Wednesday, September 8, 2010

I Shall Wear Midnight Review


The Book Aunt is another blogger who SQUEES when she hears of a new Terry Pratchett. The lucky duck got an advance reading copy of the text, so here is a link to her review. It is spoilerish, but not terribly so. Tiffany goes to Ankh-Morpork! So I'm betting she does meet up with Esk, the woman wizard. 

Monday, September 6, 2010

Wee Wee Mens!

Wentworth, Tiffany Aching's little brother, ends up calling the Nac Mac Feegle the Wee Wee Mens. Hey, it's better than constantly demanding candy!

Here is some more good witchy stuff from The Wee Free Men:

'"It's like stories," said Tiffany. "It's all right. I worked it out. This is the school, isn't it? The magic place? The world. Here. And you don't realize it until you look. Do you know the pictsies think this world is heaven? We just don't look. You can't give lessons on witchcraft. Not properly. It's all about how you are...you, I suppose."
   "Nicely said," said Mistress Weatherwax. "You're sharp. But there's magic, too. You'll pick that up. It don't take much intelligence, other wise wizards wouldn't be able to do it."' (pp. 356-7)

Granny Weatherwax, foremost of the leaders the witches don't have, goes on: '"We look to...the edges. There's a lot of edges, more than people know. Between life and death, this world and the next, night and day, right and wrong...an' they need watchin'. We watch 'em, we guard the sum of things. And we never ask for any reward. That's important."
    "People give us stuff, mind you. People can be very gen'rous to witches," said Mrs. Ogg happily. "on bakin' days in our village, sometimes I can't move for cake. There's ways and ways of not askin', if you get my meaning. People like to see a happy witch."
   "But down here people think witches are bad!" said Tiffany, but her Second Thoughts added: Remember how rarely Granny Aching ever had to buy her own tobacco? (p. 357-8)

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

The Wee Free Men

So let's go through the Tiffany Aching books until 9/28, when I Shall Wear Midnight zips into my Kindle. The Wee Free Men (2003) introduces Tiffany & the Chalk country of the Disc. I could quote almost the whole book as advice on what a witch truly is & should be. As this is the 1st book of the series, Tiffany is only 9 years old, and Miss Tick (heh) has just "found" her as a new witch. I love when they meet, bristling around each other like 2 cats, sizing each other up:

"Witches don't use magic unless they really have to. It's hard work and difficult to control. We do other things A witch pays attention to everything that's going on. A witch uses her head. A witch is sure of herself. A witch always has a piece of string...Although there's more to witchcraft than string. A witch delights in small details. A witch sees through things and around things . A witch sees farther than most. A witch sees things from the other side. A witch knows where she is, who she is, and when she is." (p. 32) Yep, Miss Perspicacia Tick, that gets at it!

Tiffany takes on the wicked witch stereotype: "And all the stories had, somewhere, the witch. The wicked old witch. 
   And Tiffany had thought, Where's the evidence?
   The stories never said why she was wicked. It was enough to be an old woman, enough to be all alone, enough to look strange because you had no teeth. It was enough to be called a witch." (p.34)

As I said, the whole text is sound witchy advice, and hilarity ensues with the pictsies. Little blue men in kilts with a deep appreciation for the Special Sheep Liniment. There is more good stuff, especially when Granny Weatherwax & Nanny Ogg arrive at the end. I will get to it!