Customer Reviews
Average plot, not too exciting 
2008-02-06
I've read nearly every Discworld book and this rating is in comparison to other Discworld books. The plot here is OK, straightforward, and not overly exciting. This may be due to this being targeted more toward children. I also find the Nac Mac Feagles annoying to read, however I seem to think of this differently than the other reviewers.
Raising the bar 
2007-12-04
The Terry Pratchett genre is not one that I have delved into before. Terry Pratchett isn't like the others in that genre, however. He is an absolute riot. No matter where I am while reading this series, I laugh aloud. Buy this series of Tiffany Aching and the Wee Free Men. You will not be disappointed.
Listening to audiobook in public can lead to embarrassing outbursts of laughter 2007-11-20
I listened to an unabridged audio version of this book and my review pertains to that version.
This is the third of Terry Pratchett's young adult books I've listened to on audio (via download from Audible), and the second in the Tiffany Aching series. Fledgling witch Tiffany Aching was first seen, along with her violent, often dim but always brave accomplices, the Wee Free Men, in the book called, not surprisingly, The Wee Free Men. In this sequel, Tiffany is now 11 and leaving home to begin her life as an apprentice witch. The plot involves her battles with a "hiver", a parasitic presence that latches onto a strong person and takes them over, eventually killing the host. The hiver is attracted to Tiffany's strong magic abilities and stalks her. How Tiffany "beats" the hiver and also learns a lot of important lessons about growing up (most of them applicable to non-witches out here in the real world) is only part of the attraction of this book. The rest is the rollicking storytelling voice and the humor of the interactions of the characters, particularly whenever the MacFeegles or Wee Free Men show up. Chaos and kicking nearly always ensue, and these are the parts that will get you in trouble with your neighbors on the subway as you laugh out loud at various points in the plot.
Stephen Briggs is a wonderful narrator, who has read all of the Pratchett young adult titles available through Audible. He does a great variety of voices, performing both women and children well, as well as making the MacFeegles' voices unforgettable and hilarious. The accents can occasionally be a little difficult to understand, but it's well worth the effort. Though the Tiffany Aching series and another, standalone book (The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents) are marketed as young adult titles and are certainly excellent for readers age 9-10 and above, there is much for adults to enjoy as well. Highly recommended!
Ach! Crivens! 2007-11-12
It's two years after the first book in the trilogy, Tiffany is now eleven, and she's looking forward to going off to "witch school." Unlike the formal institution of Hogwart's, however, witch-training in the real world (on the Discworld, that is) really means an apprenticeship to an older witch. Tiffany's mentor is Miss Level, an ex-circus performer, whose idea of witchcraft seems to consist mostly of looking after everyone in the neighborhood who needs assistance. As Tiffany discovers (and as the author has pointed out in his other books), the main thing about learning magic is learning NOT to use it. This time, Tiffany is being stalked by an ancient, parasitic non-intelligence that can't be killed, but which is guaranteed to send its hosts insane. The Nac Mac Feegle are back, of course, and their special skills are essential to Tiffany's eventual success. Granny Weatherwax, who appeared only in a cameo in the first volume, is a much more important figure in Tiffany's gradual education, and the view we get of her is much more nuanced -- and much stronger -- than in the author's other "witches" novels. Pratchett's style has become far more mature and more subtle than his early work thirty years ago, which some of his fans don't appear to be able to accept, but I like his more recent work even more than the earlier stuff. A beautiful book.
Love those wee free men! 2007-09-26
This is a great children's book as well as for adults. I love the wee free men as only Pratchett can describe them. The "sharkies" and "big job" are personal favorites. This book has been read several times in my household and we actually gave a copy to our nephew for his birthday one year. He liked it so much he has asked for more titles by Pratchett.
The Big Wee Hag returns! 2008-04-29
Tiffany Aching is back to learn the serious business of witching in this sequel to The Wee Free Men. Tiffany sets out to do her apprenticeship with Miss Level. While Tiffany carries out the mostly mundane tasks of caring for the sick, she experiments with her own magical talents which have begun to surface. Thank goodness for the return of the Mac Nac Feegles, as well, who are back to protect the "big wee hag" as she contends with the mysterious and dangerous Hiver.
Full of Pratchett's wry British humor, this is a book for young and old alike. Like the Wee Free Men, although it takes place on Pratchett's Discworld, the Tiffany stories have a feel and flavor all their own.
- C.A.Wulff, author of Born Without a Tail
Great for Kids and Adults 2008-04-13
Terry Pratchett captures so much in his prose. This book, and this series, are great for kids, and especially girls who are coming of age. Tiffany Aching is an easy character to relate to, and even though we may not face situations quite like hers, we can see parallels. And the Nac Mac Feegle are wonderful comic relief. Like any Pratchett book, a definite 10 of 10.
One of my favorite Pratchett books 2008-03-29
First things first - do not let the "young adult" tag on this product dissuade you from diving in.
Now, as to the book itself, we find ourselves, as usual with Mr. Pratchett, on Discworld, the magical flat world sitting on the back of four elephants, all of whom are borne on the back of a great turtle, who soars through space. Yet we aren't dealing with such majestic themes and images here. We concentrate our tale upon a slight little girl, one Tiffany Aching. She is coming into young womanhood, which is trying enough, but certainly more trying when one is a novice witch, even one as powerful as Tiffany. Maybe even more so because of it.
Tiffany, you see, is trying to learn the ropes of witchdom, which means she apprentices herself to various witches to learn the ins and outs of the life. This she does, even though it means she has to leave her homeland (there are no more witches where she lives on the Chalk). She, leave she does and she starts to learn.
But somewhere along the way she attracts the attention of a being as old as the universe and as powerful. And this being wants. What it wants, it comes to realize, is little Tiffany Aching.
But Tiffany, in addition to being a powerful, if somewhat untried and novice, witch also has additional protectors. The Nac Mac Feegle! The Wee Free Men! The person who first said that big things come in small packages was almost certainly describing the Feegles. The Pictsies (as they are wont to be called) protect Tiffany from, well, everything. They think she belongs to them and they're not really keen on thieves, unless it's them doing the thieving. And drinking. Oh, and don't forget the fighting. If they can do that in service to their witch (their "hag" as they call them) then all the better!
Pratchett has woven another magical, haunting, hysterical, tragic tale of the little things of being - life, death, power, duty, and maybe justice.
Or maybe we are dealing with majestic themes, after all. With liberally sprinkled episodes of thievery, fighting, cussing, and boozing, which the Feegles will tell you makes up almost the entirety of being. One can only love a creation like the Feegles, although I would advise a distant and general kind of love. Up close affection from a Feegle generally involves a headbutt.
A brilliant series and one I'm looking forward to completing, if, as reported, the next book after Wintersmith is the finale.
Bravo Mr. Pratchett!
Comparison to JKRowling isn't appropriate. Comparison to Harry Potter and Hogwarts is. Book is great fun! 
2008-02-27
The Editorial review from Washington Post, above, lacks perspective. JKR's minor characters have psychological depth while Pratchett's are two-dimensional? Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, what a bizarre comparison. They're two different writers. It should be noted that Pratchett started the Discworld series in 1983 (Color of Magic) when JKR was only 18 years old. He established his style long before JKR published Philosopher's Stone in 1997. All of his books are like this, for the most part. He simply used his existing Discworld template when he wanted to comment on the Harry Potter world, and thus created Tiffany Aching. If witches in Hat spend a great deal more time riding broomsticks and casting spells than they did in Wee Free Men it's because Pratchett is purposefully referring to Harry Potter's magical education. Correct, Miss Level's cottage is no Hogwarts. That's the point. With Tiffany Aching Pratchett gets to play with, gently satire and generally enjoy both Harry Potter's brand of magic and the commercialized airy-fairy Wiccan brand of magic, and mix some real old British magical lore in, too. Note that I am a Potter Fanatic.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Hat Full of Sky and the other Tiffany Aching stories. I can't recommend them enough. Humorous, likable, thought provoking and excellent.
A Hat Full of Sky 2008-02-08
Terry Pratchett is my favorite author.
Most of the authors on my Top 10 list got there on the basis of a few good books; Robin McKinnley's "The Blue Sword" and "The Hero and the Crown"; Tolkein's "The Hobbit"; Elizabeth Moon's Paksenarion Trilogy; David Webber's "Mutineer's Moon" Trilogy...
With Pratchett, it's easier to list those of his books that I don't like. There's only one ("Eric!"), and even it has its moments.
I suppose that now I have to explain why I like him so much. The reason is simple. He is wise. He is ALSO funny, which allows him to present his wisdom in a way that is readily accessible.
As a case in point, I am a soldier. I know the nature of my peers. Pratchett's books about CDR Vimes, which I collectively refer to as The Watch Trilogy (although there's now more than three volumes) is a masterpiece of insight into the nature of wearing a uniform. There is nothing at all heroic about CPL Nobbs or SGT Colon, and I've known many individuals very like both of them. Yet, when the time comes, and society needs someone to stand in the gap, they're there. Flaws and all. And beside them are people like CPT Carrot, who is virtue personified. CDR Vimes may not be virtuous, and he'd be horribly offended at being called noble, but he is good. And he does what he does because he loves his people. (I recall the comic scene where he states that the city is a woman, and he loved her even when she kicked him in his teeth.) The armed forces have the same mix of personalities that intermingle with complex interaction. We're not heros. We're people. Pratchett is one of the few authors who understands that enough to write it believably.
But as much as I enjoy Pratchett's Watch Trilogy, I love his Witch Trilogy (also more than three books at this point). Esme Weatherwax is, perhaps, the most complex character that I've yet to see written into any book. She is a woman who is rigidly moral, because she understands that she is very close to being evil. It's by sheer willpower, and never being willing to act immorally, that she remains good. She is grim and dark and terrible... and good. She defined herself at one point as a woman who stands on The Boundary.
Throughout history, there have been people who stand between humanity and those things that threaten it. Soldiers, Firemen, Policemen, Teachers, Authors, the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, the Wizards of Unseen University... Many of them ARE grim and dark and terrible, but they're often the most effective; their society is protected from whatever evil those Boundary-Watchers have set out to fight.
And how does this relate to the charming young Tiffany Aching, and Pratchett's books about her, the second of which is "A Hat Full of Sky"? Tiffany Aching is used to contrast Esme Weatherwax. She is not grim, nor dark, nor terrible... Yet.
Tiffany Aching is a Boundary-Watcher. But she is a young and inexperienced one. Given time, she will either grow into another Esme Weatherwax, or she will forsake The Boundary to become a wicked witch. The trilogy of Tiffany Aching is, at its heart, a guide book to the path towards maturity as a Boundary-Watcher. It warns against beginning to cackle. It explains the importance of being accountable to comrades. It lays out the mindset that a Boundary-Watcher must hold. And, it even does so in a believable way. Tiffany Aching DOES have failures of virtue (like the incident in the wand store, or with the old man's money), just like a real person. And the moral that Pratchett draws from those situations is that while certain actions may fall short of virtue, you can still show your worth in the way in which you respond.
I pay to Pratchett the greatest homage that I can with these words:
He understands.
And to make him all the more impressive, the book is written in order to teach without being intimidating. Few non-Boundary-Watchers will pick up Dave Grossman's book "On Combat". Yet many will approach Pratchett's Tiffany Aching books, which discusses the same mindset and role in society, because of the expectation and joy of a good story. The story of a plucky young girl pitted against evil forces is certainly entertaining enough in its own right to amuse those who have no desire to explore the mindset of a Boundary-Watcher.
And so, I think I shall end with this observation. There is a Zen quotation that states, "If you understand, things are just as they are. If you do not understand, things are just as they are." I understand the fact that whether or not I understand is insignificant to the Great Scheme of Things. Yet what the quotation does not explain is why I still feel a great need to understand, in spite of the insignificance of understanding. For several months, I asked myself the question, "Why do I try to understand then?" I finally came up with an answer: "You laugh at more of the jokes." Humor and understanding go hand-in-hand. Pratchett understands this.
