The Wee Free Men: The Beginning (Discworld: Wee Free Men / Hat Full of Sky)

Last summer, this book was stolen from under my nose by the house urchin, which is, I think, a pretty good recommendation all by itself. We are both, now, huge Tiffany fans. I love the pace of these books, and the humor. Most of all, I love the ways in which the normal weaves in with the magical. Pratchett's footnotes are some of my favorite things in the world, and I bought the series in print rather than as an ebook in order to make sure I got them correctly formatted. Then I bought a second copy for lending. And then several as gifts.

I would go on, but I refuse to spoil it for you. Get yourself some string and a frying pan, and watch out for red-headed pictsies.

'Crivens!' is now a household word.

This was a fantastic surprise. I totally underestimated this one. I've never read Pratchett before, and I had some doubt that I would like it, pre-judging the genre Discworld sits in. I knew to expect a style most British, most silly, wit and wordplay and traditional magic, and a dash of zany action. It's a little like I've never outright read Douglas Adams -- he's very very funny (and I like his work a lot when there's people making it as funny as it is) -- but would I want to rest a whole reading experience on this style? I'm not really sure.

Anyway, what do I know, because I was all, all wrong.

Truthfully, indeed, the elements here are not immensely far out of the box. So it's hard to know in advance. It's entirely the work of what show more Pratchett's thought and style brings to the ingredients that sets them to life, and it's wonderful.

Tiffany is fantastic, of course, an awesome little girl to hang a story upon. I really like that she is more smart than sass -- she outthinks most of those around her, and has to subvert authority plenty, but also she's often rather silly, as she is 9. (And later, 11. Which as she points out, is completely different.) Her feelings are thoughtful and complexly drawn. Her world on her farm, her shepherding culture, comes greatly to life instead of being a pat setting. I enjoyed being there so much, right away. Her love and memories of her tough grandmother, taking strength in retrospect from the things she learned from her. How she keeps remembering the day she gave Granny the china shepherdess, with such regret.

And I just gotta say somewhere, Granny's dogs named Thunder and Lightning, are you kidding me, they're so cool.

I loved Tiffany's journey through dreamland to rescue the baby brother she otherwise can't stand for another second. (He's been taken, and that's wrong -- when she uses him for monster bait, that's different! He's her brother!) Everyone I talked to about the books told me they liked this book less than the second book, but I actually disagreed. I was impressed that something as frankly unoriginal as "this is a land where dreams are real" came alive so well. Because of what happens in the second book, in a way it's Tiffany that goes missing, and I like her so much more in action as herself.

Also. This one is important. I loved the Feegles. The little magic people who help Tiffany, essentially leprechauns, who speak in a ridiculous brogue and are mostly men and are mostly there for madcap antics and, man. I CAN'T BELIEVE I LOVED THOSE GUYS. Because if I were explaining them to myself two months ago, I would say to myself, "I am going to hate those guys." Wrong, Liz! Own the facts! As much as they love kebabs, I loved the Feegles. I cracked up aloud on the subway every day at something they said. They are so funny, it's incredible. (Also particularly liked when Tiffany had to pause and take the toad out of her pocket to check if whatever they'd just said was an insult or not.)

(And once, they claim to be "bigger on the inside.")

The narration is just a total pleasure to read. It's funny, but sharp. He's not just constructing jokes, he's setting up a way to say the most excellent things. Such as an incredibly brilliant funny paragraph that culminates, "With balloons, as with life itself, it is important to know when not to let go of the string."

And more personally, Tiffany's lessons in both these books are beautiful. She learns so much from the witches she meets, about being smart and doing hard things. Probably the best thing about the entire book is the fact that being a witch has almost nothing to do with doing magic, and entirely everything to do with just being incredibly smart. Seeing the truth, keeping your head, knowing how to think, being patient with the innumerable mistakes of others, taking responsibility when it isn't anyone's. And how that sometimes prevents you from belonging, too. "She wasn't being brave or noble or kind. She was doing this because it had to be done, because there was no way that she could not do it." It's perfect.

Plus there's opportunities for really small beautiful moments that are mostly magic but not entirely, like Tiffany starting the dance with the swarm of bees. And I like when she gets to save everyone both times with some Bad Wolfin', as I like to call it. A girl taking in surprising new power and using it for good, in a great surge. That often makes a good story I like. Tiffany is learning that this power exists when it has to.

I can't wait to read more about it. show less

I loved this. I really wasn't expecting to, but it snuck up on me like the Nac Mac Feegle at their quietest. Tiffany Aching is a tremendous character, the equal to Granny Weatherwax in her own way. This combined volume (Wee Free Men and Hat Full of Sky are excellent additions to the Discworld books, but are equally good as stand alone YA novels. Tiffany is a very believable girl (in WFM she is 9 years old and in HFS she is 11), and while she is undergoing the usual growth route (Questing or Apprentice-ing) the path to her growing up and learning isn't always straightforward or obvious.

I'm working on a fantasy reading challenge, and one of the categories was comic fantasy, and, to be quite honest with you, I really struggled with this one even though Pratchett is my husband's favorite author. I’ve read what I wanted of the series and I was cool. Really enjoyed Good Omens and Equal Rites, and really? Content with that. So this time, husband and I went back and forth -- I wanted to read about Susan but not about Mort and not really even particularly about Death, so I tried Soul Music and just couldn't get into it. The other POVs were distracting and I just wasn't enjoying myself. Then he suggested Guards! Guards! Same problem -- just wasn't into it. He threw this one at me thinking I might enjoy reading about Tiffany, show more and he was right, I’m enjoying it.

The Wee Free Men follows Tiffany Aching, a precocious 9 year old who isn't afraid to speak her mind, as she attempts to rescue her very sticky, not-particularly-lovable little brother from the evil queen with the help of the wee free men, and, on the way, she learns about becoming a chalk witch. It was cute and full of clever quips and snarks, and I have always loved the way Pratchett writes about young girls -- independent, smart, and perfectly capable of saving themselves, thank you very much. Tiffany's a great addition to a cast of strong women, and she uses her wits and an iron skillet -- and not her magic! -- to save herself, her very sticky brother, and her friends, the wee men.

Definitely worth a read -- and a recommendation to kids, or anyone who enjoys comic fantasy, YA fantasy, or comic fantasy. show less

This is the first two books in Tiffany Aching story which is a part of the larger Discworld series that Pratchett writes. I loved these first two books. The Wee Free Men are amazing and funny and Tiffany is clearly very smart and interesting. I like the way witchcraft works in these books. I think it's smart to keep the magic a little bit less important then the wanting of things. Can't wait to read the rest of the books in this quartet.

We started to read this to the girls figuring that a YA title would be the perfect place to introduce them to Pratchett. When I read ahead, though, I decided that the horrors of fairyland -- dreams within dreams that haunt you and you can't be sure you've awoken from -- are not for our kids who are sometimes already nervous at night. So we're now reading them Mort which, being about Death and not fairies, is far less scary. 8^) For me, though, it was very enjoyable. I finished reading it just a few days before we lost Sir Terry. I'm looking forward to reading the other two Tiffany Aching books.

Review of first book in omnibus: Wee Free Men:
Hilarious and clever fantasy by a master. When Tiffany's annoying younger brother is stolen by a fairy queen, Tiffany enlists the help of the Wee Free Men--very funny blue-tattooed redhaired fightin' drinkin' Scottish men who are only 6 inches tall!-- to help her get him back. She'll have to go into the fairy dreamland to do so.

Review of Book Two: A Hat Full of Sky:
Excellent sequel, just as funny as the first, and just as warmly moving. In this volume Tiffany is 11 and goes to "witch school" (really just apprenticing to the eccentric Miss Level, who has two bodies and could use a "third pair of hands" ), but she gets possessed by the weird Hiver, a disembodied collection of memories in show more search of a powerful person to inhabit. Very weird. I LOVE the Wee Free Men and they cracked me up in this one! Again! show less