Wintersmith audiobook

I physically twitch in the presence of cheap irony. You know the sort of lazy humor, like saying it's weird that a cop hates donuts, or acting surprised that a jock is smart. The sort of glib, lazy attempts at humor and cleverness that usually make it on to bumper stickers just makes me cringe. It's the same school of humor as people who put, "My other car is a broomstick" on their bumpers.When Terry Pratchett started the witch series in the Discworld universe I considered that as close as the witty, funny man would ever get to that sort of humor. Turning the fairytale villain into the shamans of the mountain towns had that vibe of lazy irony (I'm looking squarely at you, Wicked the Musical), but being Pratchett, he made a good story out of it just the same.The reason the witch books never grabbed me had a lot to do with the main characters. They were very interesting but poor entry point for the reader. One main witch, Granny Weatherwax, is probably one of my favorite characters in Discworld, but she's smart, brutal, and rather unknowable, making her a poor protagonist in many ways. Nanny Ogg isn't much better, though her character is amusing.Through the earlier books Pratchett tried more than one third witch (because that how it works, Macbeth style), but he never seemed satisfied enough with the dynamic to keep using it.The fact that three Tiffany Aching stories have already been written indicate something that's clearly working for him, and I personally think it's some of his best writing to date.Tiffany is a pretty astute choice in protagonist. She's bright, inquisitive, and annoyed when people don't give her the information she's asking for. I imagine this is highly relatable to many of Pratchett's fans, myself included. What really impresses me is how the stakes keep getting raised over the books. In "Wintersmith" Tiffany makes a mistake that draws the attention of the elemental who controls winter. The beauty in this is that it's not the sort of plot motivating accidents and serendipity guiding series like Harry Potter, where characters are essentially powerless and shuttled through circumstances beyond their control. This entire story comes about because Tiffany screws up and must deal with the consequences.The atmosphere in this story is some of Pratchett's best, with a depiction of the mountain towns so vivid you can almost feel the cold and the rustling of wind through leaves. Having a antagonist who freezes everything to the point of collapse works quite well with this, giving the book a truly powerful sense of dread.What I like best about the Aching books as a whole is that they're a seldom talked about discussion of responsibility. The witches are essentially the last line of defense when things go wrong for these people, they're the justice in a cruel world, so for them saying, "it's not fair," is unnacceptable. Having control means fighting for fairness and losing the ability to whine about it.Few young adult books address themes as deep and meaningful as this, and almost none with such humor and warmth. Though, come to think of it, most books in general don't, making it a truly rare accomplishment.

It could be a nice spring day, here as well as on the Discworld ... if it wasn't for the Wintersmith (Winter personified) being in love with our favourite teenage witch. Why? Because she danced with him. And it turns out the Wintersmith is a romantic.Tiffany is 13 years old by now and Miss Treason’s apprentice witch for now. (view spoiler)[Reading about her dying was actually making me more emotional than I thought considering how little time we had spent with the old witch. (hide spoiler)] The book is therefore not just about Tiffany and the whole romantic-gestures-killing-people-coldly bit but also about Tiffany's lessons and her relationship with other witches such as Miss Tick or Granny or ...So we have The Chalk and Tiffany's family and village treating the girl like, well, their witch. We have the other young / apprentice witches. We have the adult witches (Nanny, too, yay!). We have the Nac Mac Feegles and their loyalty to the "Young Hag", which often isn't what you might expect loyalty to look like. *lol* We have Horace, who was a fantastic and hilarious addition to the cast, as well as a white kitten adorable enough to melt even Granny's heart (she'll deny that, of course).And then, yes, there is a romance bit because this is a bit YoungAdult-ish by heart and therefore depicts a girl's way of growing up and the feelings that might awaken - especially in spring. I didn't mind that at all though as it was very uniquely done what with the special snowflakes (BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA) and other gifts. Who would have thought that Winter would try to impress and melt someone's heart like that.Then there are the lessons in magic and headology that were once again Sir Terry's enchanting take on witchcraft that always makes me sigh contently as well as some bits of our world’s mythology strewn in for good measure (Discworld-style, of course).No need to further elaborate on the impeccable writing, I guess, but that has never stopped me from pointing out that it simultaneously delights and makes you laugh and points to all the annoying real-life issues, holding up a cold mirror to society. Here, we thus get a good long look at human emotions, superstition, sheep-mentality vs. self-reliance, cats, taking responsibility for one’s actions and choices and facing the consequences, age and, ultimately, dying. Moreover, in this sub-series, it’s also obvious that Sir Terry knew about the problems in most books of the YA genre and liked to make fun of and play around with them (see my earlier comment about special snowflakes). *lol*Most importantly, though, it’s the author coming to terms with his diagnosis of early-onset-Alzheimer’s ahead of him going public with it and it was heartbreaking to read in hindsight. I knew this would be a wonderful addition to the series, but I wasn't prepared for just how hard-hitting it would turn out to be despite it not being as strong as some other volumes in the social commentary. Moreover, it more than made up for it with the warm feeling I always get when Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax are around and here, they were greatly accompanied by Greebo and the Nac Mac Feels. Besides, I REALLY like the witch Tiffany is turning into though I know where it’ll lead.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

Wintersmith (Discworld, #35; Tiffany Aching, #3), Terry PratchettWintersmith is a comic fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, set in the Discworld and written with younger readers in mind. Published on 21 September 2006.Tiffany Aching, now 13 years old, is training with the witch Miss Treason. But when she takes Tiffany to witness the secret "dark morris", the morris dance (performed wearing black clothes and octiron bells) that welcomes in the winter, Tiffany finds herself drawn into the dance and joins in, despite being warned earlier by Miss Treason not to do so. She finds herself face to face with the Wintersmith—the personification of winter—who mistakes her for the Summer Lady—the personification of summer. He is enchanted by Tiffany, mystified by her presence.Unknowingly, Tiffany drops her silver horse pendant (a gift from Roland, the Baron's son) during the Dance. The Wintersmith uses the pendant to find Tiffany and give her back the pendant during their second encounter. From then on, he uses the pendant to find her and deliver his gifts. The elder witches, including Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, discover that the Wintersmith has been tracking her. Granny Weatherwax demands that she throw her silver horse pendant into Lancre Gorge.Things get trickier for Tiffany when she discovers she has some of the Summer Lady's powers—plants start to grow where she walks barefooted, and the Cornucopia appears, causing problems by spurting out food and animals.Before the problem with Tiffany and the Wintersmith is resolved, Miss Treason dies. The young witch Annagramma acquires Miss Treason's cottage, but she needs help from Tiffany and the other young witches before she can learn to cope on her own. Tiffany goes to live with Nanny Ogg.The Wintersmith decides that the reason Tiffany will not be his is that he is not human. Learning a simple rhyme from some children about what basic elements comprise a human body, he sets off to gather the correct ingredients. He makes himself a body out of these elements and pursues Tiffany, but without truly understanding what it is to be human.تاریخ نخستین خوانش روز پنجم ماه مارس سال 2020میلادیعنوان: دیسک ورلد (جهان صفحه) کتاب سی و پنجم: وینتراسمیت؛ نویسنده تری پرچت؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان بریتانیایی - سده 20مدیسک ورلد (جهان صفجه)، یک سری از کتابهای فانتزی هستند، که روانشاد «تری پرچت»، نویسنده ی «انگلیسی»، نگاشته ‌اند؛ داستان‌های این سری در جهانی با نام «دیسک‌ ورلد (جهان صفحه)» می‌گذرند؛ که صفحه‌ ای تخت است، و بر شانه‌ های «چهار فیل»، با هیکلهای بزرگ، قرار دارد؛ این فیل‌ها نیز، به نوبه ی خود، بر روی پشت یک «لاک‌پشت غول‌آسا»، با نام «آتوئین بزرگ» قرار دارند؛ در این سری از کتابها، بارها از سوژه های کتاب‌های نویسندگانی همچون «جی.آر.آر تالکین»، «رابرت هاوارد»، «اچ پی لاوکرافت»، و «ویلیام شکسپیر»، به گونه ای خنده دار، استفاده شده ‌است؛از سری «دیسک ‌ورلد» بیشتر از هشتاد میلیون نسخه، در سی و هفت زبان، به فروش رفته‌ است؛ این سری در برگیرنده ی بیش از چهل رمان (تاکنون چهل و یک رمان)، یازده داستان کوتاه، چهار کتاب علمی، و چندین کتاب مرجع، و مکمل است؛ از این سری، چندین رمان تصویری، بازی کامپیوتری، نمایش تئاتر، سریالهای تلویزیونی اقتباس شده ‌است؛ روزنامه ی «ساندی تایمز» چاپ «انگلستان» از این سری به عنوان یکی از پرفروش‌ترین سری کتاب‌ها نام برده، و «تری پرچت» را، به عنوان پرفروش‌ترین نویسنده ی «انگلستان»، در دهه ی نود میلادی دانسته است؛رمان‌های «دیسک‌ورلد» جوایز بسیاری از جمله جایزه «پرومتئوس»، و مدال ادبی «کارنگی» را، از آن خود کرده ‌اند؛ در نظرسنجی «بیگ رید»، که «بی‌بی‌سی» در سال 2003میلادی، در «انگلستان» انجام داد، چهار رمان سری «دیسک‌ورلد»؛ در فهرست یکصد کتاب برتر قرار گرفتند؛ همچنین مردمان «انگلیس»، در این نظرسنجی، چهارده رمان «دیسک‌ورلد» را، در شمار دویست کتاب برتر، دانستند؛ تا کنون، از این سری، چهل و یک رمان، به چاپ رسیده است؛ «تری پرچت» که پیش از درگذشتش؛ در ابتدای سال 2015میلادی، از بیماری «آلزایمر» رنج می‌بردند، اعلام کردند که خوشحال می‌شوند که دخترشان، «ریانا پرچت»، به جای ایشان، به ادامه ی این سری بپردازند؛ تا جلد بیست و ششم رمان این سری، رمان «دزد زمان (2001میلادی)» به دست «جاش کربی»، به تصویر کشیده شده ‌اند، اما نسخه ‌های «آمریکایی»، که انتشارات «هارپرکالینز» آن‌ها را، منتشر کرده، دارای تصاویر روی جلد متفاوتی هستند؛ پس از درگذشت «جاش کربی»، در سال 2001میلادی، نقاشی‌های روی جلد کتاب‌های بعدی این سری، بدست «پائول کربی» کشیده‌ شدندکتابهای اول و دوم: «رنگ جادو»؛ کتاب سوم: «زنان جادوگر»؛ کتاب چهارم: «مرگ»؛ کتاب پنجم: «سورسری (برگردان فارسی جادوی مرجع)»؛ کتاب ششم: «خواهران ویرد»؛ کتاب هفتم: «هرم ها»؛ کتاب هشتم: «نگهبانان! نگهبانان»؛ کتاب نهم: «اریک»؛ کتاب دهم: «تصاویر متحرک»؛ کتاب یازدهم: «مرد دروگر»؛ کتاب دوازدهم: «جادوگران خارج»؛ کتاب سیزدهم: «ایزدان خرد (خدایان کوچک)»؛ کتاب چهاردهم: «لردها و بانوان»؛ کتاب پانزدهم: «مردان مسلح»؛ کتاب شانزدهم: «موسیقی روح»؛ کتاب هفدهم: «اوقات جالب»؛ کتاب هجدهم: «ماسکراد»؛ کتاب نوزدهم: «پاهای خشت (فیت آو کلی)»؛ کتاب بیستم: «هاگفادر»؛ کتاب بیست و یکم: «جینگو»؛ کتاب بیست و دوم: «آخرین قاره»؛ کتاب بیست و سوم: «کارپه جوگلوم»؛ کتاب بیست و چهارم: «فیل پنجم»؛ کتاب بیست و پنجم: «حقیقت»؛ کتاب بیست و ششم: «دزد زمان»؛ کتاب بیست و هفتم: «آخرین قهرمان»؛ کتاب بیست و هشتم: «ماوریس شگفت‌انگیز و موش‌های آموزش‌دیده‌اش»؛ کتاب بیست و نهم: «ساعت شب»؛ کتاب سی ام: «مردان آزاد وی»؛ کتاب سی و یکم: «هنگ بزرگ»؛ کتاب سی و دوم: «کلاهی پُر از آسمان»؛ کتاب سی و سوم: «گوینگ پوستال»؛ کتاب سی و چهارم: «تود!»؛ کتاب سی و پنجم: «وینتراسمیت»؛ کتاب سی و ششم: «بدست آوردن پول»؛ کتاب سی و هفتم: «دانشگاهی‌های نادیدنی»؛ کتاب سی و هشتم: «نیمه‌شب بایست بپوشم»؛ کتاب سی و نهم: «اسنوف»؛ کتاب چهلم: «بالا آمدن مه»؛ کتاب چهل و یکم: «تاج چوپان»؛در کتاب سی و پنجم: کتاب «وینتراسمیت» دنباله ای بر کتاب سی و دوم با عنوان «کلاهی پر از آسمان (ستارگان)» است و داستان شاگرد سال دوم «تیفانی وه»، جادوگر است؛ معلم وی خانم «ورات»، یکصد و سیزده ساله جادوگری نابینا، و متخصص درعدالت است؛ وی برای اطمینان از درست بودن احترام به مشتریان خود، مجموعه چشمگیری از لوازم جانبی ترسناک را گرد هم آورده است؛ از جمجمه هایی که محل اعدام آنها را قاب مرده، تا شمع های بسیار قطره چکان، تا ساعت جیبی جعلی دستی، صدای تیک تیک آنچنان بلند است که اهالی روستا ادعا میکنند قلب جادوگر در آن پنهان شده است؛ در یک صندلی شبیه تخت، کنار دستگاه بافندگی او نشسته است - دو کلاغ پشت صندلی، که مراقبت از او را بر عهده دارند - او به سخنان مشاجره کنندگان گوش میدهد و تصمیم نهایی را میگیرد؛ فضای رعب آور - خانم تریسون آن را بوفو مینامد - تأثیر میگذارد و هیچ کس جرات اعتراض به حکمی را ندارد که او خیانت اعلام کرده استتاریخ بهنگام رسانی 12/01/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

Tiffany Aching is nearly thirteen years old and enduring her toughest apprenticeship yet. Miss Treason lives in a lonely cottage on the forested mountainside; she’s blind and deaf and 113 years old, and “borrows” the eyes and ears of the creatures around her to see and hear better than those who rely on their own senses. She decorates her house with gruesome, stereotypical witch memorabilia to intimidate her visitors. Most girls don’t last a day serving Miss Treason. Tiffany has been there over a month.Tiffany has been her sensible self all this time, but she is also a teenager now, and inevitably even she will have moments when good sense eludes her. One of these is fateful.Miss Treason takes her young apprentice to watch the Dark Morris dancers on the mountain. This troupe of men dance a jig on each equinox to welcome the coming summer or winter. The superstitious believe that the cycle of the year is disrupted should anything unplanned occur during this ritual. The music gets into Tiffany’s blood and she leaps among the dancers. She leaves her body, flying into deep space, and only returns to her corporeal form when she hears two voices ask her “Who are you?” one of them hostile, the other intrigued.She has collided with the Summer Lady and the Wintersmith. She and the goddess have (to an extent) merged, and now the god of snow and ice is obsessed with her.As the lovesick Wintersmith scatters unseasonable snow across the land and wonders why this strange human girl flees his advances, Tiffany struggles to reconcile her sense of duty, which commands her to drive him away and save the farms, with her newly awakened curiosity about this awkward, clueless creature who is blizzard and boy in one. But Tiffany is not alone. She has allies in the senior witches, particularly Granny Weatherwax, Miss Tick, and Nanny Ogg. She has her friend Roland, back on the Chalk, who writes content-free letters that are just an excuse to communicate with her. She has the ferocious Feegles who will charge into Hell itself for her—and promptly get kicked out for boozing up the place and/or singing. And she has Horace the cheese. Don’t mess with Horace.Content AdvisoryViolence: The Feegles attack things. The Wintersmith unleashes snowstorms and brings about the deaths of humans or animals who can’t find shelter, but it must be understood that he doesn’t do this maliciously (more details later). Some of the casualties are lambs, whom Tiffany and the other Chalk-dwellers bring inside and try to revive. No gore or suffering shown. Sex: The Feegles try to help Tiffany deal with the Wintersmith by getting her a romance novel from the travelling library. She figures out that “gathering nuts” is a euphemism and dismisses the book as a silly, inaccurate image of pastoral life. Her brain tells her to hate the Wintersmith and show him no mercy, but her heart (and hormones) inform her that being ardently pursued by a handsome elemental who can make her bouquets of ice roses is pretty…cool.Nanny Ogg says that, as a young lass, she convinced a young man not to commit suicide because he had a “cute butt.”Language: Nothing but “crivens!” from the Feegles. Substance Abuse: The Feegles are pretty sloshed for most of the book, as per usual. Death warns them not to stay too long in the Underworld because (I quote) WE’RE STILL PICKING UP ALL THE BOTTLES FROM LAST TIME YOU WERE HERE. Nightmare Fuel: Roland and the Feegles confront some scary critters in the Underworld, including a demon with hundreds of fangs that keeps looking at itself in a shard of glass and whimpering (I see you, Snow Queen reference).The Wintersmith can be scary by accident. The first time he physically manifests, he doesn’t know what he’s doing and can only make his eyes and hand visible to Tiffany. Even once he gets the hang of a human body, something’s a bit off. He can sing all the parts of an opera (including the orchestra) at once, and if he doesn’t concentrate on his body his limbs might fall off.Potty Humor: The Wintersmith struggles with the concept of eating. He ingests some sausages at an inn, and then asks the innkeeper’s daughter “Now what do I do with them?” She replies, “That’s not my place to say, sir.”ConclusionsThe adventures of Tiffany Aching and her wee free friends continue to delight. Pratchett added more detail and depth to his concept of witches. This book showcases a milestone for Tiffany and expands the world of the stories, bringing in gods and goddesses and seasonal change. There’s a lot of classical influence here, particularly from the myths of Hades and Persephone, and Orpheus and Eurydice. This book forms an interesting contrast with Alison Croggon’s The Riddle , second in the Pellinore series, which I recently reviewed. In both, a powerful young woman undergoes a (chastely rendered) sexual awakening with the help of a wintry sorcerer/male spirit who feels possessive of her. She can’t stay with him—she flees his ice palace because it’s the right thing to do—and yet part of her feels terrible for having to do it.Arkan from The Riddle is ostensibly much closer to being human than the Wintersmith is, but he really seems as cruel and rapacious as a glacier. Yet Croggon seemed to attribute more emotion and humanity to him than he was capable of feeling.This novel, much as I love it, has the opposite problem. The Wintersmith, while he isn’t human and can’t quite grasp what it is to be one, should get an A for effort. He’s an innocent menace, causing damage and destruction without realizing or understanding it. And Pratchett actually gives the poor creature less sympathy than he deserves. I felt only fleeting pity for Arkan after Maerad fled from him, but I wanted to give the Wintersmith a hug. So did Tiffany, but she had to obey the story she was trapped in—both the in-universe myth and the book containing it. From Pratchett’s perspective, human and divine, natural and supernatural, cannot mix without bringing disaster. There is no hope of anyone bridging the two worlds. The Wintersmith makes an adorable, earnest effort to become like Tiffany and wed her, but ultimately, according to the book, he is a different substance from her and ne’er the twain shall meet.This bothers me. I’m not saying that the story should necessarily have ended differently, but it certainly could have. The idea of a god becoming close to human to marry a mortal, and the mortal (against her will at first) taking on more and more attributes of a goddess to level with him, would have been fascinating. Tiffany could have represented a leap in Discworld theology, from abstract and capricious deities with no particular regard for lesser life forms to compassionate gods who loved and cared for humans because they were human, or had been. Ah well. What else is fanfiction for?The mythology and symbolism have made this my favorite installment in one of my favorite series. Recommended.

13 March 2015: To one of my dads in spirit:We remember you.And then one day a traveling teacher (...) talked about how some wizards had once, using very skillful magic, worked out exactly what a human being was made of. It was mostly water, but there were iron and brimstone and soot and a pinch of just about everything else, even a tiny amount of gold, but all cooked up together somehow.It made as much sense to Tiffany as anything else did. But she was certain of this: If you took all that stuff and put it in a big bowl, it wouldn’t turn into a human no matter how much you shouted at it.You couldn’t make a picture by pouring a lot of paint into a bucket. If you were human, you knew that.The Wintersmith wasn’t. The Wintersmith didn’t….(...) The words went around and around her mind as the borrowed broom plunged onward. At one point Dr. Bustle turned up, with his reedy, self-satisfied voice, and gave her a lecture on the Lesser Elements and how, indeed, humans were made up of nearly all of them but also contained a lot of narrativium, the basic element of stories, which you could detect only by watching the way all the others behaved….Wintersmith finally brought it home: what sets Terry Pratchett apart from most other contemporary novelists I know. It's compassion; and connectedness. It's his characters reaching to one another, setting their judgments aside and staring at the others, into the others, hard and long--until they see. (This may be one definition of a "witch," in fact.) The rest is here:https://choveshkata.net/forum/viewtop...

How very, very interesting.When I read these novels the first time, I never paid much attention to anything over and above the worldbuilding or character development going on across all the novels or within individual ones. And honestly, that IS enough, with all the humor, classy fantasy, and heart going on.In this novel, we have the classic tale of Orpheus and Euridice and/or Persephone and Hades. It's winter and summer, yo! But with Tiffany Aching doing a bit of a dance and having to deal with a pretty nice boy who happens to be an elemental. But on this read, and having more of Terry Pratchett's life in my sights, and especially how the very last novels brought his decline and saying goodbye to the fore, something snuck up on me and bit me in the ass.This was published in 2006. Terry Pratchett announced to the world how he had a rare form of Alzheimer’s in 2007. I wasn't expecting ANYTHING hinky as I re-read this book, but damn if it didn't catch me anyway. This book has many hints in it that he was fully aware of his condition. He even spends a lot of his time working out his position, his feelings, and how he intended to fight. Almost the entire novel lends itself to a very clear personal interpretation, from the obvious elements of going into the underworld to losing one's memory and the even more obvious connection to perception and preoccupation with perception. The diagnosis WAS about his atrophying visual cortex. And of course, he was contemplating his eventual death, coming to grips with it.So what do we think now about the witch who became a myth of herself? Ah, yes, indeed, Mr. Terry.

The Wintersmith and the Summer Lady do a little dance every time they need to switch places. But Tiffany Aching unfortunately joins in and dances with the Wintersmith instead, messing things up. The Wintersmith falls in love with Tiffany but his love is a desperate one. Granny Weatherwax steps in and brings Tiffany to Nanny Ogg’s place to keep her out of trouble. But the Wintersmith does not give up so easily.To make matters worse, Tiffany Aching’s current mentor passes away and Annagramma inherits the witch’s cottage and the village that comes with it. But despite all of Annagramma’s boasting, she’s not at all ready to take on such a daunting task yet. It’s up to Tiffany to help Annagramma out before things get completely out of hand.This book is the third Tiffany Aching story and it’s easy to see she’s grown here as she’s learned from her experiences in her previous adventures. But now it’s time for puberty to screw things up. The story shows us that Tiffany’s at a certain age where she begins to take notice of boys. Though the story definitely has a lot of layers. Some are quite subtle, others not so much.Tiffany’s a headstrong character who likes to do things her own way though she knows she still has a lot to learn, which makes her quite a relatable and likeable character. In her previous stories, Tiffany always stumbled into an adventure where she ended up learning something. This time however she is very much the cause of her own problems and she needs to grow as a person to set things right. This is an interesting new premise and direction in the series, which I very much appreciate.I also really like the Wintersmith as the antagonist as he’s more than just an ordinary villain for Tiffany to beat. He’s not a person, he’s winter. This is a fight Tiffany can simply never win if she takes him head on. The Wintersmith is also not bad. He’s doesn’t even realize that what he’s doing is having a devastating effect on the world around him. And the fact that he wants to become human to be with his love only makes him all the more sympathetic. But he will never become human, no matter how hard he tries.And as in the other Tiffany Aching stories, the Nac Mac Feegle provide some welcome comic relief.This is a young adult story done right. It’s not shallow but rather deep and completely in tune to real life aspects of being a teenager, with valuable life lessons about love and taking responsibility for one’s own actions, all wrapped up in a delightful adventure.

Following the resounding success of my Locus Quest, I faced a dilemma: which reading list to follow it up with? Variety is the spice of life, so I’ve decided to diversify and pursue six different lists simultaneously. This book falls into my LOCUS Y-A list.I think I’ll always have a soft-spot for imaginative young-adult speculative fiction and as the good people at Locus did such a grand job with picking their Sci-Fi winners, I’ll trust them to single out some special y-a books too.I remember reading The Wee Free Men (the first in this Tiff Aching series) and not feeling terribly impressed, but I don’t actually remember much about the book. I find suspicious, as I generally have a better memory for fiction than reality. I don’t know if I had other things on my mind, or read it when I wasn’t sleeping well, or if I was just drunk – but the book didn’t stick. So I’m going to order a new copy to re-read soon.But whether that initial ‘unimpressed feeling’ was deserved or not, it put me off picking up Wintersmith . My wife owned a copy which I’d been eyeing up ever since our bookcases merged. But it’s the third in the series – surely I should read book two ( A Hat Full of Sky ) first?But it’s a Locus Young-Adult Award winner, and I needed something light between installments the two halves of Blackout/All Clear , so I grabbed it on the way to work and found myself thoroughly enjoying it!I don’t know why I was surprised, I love Pratchett’s writing. I was clearly just being a cynical douche about his y-a works!Tiff’s encounters with the Wintersmith are vivid and magical, beautifully visually examples of Sir Terry’s imagination at work. But the real gems of the book (for me) are the minor strands that fill out Tiff’s world within the Wintersmith framing device. The Nac Mac Feegles are great characters with an infinite supply of comedy dialogue and perspectives (quote below). Roland’s mission to awaken the Summer Lady in the underworld contained my favourite moment in the book – when he battles the wraiths with his imaginary sword! The interactions between the teenage witches are great, as are Tiff’s reflections on Miss Treason’s ‘Boffo’. And the cameos from Ogg and Weatherwax are a touch of class for us long-standing witches fans. A quick quote that made me giggle:“When a bull coo meets a lady coo he disna have tae say, "My hert goes bang-bang-bang when I see your wee face," 'cuz it's kinda built intae their heads. People have it more difficult. Romancin' is verra important ye ken. Basically it's a way the boy can get close to the girl wi'oot her attackin' him and scratchin' his eyes oot.'It’s a worthy addition to the Discworld canon and it’s encouraged me to re-read The Wee Free Men , and also grab a copy of Hat Full of Sky and I Shall Wear Midnight , but Wintersmith doesn’t quite measure up to the inspirational awesomeness of my favourites.After this I read: All Clear

Well anyone who knows me will know that I absolutely adore Terry Pratchett, his writing style just captures me right from the very first word. With this being a young adult book it does mean that it has chapters (yes!) but it really doesn't feel like a young adult book when reading it, it could very easily be one of the Discworld series without it also being one of the young adult Tiffany Aching series.I will admit I think that the Wintersmith was incredibly sweet! Oh and the Nac Mac Feegles will have you speaking their language in no time at all! The are sweet and funny. All the characters in the book are very well written and the story flows at a nice gentle pace.Any fantasy fans this is a must!!

Pratchett is a wordsmith. He creates a divine world into which he spins his stories... stories of magic, where seasons have personalities and can become ... almost human. This is the case of the Wintersmith, when young witch Tiffany Aching leaps into the midst of the winter dance and takes the place of Summer. Wintersmith is captivated by her and wants to become human so as to be with her. He starts courting her with wintery magic, including millions of little Tiffany snowflakes. But as Granny Weatherwax knows, a season becoming a human can be dangerous...I like these books. They are simple but sweet, profound yet funny, and full of unforgettable characters -- in this case, a witch who digs her own grave (literally). Tiffany is a delightful heroine -- sweet, sincere, intelligent, and kind, with an unusual amount of insight into The World.As for the rest? Well, what can I say except CRIVENS!!

Wintersmith is the third book in the Tiffany Aching subseries of Discworld. In this book, Tiffany has made a mistake that has put not only herself but also everybody she knows, and a whole bunch of people she doesn’t know, in danger. There really isn’t too much I can say about this book that I haven’t already said about the previous two. I’m still really enjoying the series, and I still really like the characters in it. In this book, two of my favorite characters from previous books got a decent amount of page time, so I was especially happy about that. (view spoiler)[And how could anybody not love the idea of Granny Weatherwax with a little, white kitten? (hide spoiler)]