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Publisher:
Doubleday (Transworld) |
Release
Date: May 2003 |
ISBN:
0385605331 |
Awards:
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Format
Reviewed: Hardback |
Buy
it at Amazon US
|| UK |
Read
an Excerpt |
Genre:
Young Adult Comic Fantasy for ages 12 and up |
Reviewed:
2003 |
Reviewer:
Rachel A Hyde |
Reviewer
Notes: Review
Two |
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The
Wee Free Men
Discworld
By Terry
Pratchett
Terry
Pratchett always says that he writes for anybody old enough to read
his books, but here is his second Discworld novel for younger readers.
In this book we are introduced to a new area of the Discworld called
The Chalk, which is a sort of super-Wiltshire, home to sheep,
ancient monuments and young Tiffany Aching.
When
monsters out of folk tales start appearing and her baby brother
is stolen away by the Fairy Queens, Tiffany realises it is time
to do something and maybe the opportunity to be what she yearns
to become: a witch. She has a real one to give her a bit of advice
and the help (or hindrance) of the Wee Free Men, tiny tartan terrors
who got thrown out of Fairyland for being
tiny tartan terrors.
It is time to go forth, armed with Granny Aching's Diseases of the
Sheep and her trusty frying pan.
I have remarked before that Pratchett
is not, in my opinion, a consistently good writer but to date I
have found that all his work for younger readers tends to have a
good story line. This is an essential hook on which to hang the
comedy, and he doesn't let moralizing or quasi-seriousness muddy
the waters. There is a resourceful nine-year-old heroine, plenty
of Celtic jokes and surprisingly, some lovely descriptions of The
Chalk itself which comes to life as the Discworld equivalent
of a real place known to the author. I didn't find it as inventive
or witty as The Amazing Maurice & His Educated Rodents
(also reviewed on this site) and the parts in Fairyland tended to
get repetitive, showing that Pratchett is better with humor or satire
than he is with action. Good, not great, but still well above the
average and not one to miss if you enjoy his work.
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