Scan barcode
patchworkbunny's review against another edition
4.0
I've finally made myself read The Shepherd's Crown, Sir Terry Pratchett's final book. It's hard to separate that knowledge from the story especially as Granny Weatherwax meets Death for the last time. As the characters say goodbye to Granny, it feels like Terry was saying goodbye too. I cannot lie, I cried quite a bit.
I am not completely done with Discworld, I have not yet read Raising Steam which might have been a mistake as the railways play a key role in this book. However, like with all the books, I'm sure it will be perfectly readable out of order.
Granny Weatherwax's boots are hard to fill and Tiffany Aching isn't sure she's the witch to do it. However the steading was left to her and You the cat appears to have adopted her too. Soon the strain of attending both the Chalk and Lancre gets too much for Tiffany and the elves sense the weakness left by Granny's absence.
Yet the Discworld has changed since the elves last passed over. For iron is everywhere and goblins have rights. And if there's one things elves can't stand, it's iron.
In Discworld the witches were always the practical ones whilst the wizards were a little ridiculous (is it any coincidence that one is called Ridcully?). Terry's final farewell includes a message of gender equality, with a boy who wishes to be a witch and a female Nac Mac Feegle who doesn't wish to leave the mound she calls home to be a Kelda elsewhere.
If I'm being perfectly honest, it's not the best of his books and it definitely feels a little unfinished or rushed. Which breaks my heart a little. In Rob's note at the end he does say he thought Terry would have wrote more of it if he could have. There was something Death said to Granny at the beginning that isn't quite resolved, but if you check out the Wikipedia page for the book, apparently Neil Gaiman shared the answer to this (and it completely makes sense).
Mephistopheles the goat is fantastic and I liked the side story of Geoffrey. It was nice to gather all the witches together again too, I just wanted a little bit more and sadly Death chose to collect Terry before it was all there.
I am not completely done with Discworld, I have not yet read Raising Steam which might have been a mistake as the railways play a key role in this book. However, like with all the books, I'm sure it will be perfectly readable out of order.
Granny Weatherwax's boots are hard to fill and Tiffany Aching isn't sure she's the witch to do it. However the steading was left to her and You the cat appears to have adopted her too. Soon the strain of attending both the Chalk and Lancre gets too much for Tiffany and the elves sense the weakness left by Granny's absence.
Yet the Discworld has changed since the elves last passed over. For iron is everywhere and goblins have rights. And if there's one things elves can't stand, it's iron.
In Discworld the witches were always the practical ones whilst the wizards were a little ridiculous (is it any coincidence that one is called Ridcully?). Terry's final farewell includes a message of gender equality, with a boy who wishes to be a witch and a female Nac Mac Feegle who doesn't wish to leave the mound she calls home to be a Kelda elsewhere.
If I'm being perfectly honest, it's not the best of his books and it definitely feels a little unfinished or rushed. Which breaks my heart a little. In Rob's note at the end he does say he thought Terry would have wrote more of it if he could have. There was something Death said to Granny at the beginning that isn't quite resolved, but if you check out the Wikipedia page for the book, apparently Neil Gaiman shared the answer to this (and it completely makes sense).
Mephistopheles the goat is fantastic and I liked the side story of Geoffrey. It was nice to gather all the witches together again too, I just wanted a little bit more and sadly Death chose to collect Terry before it was all there.
rpych2's review against another edition
5.0
After a little over four years, I have finally finished Discworld. And you know what, I was an absolute wreck while reading The Shepherd’s Crown. I started crying about 25 pages in and it didn’t really stop until long after I was finally done reading it. It’s one of those books that you just need to experience for yourself, because if you make it this far in this incredible masterpiece of a series, then you’ll want to read this finale for yourself.
Without really getting into a lot of detail on the plot, there were so many emotional moments in this book. There was a particularly emotional scene with Death towards the beginning of the novel, and he was as fantastic as ever. His showing up meant so much more when you realize that it was Sir Terry’s last book. Tiffany, who is probably my favorite Discworld protagonist, grew into the person you expected her to be when first starting her story back in “The Wee Free Men”. One of the main lessons that she learns that we can all apply to our lives is that you should be comfortable in your own skin. And it was told in such an emotional way that it was impossible for me to not read a lot of the scenes in this book through tears.
Was this a 5 star book on its own? Probably not. But this series is worth 5 stars and more so I’m going to round up. Discworld has become my favorite series of all time throughout this journey, and it’s one that will stick with me for the rest of my life. It’s a comedic series on the surface, but it had a ton of incredibly deep moments and lessons that affected me so much. Transporting myself to this incredible world through Pratchett’s writing has been one of my favorite things I’ve ever done in my life, and I would recommend it to anyone.
There’s a quote on the back of the edition of The Shepherd’s Crown that I have from Neil Gaiman; “A Terry Pratchett book is a small miracle.” It truly is. GNU Sir Terry, and thank you.
Without really getting into a lot of detail on the plot, there were so many emotional moments in this book. There was a particularly emotional scene with Death towards the beginning of the novel, and he was as fantastic as ever. His showing up meant so much more when you realize that it was Sir Terry’s last book. Tiffany, who is probably my favorite Discworld protagonist, grew into the person you expected her to be when first starting her story back in “The Wee Free Men”. One of the main lessons that she learns that we can all apply to our lives is that you should be comfortable in your own skin. And it was told in such an emotional way that it was impossible for me to not read a lot of the scenes in this book through tears.
Was this a 5 star book on its own? Probably not. But this series is worth 5 stars and more so I’m going to round up. Discworld has become my favorite series of all time throughout this journey, and it’s one that will stick with me for the rest of my life. It’s a comedic series on the surface, but it had a ton of incredibly deep moments and lessons that affected me so much. Transporting myself to this incredible world through Pratchett’s writing has been one of my favorite things I’ve ever done in my life, and I would recommend it to anyone.
There’s a quote on the back of the edition of The Shepherd’s Crown that I have from Neil Gaiman; “A Terry Pratchett book is a small miracle.” It truly is. GNU Sir Terry, and thank you.
vortacist's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
mpclemens's review against another edition
4.0
A fitting farewell to the Disc, and Tiffany Aching, and, of course, Sir Terry, though as the Afterword states, this was one of many titles that the great man left behind, and may have been the only one shape-able into a publishable state. A bittersweet ending to a beloved series that evolved from comic parody to sharp satire, and reached far greater highs than its lows. For maximum understanding, re-read the various Witches novels of the Discworld series, the Tiffany Aching books, and perhaps [b:Raising Steam|11275323|Raising Steam (Discworld, #40)|Terry Pratchett|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1375882313s/11275323.jpg|16202400] as well. None are strictly required, but they will prolong the sweetness and delay the sadness of this all-to-soon ending.
samdragon's review against another edition
5.0
I really liked this book. The last book was such a good ending that I was worried that this wasn't going to be all that great, luckly I was mistaken. Reading this book was hard for me, as I'm sure it was for a lot of people. Throughout the whole book I couldn't help but think about the fact that Terry Pratchett will never write another book. He is such an amazing man and writer, he will be missed.
bluestjuice's review against another edition
4.0
Reading this, you have to understand that it's not-quite-finished. It's got structure, it has a narrative, but pieces of it aren't as polished or fully-formed as you might expect, and that's forgivable considering. Really, I would have given this a lot of stars anyway just for the chapter that contains The rest of the story is worthwhile too, and although we've already seen Tiffany Aching come mostly into her own as an adult woman and witch, it's nice to see her step into leadership in a more concrete way, plus I loved seeing return visits from Magrat and other characters from the witches' stories as a way to conclude the series, and really, an entire body of work.
Spoiler
Granny Weatherwax's death, which is written with such matter-of-fact calmness and integrity that it had me in instant tears.witchqueen76's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent end to the Tiffany Aching Series. Such a shame there can be no more. What an amazing author with a brilliant imagination. I loved this series the most. I love that a male author gave such power to female characters.
its_jennyybean's review against another edition
5.0
I really loved this, and I've not been the biggest fan of the Tiffany Aching stories. Perhaps I liked it more because of how it tugged at my heart strings. Without giving too much away, I was in tears after the first two chapters! The afterword is beautifully written too. You will be sorely missed Sir Terry. Your books defined my literary life from the age of 10 (in fact the colour of magic was published the year I was born). GNU Terry Pratchett