Many a moon ago, several people suggested that Terry Pratchett’s Discworld would be right up my alley. Even then, the size of the series was daunting. Eventually, I started at the beginning—and those weren’t the most captivating volumes. A few books in, I got the hang of it. For people who face the same problem, I might have a possible gateway: The Wee Free Men.
Sure, it might be part of the Tiffany Aching-subseries aimed at younger readers, but it got all the things that makes Pratchett a great read: a clever heroine who gets to find out she’s got all the makings of a witch, a Fairy Queen who steals her little brother, and the Nac Mac Feegle, the fightin’, thievin’, tiny blue-skinned pictsies who were thrown out of Fairyland for being Drunk and Disorderly. They’re a riot.
But, as it turns out, there’s more to them. They see themselves as the losin’ type, and young miss Aching as their only hope. They stand by her, and try their darnedest no to let her down. Tiffany, in turn, tries to do the memory of her late grandmother—the previous county witch—proud. Both lead to some great moments. So if you got any doubts where to start with Pratchett, why not give this one a chance?
- Book read
- Terry Pratchett — The Wee Free Men (A Story of Discworld)
- First Line
- Some things start before other things.