tjwallace04 's review for:

The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett

4.0

adventurous funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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 "The Shepherd's Crown" is the last book in the Tiffany Aching sequence and it is the last book that Terry Pratchett wrote before his untimely death from early-onset Alzheimer's in 2015. So reading this book felt bittersweet throughout. And then the afterword mentioned that Pratchett was not completely done with his normal meticulous editing process when he died, so it is probably not in the polished, final form that he would have wanted. That made the tears prick a little.

In spite of that sad situation, "The Shepherd's Crown" is still a nice conclusion to the Tiffany Aching books, showing her coming into her full powers, recognized throughout the land as the heir to Granny Weatherwax, struggling to keep up (relatable), extending hard-won empathy to unlikable characters (lovely), and ending up exactly where Granny Aching might have wanted to see her. Tiffany is a great heroine...a perfect balance of sass and kindness and pure grit, always working so hard to do what she thinks is right (even if she grumps about it internally).

Now that I have finished Tiffany Aching, I am not sure what part of Discworld I should turn to next. I think I have had enough witches for a while. So...maybe Death?