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4.33 AVERAGE
4.33 AVERAGE
I'm not crying, shut up. I'm not crying, you're the one who's crying.
This isn't a fully-polished Pratchett, for obvious reasons. But it's still got everything it needs.
This isn't a fully-polished Pratchett, for obvious reasons. But it's still got everything it needs.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
3.5/5 stars
Some people warned me to not read this book before I'd read the rest of Pratchett's witch-series, but because I've been listening to this series as audiobooks and didn't really like the narrators for Pratchett's other work, I chose to push through. I do plan to have a closer look at this witch-series, though, as well as his other works.
But while I found that I rather enjoyed this story and want to get to know some of his other characters, I am a little worried that they will not be what I hope them to be. Oh well, only time will tell, I guess.
So, to this book.
While I enjoyed it, it reminded me a little of the first book in the series. The story wasn't all that interesting to me, but there were elements that saved it. The Wee Free men, being one of them.
Some people warned me to not read this book before I'd read the rest of Pratchett's witch-series, but because I've been listening to this series as audiobooks and didn't really like the narrators for Pratchett's other work, I chose to push through. I do plan to have a closer look at this witch-series, though, as well as his other works.
But while I found that I rather enjoyed this story and want to get to know some of his other characters, I am a little worried that they will not be what I hope them to be. Oh well, only time will tell, I guess.
So, to this book.
While I enjoyed it, it reminded me a little of the first book in the series. The story wasn't all that interesting to me, but there were elements that saved it. The Wee Free men, being one of them.
The scenes with Tiffany and Granny Weatherwax in the first third are absolutely stunning. Bits of the end feel unfinished, but oh, the beginning. I cried so much.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
A book full of humanity to end a series about what makes humans human (and trolls, elves, feegles and even Death himself). To the pedants who pick the book apart, looking for signs of degeneration in TP's skills, give it a rest. Sir Terry had more ideas on a summer's afternoon than most of us will have in our entire lives. We thank him for sharing so many of them.
This book made me cry multiple times, and it is not even Pratchett's best work. The book begins strong, but about halfway through the pacing stumbles and the book becomes less and less fleshed out until we stagger into an ending. On its own, independent of the context of the author, it is not a very good book. However, as the afterword says, if Pratchett had had more time, he would have written more of this book. For me, the book's deterioration parallels Pratchett's own, and in his final words he chose to speak to his audience through a young, confident, kind, girl. It is not his best work, but it is a worthy final novel for Sir Terry Pratchett.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
(Spoilers ahead!)
This is a book about a lot of things (magic, elves, friendship, gender, responsibility to self and others, and, of course, Feegles), and a lot of those things aren’t explored as thoroughly as they would have been, I’m sure, if Sir Terry Pratchett had been afforded more time by his disease. Despite the unfinished nature of some of these explorations, the biggest theme in this book, to my mind, is one of grief: how we remember and continue to love those we lose to death, and how those who die live on in our memories, rituals, habits, and beliefs. This theme is explored in Granny Weatherwax’s death and Tiffany’s subsequent attempts to carry on her steading while also keeping her own on the Chalks. We see it in the physical objects that are important: the shepherd’s crown, Granny Aching’s hut, and Granny Weatherwax’s boots; and in the decisions that are made, whether in accordance to or in defiance of the wishes of the deceased. Tiffany decides eventually to give up Granny’s steading, and we see both Grannies looking over her at her home on the chalk with approval. In this way, Pratchett shows us that revering the memory of lost loved ones doesn’t mean doing everything exactly as they would have it—it means being true and honest to oneself.. I think that Pratchett was shepherding us, as readers, with this theme: guiding us to the realization that, though we were losing him, and though that would hurt and we would grieve (and so did he), we don’t have to have him to tell us what to imagine or how to think. We are able to tell ourselves stories and imagine beautiful things. He has given us the flint beneath the chalk, and the snow on the Ramtops. We have his world and his love, and we have his blessing to imagine it in our minds in whatever ways are true to us.
This is a book about a lot of things (magic, elves, friendship, gender, responsibility to self and others, and, of course, Feegles), and a lot of those things aren’t explored as thoroughly as they would have been, I’m sure, if Sir Terry Pratchett had been afforded more time by his disease. Despite the unfinished nature of some of these explorations, the biggest theme in this book, to my mind, is one of grief: how we remember and continue to love those we lose to death, and how those who die live on in our memories, rituals, habits, and beliefs. This theme is explored in Granny Weatherwax’s death and Tiffany’s subsequent attempts to carry on her steading while also keeping her own on the Chalks. We see it in the physical objects that are important: the shepherd’s crown, Granny Aching’s hut, and Granny Weatherwax’s boots; and in the decisions that are made, whether in accordance to or in defiance of the wishes of the deceased. Tiffany decides eventually to give up Granny’s steading, and we see both Grannies looking over her at her home on the chalk with approval. In this way, Pratchett shows us that revering the memory of lost loved ones doesn’t mean doing everything exactly as they would have it—it means being true and honest to oneself.. I think that Pratchett was shepherding us, as readers, with this theme: guiding us to the realization that, though we were losing him, and though that would hurt and we would grieve (and so did he), we don’t have to have him to tell us what to imagine or how to think. We are able to tell ourselves stories and imagine beautiful things. He has given us the flint beneath the chalk, and the snow on the Ramtops. We have his world and his love, and we have his blessing to imagine it in our minds in whatever ways are true to us.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes