THE WEE FREE MEN
Terry Pratchett
HarperCollins
Fantasy/Adventure
ISBN-10: 0060012366
ISBN-13: 978006-0012366
272 pages

• Read an Excerpt
• Author Talk -- July 2003

Nine-year-old Tiffany Aching's main job in life in her corner of Discworld is to watch after her sticky little brother, Wentworth, and churn butter. This is generally not a taxing chore, since Wentworth is only two and she can outrun him. His frequent tantrums are easily resolved by gratifying his appetite for sweets, which explains the stickiness. She likes to churn butter because it allows her to think about other things, like fairy tales.

Tiffany is daydreaming on the bank of a stream one afternoon, musing on her recent decision to become a witch, while Wentworth puddles about on a nearby beach. She suddenly spies a tiny, six-inch-high blue man in a kilt with an untidy shock of red hair and a beard floating by in a bucket. He shouts, "Gang awa' oot o'here, ya daft wee hinny! 'Ware the green heid!" and then floats out of sight around a bend. Suddenly a strange, bubbling tide spills over the bank, containing something with long green hair and very sharp teeth. Tiffany calmly snatches Wentworth from harm's way as the tide extends watery arms to reach for the boy. Oddly, she feels anger, not fear.

This causes a ripple in Discworld's magical atmosphere. Miss Tick, a witch of high power, notices and remarks, "That little creature in the boat was a Nac Mac Feegle!" she said. "The most feared of all the fairy races! Even trolls run away from the Wee Free Men! And one of them warned her!"

"She's the witch, then, isn't she?" said a voice. Miss Tick finds this hard to believe. A nine-year-old girl with no one to teach her, in a part of Discworld never before known to hold a witch had ever... "This child needs watching," she said.

Thus begins the tale of Tiffany, apprentice girl witch, and her battle with the Quin (queen) of the Elves. The Quin snatches small children, enticing them with their heart's desires and keeping them locked away, forever young. When Wentworth goes missing, it naturally befalls Tiffany to strike out in search of her loathsome little brother, armed only with an iron frying pan, a book of fairy tales from her late Grandmother's house, and a piece of string. She is accompanied into fairyland by a large band of the Nac Mac Feegles who have attached themselves like fleas on a sheep to her crusade. They see her as their next kelda, or queen, and they are determined to lay down their lives to keep her safe.

Terry Pratchett has devised a tale for the younger set in THE WEE FREE MEN that befits his reputation for fantastical humor. Tiffany's adventures with the Nac Mac Feegle will introduce young readers to Pratchett's strange planet of Discworld. His avid adult fans will recognize the boozing, brawling Wee Free Men from LORDS AND LADIES and CARPE JUGULARUM. We suspect that Mr. Pratchett is craftily conjuring up his own magic with children, enticing them to join his legions of fans when they grow up and become book buyers. He will let them do that.

   --- Reviewed by Roz Shea

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