The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett

Rating: Loved it
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Doubleday Childrens (27 Aug. 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0857534815
ISBN-13: 978-0857534811

Summary:

"Deep in the Chalk, something is stirring. ¬The owls and the foxes can sense it, and Tiffany Aching feels it in her boots. An old enemy is gathering strength. This is a time of endings and beginnings, old friends and new, a blurring of edges and a shifting of power. Now Tiffany stands between the light and the dark, the good and the bad. As the fairy horde prepares for invasion, Tiffany must summon all the witches to stand with her. To protect the land. Her land. There will be a reckoning. . ."

A bitter sweet book to read. On the one hand I was super excited as it is the newest Terry Pratchett disc world book, on the other hand it is the last book that will ever be published. It is sad for me that I will not have a Pratchett book to look forward too or purchase ever again, or get a chance to meet him. Pratchett books have been a part of my life for around 20 years.

This book wasn't actually finished when Terry Pratchett died, I am not sure who finished the book off but you could tell the parts Pratchett wrote and the parts another author wrote. Even though I think they did a valiant effort to make the writing styles as seamless as possible. I feel for the writer who was asked to fill in the gaps, it must have been a monumental challenge.

Regardless I still loved this book. We have all the Witches back, the Wee Free Men and an array of old and new characters. I liked the character development of Tiffany as her storyline reflects what most young women (and people) experience when their training is finished and they begin in their chosen careers. Trying to form their own identity and their own establish their own style.

Geoffrey is a great character and I enjoyed his story that deals with sexism and change (he wants to be a witch but only women can be witches). Which mirrors the same themes explored in "Equal Rites" of a woman becoming a wizard. I am sad we won't see Geoffrey again.

There were laughs to be had and I will admit to a few tears, as well as a "no why? why has that happened" yelled at the book. The usual Pratchett wit and insight into human behaviour is present which won't disappoint fans.

I found that this book was a fitting end to the Discworld series and to Terry Pratchetts life with the passing of one of Discworlds most loved characters. I don't want to give away too much but I won't lie that it had me crying as I read the scene. It is a book about change, life and death, and a final farewell from the Pratchett.

Good bye Terry Pratchett and thank you.

Tiffany Aching Series by Terry Pratchett

Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary
The Tiffany Aching is a young apprentice witch in Terry Pratchetts young adult series. She lives in a sheep growing region on the Discworld called The Chalk, is an expert cheese maker, and a witch. She is smart, kind, practical, and a fast learner. This series follows her growing up and learning to be a witch and an adult.

We first meet Tiffany in The Wee Free Men age 9 living on her family's farm and working hard making cheese. When her brother is kidnapped by the faerie queen she goes on an adventure to rescue him with her new friends the Nac Mac Feegle.

Her story continues into A Hat Full Of Sky and we see 11 year old Tiffany living in Lancre  as an apprentice witch to Miss Level when Tiffany learns to borrow and "exit" her body she finds a dark creature is waiting, ready to take over her body. Then things go really wrong.

The in Wintersmith 13 year old Tiffany is in her work experience phase of being an apprentice witch and she has a problem, the Wintersmith has developed a crush on her and he wants Tiffany to stay with him forever in Winter.

Finally in I Shall Wear Midnight Tiffany has completed her apprenticeship and now lives back in her home town as the resident witch for the Chalk. But a terrible creature is hunting her down and if he wins it will mean the destruction of witches in Discworld.

So that is the four books in a nutshell.

The Characters
Tiffany is a wonderful character, she does "sound" a lot older then the average girl her age but this is explained by saying a witch does tend to be older then her peers due to the life ecperiences she has even by the age of 16. Even so, a smart intelligent 13 year old girl is still going to notice boys and get giggly. Tiffany doesn't really do giggly. But she still makes silly mistakes as anyone would do as a teen and learning. She goes from a world where she had very few friends and was an outcast, to a world where she is accepted, has friends and is challenged.

But having said that I think she is a fantastic role model for young girls and very relatable. Well I would have related to her as a teen :)

The Nac Mac Feegles usually steal the show (and everything else around the show including the audience). They are the biggest source of humour in these books and are the other main characters who are with Tiffany through thick and thin in the series. I love the Nac Mac Feegles and would love to have some of them in my life. At the very least they would make you smile, oh and you are not really supposed to understand them fully. I wonder sometimes, briefly, if Terry Pratchett writes the Nac Mac Feegles lines when drunk.

Other characters worth really noting come from the main Discworld series appear over the course of the books make an appearance. Mostly other witches such as Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg. But we also meet Captain Carrot, Angua and Wee Mad Arthur (a Nac Mac Feegle raised as a Gnome and living in the cit as a officer of the watch).

Story Development
I liked the way Pratchett took Tiffany through the series. It happens logically and she doesnt miraculously gain a power or knowledge for no apparent reason. In each book there is a lesson Tiffany learns. In Book 1 she learns to do what needs to be done; Book 2 she learns about the responsibility of power; Book 3 she learns about consequences of actions (and owning up and fixing them), and book 4 that you need to balance and treat people with respect.

There is a strong theme about working hard, friendship, common sense and believing in yourself. The witches in the Discworld are great problem solvers and believe in giving things a crack at yourself.

There is no "slow" book in this series. No book that left me thinking "well that book really didn't add any value to the series". The books do get darker as the books progress but never get really scary. The darkness or rather seriousness of the books reflect Tiffany's struggles and challenges as well as her growing up.

Just a short note book four does deal with domestic violence, suicide, child abuse, infanticide, mob justice and murder (the first four in the first couple of chapters). While all very serious topics I felt the dealt with in a way that would raise this issues without completely terrifying the teenager. But if your child is younger then 16, you may want to have a think about waiting for them till they are older or have a discussion with them about these topics (I would also suggest reading it yourself to gauge how you should approach it). It is not very confronting as Pratchett doesn't go into massive detail but it is there and it is discussed between Tiffany and her dad.

I Shall Wear Midnight has a wonderful ending which really wrapped up the series. It was both an ending and a beginning. Usually I hate epilogues to a series as they rarely add value to the series and ruin an otherwise awesome ending (Harry Potter series and Hunger Games series I am looking at you), but this epilogue didn't make me feel that way. I thought it rounded off the over all ending very well, plus it wasn't soppy, or over done. I loved it in short.

Future of the Series
I have no idea if Terry Pratchett will write any more about Tiffany Aching. I really hope he does even if he turns it into a proper Discworld book (as in part of the adult main series). We got a fascinating glimpse into Tiffany's future and I want to know more about her!

Overall
I am totally biased as I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, Terry Practhett. The man can do no wrong in my eyes. Having said that this is still a wonderful series and I would recommend this as a great starter series for young (or even new to Practhett), soon to be Pratchett fans. Even girls aged between 9-16 who love magic and fantasy will also no doubt love this series.

Quotes

“Even if it's not your fault, it's your responsibility.” ― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

“I'm trying to have a moment o' existential dreed here, right? Crivens, it's a puir lookout if a man canna feel the chilly winds o' fate lashing aroound his netheres wi'out folks telling him he's deid, eh?” ― Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky

“Whut's the plan, Rob?" said one of them. "Okay, lads, this is what we'll do. As soon as we see somethin', we'll attack it. Right?" This caused a cheer. "Ach, 'tis a good plan," said Daft Wullie.” ― Terry Pratchett, The Wee Free Men

“You’d better tell me what you know, toad,” said Tiffany. “Miss Tick isn’t here. I am.” “Another world is colliding with this one,” said the toad. “There. Happy now? That’s what Miss Tick thinks. But it’s happening faster than she expected. All the monsters are coming back.” “Why?” “There’s no one to stop them.” There was silence for a moment. “There’s me,” said Tiffany.” ― Terry Pratchett, The Wee Free Men

“I’m not superstitious. I’m a witch. Witches aren’t superstitious. We are what people are superstitious of.” ― Terry Pratchett, Wintersmith

“Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things.” ― Terry Pratchett, I Shall Wear Midnight: A Story Of Discworld

“Oh, I feel very angry a lot of the time," said Tiffany, "but I just put it away somewhere until I can do something useful with it.” ― Terry Pratchett, I Shall Wear Midnight: A Story Of Discworld

“I know it’s not the right thing to say to a lady, miss, but you are sweating like a pig!" "My mother always said that horses sweat, men perspire, and ladies merely glow…" "Is that so? Well, miss, you are glowing like a pig!” ― Terry Pratchett, I Shall Wear Midnight: A Story Of Discworld

Snuff (Discworld Book 39) by Terry Pratchett

Rating 4.5 out of 5
Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 670 KB
Print Length: 382 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 038561926X
Publisher: Transworld Digital (October 13, 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
ASIN: B00563M11M

Vimes is back! but he is a man living on the edge, his time is up, he is going on a holiday. Sybill, Vimes and young Sam are off to the Ramkin country estate for some fresh air and relaxation. Vimes is miserable, and at a loss until a Goblin girl is murdered on his property. Then the local blacksmith disappears and someone tells Vimes he CANT do something (which goes down about as well as a ferret does in trousers). This all adds up to Vimes doing what he does best being a police man and chasing the bad guy.

Snuff deals with some heavy themes wrapped up in the guise of fantasy. The Goblin race is subjected to some terrible treatment which to me seemed to mirror how colonists in the 1800's treated Indigenous cultures in their colonised lands. Pratchett has tackled racism (or specisim as it happens to be in Discworld) before but this book seemed to really drill the point home. The darker theme though is not off putting and it suits the subject matter. Also Vimes is darker in this book but more because he is grappling with what is right or wrong and how far can you go for the "right" cause.

Having said that Terry Pratchett was able to tell the story with humour, word puns, satire, and "life" observations. The best example of this is how Pratchett manages to capture, and bring humour too; the mind of a six year old boy (obsessed with poo). But Practhett also mange to shed bring humour to the interactions between husband and wife, and interactions between the elite and servants. I found myself laughing and chortling in many places.

This is not a City Watch novel, it is more of a Sam Vimes novel. The rest of the City Watch do not feature much in this book, we really only see a glimpse of the beloved characters of Carrot, Angua, Nobbs, Colon, Cheery, (and Detritus is not there at all). Wee Mad Arthur though left his mark even though he was a minor character. As always the Nac Mac Feegle steal the show (literally if they work out how) and Wee Mad Arthur was such a laugh. He was easily my favourite characters.

As with all Discworld books you dont necessarily have needed all the books before it. But it is a very good idea, especially in this book as it refers to events that happened in the book Thud! which will spoil Thud! for you if you have not read it yet.

I have seen reviews which criticise the direction Pratchett took with this book. I personally dont have a problem with. It showed the internal struggle Vimes has been moving towards for a long time as he tries to reconcile his old life and who he thinks he is, with his new life and what others think he is.

In all honesty I think the last few Discworld books have been getting better. But after writing 39 books there are bound to be some in there that don't quite shine as well as the others. I really hope we get to see a Rincewind or Witches novel again soon.

Extras
Here is an interview of Terry Pratchett talking about all of his books, some potential spoilers here if you have not read the series.

Unseen Academicals (Book 37) by Terry Pratchett

Rating: 3 out of 5

"He tugged on the big woolly hat with the pink pompom on it. 'They are so very pink, Mister Trev. We must be bursting with machismo!'.

Football has come to Ank-Morpork and its not the old football the people on the street know and love. This is the new football that has rules, is fast paced, and you are not allowed to kill your opponent. The University must win one game to retain their special monetary fund that helps sustain their way of life. Only it wont be easy because they have to play by the rules and not use magic, and wizards don't normally play by the rules.

While the main story revolves around football you do not need to be a fan or knowledgeable on the game. Unseen Academicals looks at the phenomenon of football and satirises it. There are also other stories entwined into the football theme like celebrity, unrequited love, fashion, racism, and even politics. As always Pratchett has done a wonderful job looking at these themes and portraying their essence.

This book introduces a lot of new characters such as Mister Nutt, Glenda, Juliet, Professor Hix and Trev. We also see a swag of the old characters like Ridcully, Vetinari and Rincewind. Professor Hix was a fascinating character being the designated "evil" professor of the Department of Post-Mortem Communications at Unseen University. Nutt is also an interesting character and very endearing. I think Nutt could potentially become a staple of the Discworld series and a fan favorite. Glenda the night cook is a strong and clever character. All of these characters I would love to see in future books.

It pains me to say this but I did not enjoy this book as much as previous Discworld novels. I really like Terry Pratchett's books and have never struggled with one before. This book just didn't draw me in till about halfway through. I found the various threads at the start too distracting and a little long winded. There just didn't seem to be the concise direction usually found in Pratchetts books. When they merged together though my interest in the book grew. There were no real laugh out loud moments, but I did chuckle a few times, and even smiled at some scenes. However I have seen on the interwebs this book getting far more favorable reviews so maybe it was just me and I was not in a head space to truly enjoy this book.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad book, it's an interesting read in terms of story development for Discworld. If you are a fan of the series it is worth the read purely to learn more about Discworld, and your favorite characters. This book seemed to signal a shift in the Discworld universe, changes are on the way. There is something happening in Uberworld politically, and the Koon Valley Accord is progressing between the dwarfs and trolls.

This is a book for Discworld fans. People new to the series do not start here. I dont believe this is the best example of Pratchett's work. As previously mentioned I have read other reviews on the net and this book seems to have divided fans into those who love this book and those who dont. I seem to sit firmly on the fence. I enjoyed some aspects of this book and would recomend it to fans, but at the same time there were some parts I struggled with and can safely say this is not one of my favorites.