for me as the kind of person id like to be. When she is named to successor to the late Esme Weatherwax, Tiffany struggles with her duel responsibilities to The Chalk and to Lancre, while trying to train her new witch, whose not really a witch but just a boy with calming abilities, and on top of that deciding what kind of witch she should be. If that was not enough for our young witch , the Elves are trying to take Discworld and together, witches must stand to face them.
As I read this book , I had a large sense of it being unfinished. Terry Pratchett's death was a great loss felt across the world and this book seems to have been only in it's early stage when he passes, I feel the obviousness of editing choices here and there, getting cameos of old characters in and trying tie loose ends, but its not Practchett writing, most of the early chapters do not flow correctly and the book barely feels complete. The underlying plot of Geoffrey is rushed and non-conclusive, his powers poorly demonstrated and in no universe would I believe he would be the one to inherit Esme's cottage.
I loved this book alot, even though I have slated it quite a bit, because I grew up on Discworld. It was home to be for much of my life and I will miss it, but I can always go back, even right to the start, to rediscover it all, The Unseen University, and Hex, The Night Watch, and the city where most things happen, Ankh-Morpork. Terry Pratchett gave the world something unique, somewhere where everyone has their place, full of wonder and strange, written in humbleness and comedy, and I for one, am grateful.
