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The Wee Free Men
The Wee Free Men
The Wee Free Men
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The Wee Free Men

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults * ALA Notable Children's Book * Horn Book Fanfare Book * Kirkus Reviews Editor’s Choice * SLJ Best Book of the Year 

By the beloved and bestselling grandmaster of fantasy, Sir Terry Pratchett, this is the first in a series of Discworld novels starring the young witch Tiffany Aching.

A nightmarish danger threatens from the other side of reality. . . .

Armed with only a frying pan and her common sense, young witch-to-be Tiffany Aching must defend her home against the monsters of Fairyland. Luckily she has some very unusual help: the local Nac Mac Feegle—aka the Wee Free Men—a clan of fierce, sheep-stealing, sword-wielding, six-inch-high blue men.

Together they must face headless horsemen, ferocious grimhounds, terrifying dreams come true, and ultimately the sinister Queen of the Elves herself. . . .

The five funny and fabulous Tiffany Aching adventures are:

  • The Wee Free Men
  • A Hat Full of Sky
  • Wintersmith
  • I Shall Wear Midnight
  • The Shepherd’s Crown

Tiffany’s mentors, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, star in the novels Equal Rites, Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Maskerade, and Carpe Jugulum

And don’t miss Terry Pratchett’s hilarious and wise Discworld novel The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, winner of the Carnegie Medal! 

LanguageEnglish
PublisherHarperCollins
Release dateOct 6, 2009
ISBN9780061975264
Author

Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) was the acclaimed creator of the globally revered Discworld series. In all, he authored more than fifty bestselling books, which have sold more than one hundred million copies worldwide. His novels have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal. He was awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to literature in 2009, although he always wryly maintained that his greatest service to literature was to avoid writing any.

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Rating: 4.3086124401913874 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    When a monster appears in a stream near her home and tries to eat her brother, Tiffany Aching, who has recently decided to be a witch, goes in search of a magical education.Nobody can turn a phrase quite like Sir Terry. Though I'm not as much of a Discworld aficionado as some, I do love to visit there every once in a while, and the Tiffany Aching books are a lovely, self-contained bit of the sprawling Discworld universe. Plus, they have the Nac Mac Feegle, which are well worth the price of admission. Crivens!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    No Death! Chapters! Good read tho!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A new witch is born in the Discworld as Tiffany Aching comes into her own by making friends with the Nac Mac Feegle, crossing over into the world of faerie to save her brother from the snow queen, and learns to open her eyes and then open them again. It's enough even to impress the likes of Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax. I'm now something like thirty books into the Discworld series and can finally say that I've turned the corner from just fair-to-middlin' enjoying them to actively loving them. Pratchett has hit a stride with these last few books that really works and I hope it continues for the next ten or eleven books.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Tiffany Aching is 9-year old who comes across the "Wee Free Men" as she is searching for her younger brother who has been stolen by the "Quin" (a.k.a. Queen). The Wee Free Men are about 6 inches tall, love to drink and fight, are painted blue, wear kilts and have fabulous Scottish accents! They are helping Tiffany find her brother, and at the same time, she is also learning about becoming a witch.I am not a big fan of fantasy, but this was an easy one to get into. I think the Scottish accents helped, too! ;-) Of course, there is plenty of humour to be found in the book as well, which really helps those of us who aren't big fantasy readers enjoy the book even more. I really liked it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was a fun read! It didn't take itself very seriously and that was nice. It only took me forever to read because of personal issues that arose in my life, it had nothing to do with this book. It had some much heart to it, in ways I was not expecting. I could see this being a great book for someone dealing with feelings of grief over the loss of a loved one. Also this book just has such a quality of not taking itself seriously that it makes you keep wanting to read to see what direction the story goes in.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I discounted Terry Pratchett's The Wee Free Men when it first hit bookshelves. The reviews said it was aimed at teens. I may love almost all the novels based in The Disc World, but I didn't much feel like reading something that would likely make me feel patronized. Hat Full of Sky, the sequel, received the same treatment from me.Then I saw mister Pratchett in person during his tour for the third Tiffany Aching book, Wintersmith. Forget that the coldest season is practically my deity. Leave aside that I cry when I see snow for the first time each year. I sat in an audience while a man with a frail, nervous body; big, brown hat; very little ego; and scalpel wit effortlessly made me laugh over and over again. He talked of the book, his process of writing, reached up the aisle, and liberally applied a flamethrower to my muse. She has been all but unstoppable since.Wintersmith was such a joy that I read it four times in as many months. I read the other two books in the series. I ordered hardback copies.I'm reading The Wee Free Men again this week. I can see that it really is meant for young readers. Yet, just because the book's setting is a fantasy world, most words are easily read, and the more complex phrases are explained doesn't mean that the book is simple. Not by a long shot. She leaned down, and centuries bent with her. "The secret is not to dream," she whispered. "The secret is to wake up. Waking up is harder. I have woken up and I am real. I know where I come from and I know where I'm going. You cannot fool me anymore. Or touch me. Or anything that is mine." I'll never be like this again, she thought, as she saw the terror in the Queen's face. I'll never again feel as tall as the sky and as old as the hills and as strong as the sea. I've been given something for a while, and the price of it is that I have to give it back.Those few paragraphs in particular ram a spear through my chest every time, and they are not alone in their potency. Each of the three books, especially Wintersmith, make me laugh very often and fight back tears at least once or twice per read. I find a few of mister Pratchett's books to be funnier. Many of his plots are less obvious. However, nothing of his that I have read is more powerful. I love this series.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Love!

    Funny, heartwarming, exciting.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A jolly Pratchett romp with the usual feisty girl, wise witches, fairly useless boys and unlikely creatures of all kinds. Set in a remote part of Discworld this tale includes Mistress Weatherwax and Granny Ogg, but only very slightly. The W F Men turn out to be very small, but not at at impeded by their size: they are fully as opinionated, independant and Scots as any Pratchett character could be expected to be.It's a jolly tale, and amusing to read, but I'm a bit bored with the brand - can you tell?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I loved the matter of factness of the main character, nine year old Tiffany Aching, who reads fairy tales and thinks witches get short shrift. She won me over early on when she used her little brother as bait for a monster and attacked it with a frying pan. Soon enough she encounters a six inch tall, red haired blue skinned man, one of the "Nac Mac Feegle" or Wee Free Men. The Nac Mac Feegle were the highlight of the novel for me as they inject great humor as they go about their "stealin, drinkin, and eatin." The unlikely alliance between Tiffany and the Nac Mac Feegle becomes critical when she has to rescue her little brother from the Faerie Queen. As soon as I finished this I was ready for more!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Can someone please get this book to Tim Burton, so he'll option the rights and make the movie? I loved this book; I laughed so hard my husband finally told me to shut up already!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett the 30th Discworld book and the first of the Tiffany Aching young adult series. Tiffany, the youngest daughter of a sheepherding family wants to do something else with her life. She wants to be a witch. But life on the Chalk doesn't seem like a likely place to become a witch, that is until the Queen of the Faeries steels away her baby brother, Wentworth.Tiffany's headstrong approach to life combined with her first sight and second thoughts draws the attention of some unlikely allies: Perspicacia Tick, a witch finder, and the Nac Mac Feegle, a six inch tall, fighting clan of Pictsies who can get into and out of anything (except pubs).Mostly though the book is about how Tiffany uses the lessons learned from her recently passed grandmother, Granny Aching, to face the unknown and get her brother back. Yes, her friends are magical but she gets by through being observant, stubborn, angry, and proud. She's not a heroine to wring her hands at the first sign of trouble. No; she's the type to grab a frying pan.Later books in the series make a bigger deal about the stories taking place on Discworld but this one safe for a few mentions here and there, could easily take place anywhere else. Discworld here isn't the point; it's just the setting and that is refreshing compared to some of the earliest books in the series.I've read Wee Free Men in three different formats: as an audio performed by Stephen Briggs, a hardback with just the text, and then a gorgeous illustrated version with watercolors by Stephen Player. Below are some of my favorite pictures from that version
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I just finished the audio version of this book and really enjoyed it. Tiffany Aching is tired of taking care of her little brother Wentworth. But when he's kidnapped by fairies, Tiffany decides to get him back. Maybe her recent decision to become a witch will help her on this. And then there's the Nac Mac Feegles - pictsies. They just might help. If they can stay sober long enough. And if she explains things in very, very simple terms.Not a very good summary, but I can tell you that this is one seriously funny book that was a great read. I love Terry Pratchett. If you like fantasy or like to laugh, you should give his books a try.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Oct 11, 2003

    Tiffany Aching is a most unusual kind of witch, and a marvelous kind of hero. I love the way Pratchett writes her thinking. Perhaps the Wee Free Men are a stereotype of Scots, but they enchant me.

    ***

    How did I forget Ratbag and his encounter with the Nac Mac Feegle? Or the description of him as almost liquid, settling out in a puddle whenever he rests on a horizontal surface? Because that's Calder.

    Library copy, because I didn't want to lug about the big illustrated one.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    ??1/2 rounded up to 3

    Ach, this is the story of the hag, a bigjob called Tiffany Aching and how we Wee Free Men helped her defeat the Quin when he took her brother. She couldna do it herself, mind ye, even tho’ she has the First Sight and the Second Thought because at the start of this tale she didna’ ken she was a hag. But she was Sarah Aching’s line and she used her wee brudder as bait, like, so she could hit a monster on the heid with a frying pan, so we knew it were her.

    While there were some humorous scenes and lines here, I only almost liked this book. It almost made me want to keep reading it and it almost made me laugh at times. I liked Wyrd Sisters better, and so plan to skip the rest of the Tiffany Aching Series unless someone convinces me that the sequels are better than the first, and will go back to reading other Discworld books when I’m in the mood for Pratchett’s humour.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The creation of a tribe of miniature aggressive Scots is very amusing. In fact there are a lot of chuckles throughout.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Labirynth shot out was awesome. Just imagine the Wee free men in evening suits and bow ties... In general, this is awesome, screws up all the fairy-tale ideas of faeries and makes you laugh to death. Plus, the Chalk was probably inspired by the British South-West (the white horse is in Uffington near Swindon), near where I'm living, which makes it even more awesome
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What to do when your baby brother is irritating you, a monster pops out of the stream, and little blue men start popping up everywhere. Tiffany has always wanted to be a witch...with the help of a frying pan and First, Second, and Third thoughts, she might just make it.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great fun, and made me giggle! Ach! Crivens!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really like dhow this book could tell in the same time that all the bizarre and in lack of better word magical things you experience are real (so you can learn magic and be a witch that way) and also how practical things and lgoical thinking can make you a witch. It's not less magical because you know how it's made. Great advice and adventorous story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Just when you think Terry Pratchett couldn't wring any more creativity out of Diskworld (the flat disk world carried on four elephants on top of a giant turtle swimming through space) he goes and creates a brand new character, Tiffany Aching. Tiffany is 9, has read through all five books in her house, including the dictionary, and the 7th children of her parents. She spent much time with her grandmother, a pipe-smoking sheep healing vet of their little land of Chalk. Then a green haired monster appears local river and Tiffany doesn't get scared--she gets angry. A brutal application of an iron frying pan does for the monster, but Tiffany want to know what it was doing there. She asks the local witch, Miss Tick, who is impressed by Tiffany, but realizes bigger trouble is afoot. Fairyland is impinging upon the land of Chalk. Miss Tick goes off to fetch reinforcements while Tiffany makes friends with a band of randy, hard drinking thieving blue men with red hair--who are six inches high, and indestructible--the Wee Free Men. Together they must go off to Fairyland to rescue Tiffany's brother.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I picked this after reading Wintersmith. I enjoyed it, it was a fairly quick read. Wintersmith is actually better.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    (I'm not actually making a deliberate effort to re-read all of the Discworld, it just... seems that way.)I'd forgotten the plot of this one, I have to say. The reason, which I discovered on this re-read, is that it... doesn't actually have one. This being a novel by Terry Pratchett, this isn't as much of a problem as one might think. In brief: Tiffany Aching, a shepherd's daughter from the Chalk, a part of the Discworld not entirely unlike Wiltshire, meets a horrible monster in a stream near her family's farm. Being a sensible, careful, logical sort of person, she hauls off and hits it with a frying-pan, using her little brother as bait. And that sets up how this story is going to go, right there. There are going to be magical goings-on, but they're going to be dealt with. Decisively. Tiffany, who is one of my favourite of the Discworld characters, is intelligent, sardonic, logical to the point of coldness, and a beautifully-observed, whole character who is perfectly capable of carrying the whole novel. Her story is told in bits and pieces throughout, and it is very much her story, despite the title of the novel.Which isn't to say that the Nac Mac Feegle don't have their place. They're wonderful - and I much prefer them in this friendlier, slightly-easier-to-understand version (the "adult novel" versions of them in Carpe Jugulum are much less fun), complete with shouts of "Crivens!" and "waily, waily, waily" and tendency to get pished. And more than that, they are a wonderful change from the usual sorts of little helpers that accompany young female heroines in kids' books about magic.Of course, once the story has all been set up, and the landscape of the Chalk, Tiffany and her family, and the Feegles' existence and slightly crazed theology have been given the attention they need, there isn't a lot of room left for plot, and the "rescuing brother from evil snow Queen" is far too The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for words. But once it all has been set up, it's there for Wintersmith and A Hat Full of Sky, and those have all the good points of this novel, plus wonders of their own.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The queen of fairy land has stolen a baby and the baby's sister must figure out how to get him back, armed with a frying pan and with the help of a bunch of Pictsies and a talking toad.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The Chalk is a place of sheep and shepherds but never a witch was known to be there, however that might have been incorrect. Terry Pratchett’s 30th Discworld novel, The Wee Free Men, is the second time he’s written for young adults but his writing and humor are top notch as well follow a nine-year witch Tiffany Aching going up against the Queen of Elves with only a horde of six-inch blue little men.Tiffany Aching finds her family farm being invaded by monsters from dreams as well as a horde of little blue men, the titular Wee Free Men. Tiffany is very smart for her age and sees things as they are just like her grandmother, so when strange things pop up she uses an iron pan to beat them back. Although she later figures out that her grandmother was a witch, Tiffany has her first encounter with one in the form of Ms. Lick who tells her to be careful but not to tackle the problem on her own but when her brother is kidnapped by the Fairie Queen, Tiffany knows she’s going to need help while not sounding desperate. Tiffany’s help comes to her when the local clan of the Wee Free Men shows up looking for the new “hag ol’ the hills” because of the invasion of the Queen. Tiffany and the Wee Free Men invade ‘Fairyland’ and manage to return with her brother, a feat that Granny Weatherwax finds impressive for someone so young and untrained.The Wee Free Men features Tiffany as the only point-of-view character, save from a narrator, which keeps the book fairly orderly when reading as well as being in line for a book for younger readers. The story itself is somewhat familiar for long time Discworld fans with the antagonist being the Queen of the Elves invading, but Pratchett changes things up with the use of dreams and the conflict as seen from a nine-year old. The cameo appearance of Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg at the end, sets up further adventures of Tiffany and connects her subseries with the Witches subseries with the hopes of seeing favorite characters in future books.The second young adult and first Tiffany subseries book of the Discworld canon is a fantastic book; The Wee Free Men gives someone new for long time fans while introducing older characters for younger new readers. While it’s intended for a younger audience, older fans will appreciate Pratchett’s humorous fantasy writing with his twists and turns.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I love Terry Pratchett's humor, and I"m so glad he made a series that features a strong, intelligent girl. If you're a fan of Terry Pratchett, you absolutely must listen to his books in audiobook format, even if you don't normally listen to audiobooks, as the narrator really makes them come alive in a way that brings out the nuances of humor. I never would've been able to imagine all those British, Scottish, and Irish accents in my mind while reading from a printed book!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I listened to this on audio books. The reading was animated and added to the fun.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Wonderful! I can add Granny Aching (and Tiffany) to my list of favorite characters in fiction.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I started this book yesterday and am almost finished. It is fun, exciting and a wonderful change of pace from the last book I read. The Wee Free men have the largest, bravest hearts. I can't wait to finish the series!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    So I ran out of Grown Up Witches books and made it to the Tiffany books. Firstly, anyone who says 'OMG, this is so problematic about the Scots' is 100% right, if Pratchett had written a tribe of zulu warrior pixies it would have triggered far more warning bells in the world as a whole. I guess it's difficult - is it punching down or punching across? What do the actual Scots think about having sheep stealing, drunkard, quick to fight and slow to think stereotypes following them? Does anyone really connect those sorts of stereotypes with Real Scottish People, or is it just a joke at a history that no-one would be offended by? Also, reading them all too close together makes the cracks of the Discworld stand out. I don't think there's a problem with the cracks - it is a patchwork tapestry of stories Pratchett told, loosely held together, and if you are surprised there are seams you're a fool. But the world of Miss Tick calling for help from Granny Weatherwax who swoops in like a guest actor is not the same world as the Disc we travelled in Witches Abroad. And the Queen of the Fairies is not the beautiful brilliant cruel Bad Guy we saw in Lords and Ladies, capable of being slowed down but in the end, undefeatable and outside, only restrained by the King. The Queen is scary, the dream traps fun (if confusing at times), the sheep dogs herding the storm across the sky brilliant But it isn’t Lords and LadiesIt made me realise there is an ongoing theme in Young Adult literature, to personify some sort of depression-alike as a Bad Thing you can fight but most people can't see. The spectres in Northern Lights. The dementors in Potter. The drones in Discworld. Would be fun to write a compare and contrast at some point...Also, it is fun, and clever, to see a story trying to teach you to see through the cracks in stories. (cf Lily Weatherwax). Ah, Tiffany, full of virtues I adore, first sight and second thoughts, and the embarrassing self awareness that she doesn't love her sticky, bratty brother, but that she'll do the right thing anyway.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Although this is billed as a Young Adult novel, it lives up to Terry Pratchett's "adult" novels.

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The Wee Free Men - Terry Pratchett

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