Customer Reviews
Wintersmith 
2008-02-18
This was the third in a series and lives up to all expectations! Another great book by Prichert
We love Terry Pratchett 
2008-01-21
We want Terry Pratchett to write the next book in this series right away. We can't wait for more stories about the crazy blue "fairies" and all the witches. Ach, Crivens!! Its so 'ard ta wait. Just write a new book right nooo.
Shall we dance? 2008-01-11
This is the section of the Discworld series where young readers should not fear to tread. However, even little angels should be warned to tread very carefully when selecting this book, mainly because of all the adults stampeding to get their copies of book three of the Tiffany Aching adventures.
The story picks up a couple of years after A Hat Full of Sky, with Tiffany attending a performance of the Black Morris, the secret dance that welcomes winter. The music soon has her toes tapping, and before long, her feet follow suit and she joins the dance, realizing too late that this is a big no-no.
Unknowingly, Tiffany cuts in to an age-old dance between winter and summer, and finds herself in a seasonal love triangle when her dance partner, the Wintersmith, goes Rodgers & Hammerstein on her:
"We've just been introduced,
I do not know you well,
But when the music started
Something drew me to your side.
So many men and girls,
Are in each others arms.
It made me think we might be
Similarly occupied."*
So now the Wintersmith, an elemental, has a huge crush on a human, and starts doing all the dopey things that are done when love is in the air, except that his love tokens ultimately result in a cold shoulder. With all the large and small gods looking on at the entertaining spectacle, the Wintersmith decides to take it further, and armed with a children's nursery rhyme, he channels Westlife as he sets about assembling the components he needs.
"Tell me what makes a man
Wanna give you all his heart
Smile when you're around
And cry when you're apart"
Tiffany realizes that she has to deal with her mistake, which is spiraling out of control, and with a little guidance from the elder witches, she learns to cope with little inconveniences like flowers blooming where she walks and the unheralded arrival of the horn of plenty. Realizing that she needs some help, the elder witches enlist the Nac Mac Feegles (because these stories wouldn't be any fun without them) to find someone who can, namely - a hero.
"I need a hero
I'm holding out for at hero 'till the end of the night
He's gotta be strong
And he's gotta be fast
And he's gotta be fresh from the fight"**
They do find the hero, even though at first it seems unlikely that he measures up to the requirements, and whisk him down to the underworld to retrieve the only hope for saving Tiffany.
Packed with all your favorite characters and some new ones, and even Horace the cheese, the main story is neatly ensconced between humorous supporting stories of witches and warts, and a whole load of Boffo!***
This book is highly recommended for young readers up to the age of approximately 99, give or take a few years, but reading the other two books first is strongly encouraged, just because they are also really, really good.
The Wee Free Men
A Hat Full of Sky
Amanda Richards, January 12, 2008
*From The King & I, but you already knew that
**Bonnie Tyler, but you knew that too
***You'll know what this is when you read the book
Wintersmith 2008-01-08
I've been a fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series for many years, but have only recently begun reading his children's books. Frankly, I prefer his books to the Harry Potter series for a couple of reasons. First, Pratchett's style and stories are much lighter and funnier. He has an eye and ear for the comic which is just dead on. Also, I really like Tiffany Aching, who is a delightful heroine and smart, honest and unpretentious. Wintersmith is the 3rd book about her, the first is The Wee Free Men, and the second is A Hatful of Sky. I love them all. They are slightly skewed retellings of traditional fairy tales (think Fractured Fairy Tales).
Great Read! 2008-01-03
Wintersmith may be my new favorite Pratchett book - and that says a lot, considering how much I've enjoyed the rest of his works! Fans of the Discworld will recognize many old favorites, including Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Tiffany Aching, and the Feegles, and will be introduced to many new ones. I highly recommend the book, it was a very enjoyable way to unwind after the mad holiday rush.
Tiffany's New Boyfriend 2008-06-21
I've already read just about everything by Terry Pratchett I can get my hands on. Several times. From "The Carpet People," to "Making Money." I love the worlds Mr. Pratchett's fertile imagination creates. His characters are as real as they can be, people from regular life, just on a different world.
I bought "Wintersmith" in the audio version, so I could listen to someone else's interpretation, to augment the voices and personalities I "heard" in my mind when I read the book. Stephen Briggs does a magnificent job of reading into the prose the subtleties and nuances of each of the characters.
The story is wonderful, the reading is great, and it makes the miles go by quickly as I listen on my iPod (tm). If you're already a Pratchett fan, I recommend the adventures of Tiffany Aching, as she does her best to convince the Wintersmith that she really doesn't need a cold-shouldered boyfriend at the moment. Read it or listen to it, you'll enjoy it.
The Big Wee Hag is back, and is she ever frosted! 
2008-04-30
What happens when the Wintersmith (discworld's version of Jack Frost) falls in love with a teenage witch in training? Why, he makes snowflakes in her likeness, of course...and then he snows them down on the world by the billions, until the land, the houses and even the sheep are buried in them. And what does a young witch do when she is showered with this sort of attention? Well, she gets very very embarrassed. The whole sordid and hilarious mess is right here in the third book of the Tiffany Aching series: another great young readers novel by Terry Pratchett. You'll have to read the book to find out how Tiffany deals with the affections of the Wintersmith, and all the ways he/it tries to win her love, and how the Nac Mac Feegle come to help the "Big Wee Hag" out of a truly elemental mess. Just be prepared to do a lot of laughing along the way.
- C.A. Wulff, author of Born Without a Tail
A nice finale 2008-03-21
This is the third of the Tiffany Aching trilogy. The books could easily be read individually as Pratchett is a wonderful author, skilled enough to make each book stand alone and at the same time fit together. If you haven't read any Discworld books yet you're in for a treat though I personally would start at the beginning and not the end. Though some people like to eat dessert first...
Delightful! 2008-03-13
This is a story about Tiffany Aching, a young witch in training. She stumbles into a situation with the god of winter in which she becomes his first crush. She must rectify the problem before a major disaster is made of the seasons and the people who are subject to the weather's whims. She learns what it means to be a competent witch along the way.
Very enjoyable story. Fun, irreverent, touching.
Another great Terry Pratchett book 2008-03-12
This is another book in Terry Pratchett's series on the Discworld - a flat world, supported on the backs of four massive elephants riding on the back of a planet-sized turtle, anything hilarious can happen here, and eventually does.
In this sequel to A Hat Full of Sky and The Wee Free Men, young Tiffany Aching's apprenticeship in witchcraft get interrupted when she is taken to see the dancing of the Black Morris, and she unwisely joins the dance. The Wintersmith, quite literally Winter himself, is quite taken with this brash young women, and begins the courtship to end all courtships...literally.
This is another great Terry Pratchett book - I must say that I really like the Tiffany Aching books, and really, really like the Nac Mac Feegle. There's some great additions here, including the presence of Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax. So, let me just say that if you are a Discworld fan, you will not be disappointed. If you like good (no, great!) fantasy stories, then read the three Tiffany Aching stories, and have the time of your life. I give this book two thumbs up!
