Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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42 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Crivens! It's another hagglin' hit!, 4 Nov 2006
Let's be clear about this. If you're not already a Terry Pratchett fan, you're unlikely to be interested in this book. But if you've got as far as reading the reviews of it, you must at least have a smidgen of interest - so let's discuss why Wintersmith is such an excellent book.
The Nac Mac Feegle (a race of small, blue, vicious, kilt-wearing, boozing and ultimately hilarious men) were first introduced in the main Discworld novel Carpe Jugulum, but have since been expanded upon in the Tiffany Aching series, in The Wee Free Men and A Hatful of Sky. Nominally a series for younger readers, this series has been (up to now) every bit as enjoyable as the main books. Tiffany Aching, a junior witch, is the heroine again here, but the Feegles are the scene-stealers, reducing any reader to laughing out loud - you just can't help it.
In Wintersmith, in which Tiffany inadvertently attracts the attention of the title character (an elemental who creates winter, in short), Tiffany develops further as a character who could potentially feature in one of the main books. There is a welcome return for the unsurpassably funny Nanny Ogg, the formidable Granny Weatherwax and Tiffany's friend/beau Roland. All the ingredients are there for a fantastic read, and Pratchett doesn't disappoint. It's an easy read, difficult to put down, and I was quite sorry when it was all over because I could easily have carried on for another 500 pages.
So, anybody who disnae wanna fight Big Yan, buy this book wi' all its long werdy things, ye bigjobs scunners! (as Rob Anybody might say).
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad, but not his best, 5 Jan 2007
As a Pratchett fan, I don't think he can write a bad book as such. That is, if you like Pratchett's style, you're going to enjoy most of his works. This isn't the best of his books, for sure, but I still enjoyed it. The characters are good and there's the usual mixture of humour and wisdom, but it's let down by an uninspiring central storyline and a weak ending.
As this is the third in the series, I would recommend reading the earlier books ('The Wee Free Men' and 'A Hat Full of Sky') first, although they are not essential to appreciating this one (but are better). The book picks up the story of Tiffany Aching, 13 year old trainee witch. If that conjures up images of Harry Potter like antics, forget it - witching in Terry Pratchett's Discworld is more about dispensing justice to squabbling peasants, delivering babies, and escaping from duckings with pointy hat still intact, and Tiffany's training is very much an apprenticeship as opposed to the cosy public school like atmosphere of Hogwarts.
Tiffany is a likeable heroine, mostly because of her down to earth practicality, with just enough magical ability to be interesting. But the story is stolen, along with most of the items featured in it, by the Nac Mac Feegle - the tiny blue fighting men introduced in the first book of the series. There are also some good supporting characters; eccentric Miss Treason, Discworld stalwarts Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax, and new witch Annagramma who thinks magic is more about spells than midwifery and gets a nasty shock...
So what's not so good? I suppose that after three outings, the characters and the concept seem just a little bit tired. They're still good, but they're not that original anymore. The story also suffers from its own structure. Starting with the big climax might make for an exciting beginning but it is also confusing and means the end feels like an anticlimax. I actually enjoyed the middle part of the book much more. The central storyline with the Wintersmith didn't really grab me, and I lost interest by the end. It felt rather like the story petered out, especially as the main drama had already taken place in chapter one.
This story is aimed primarily at children, and I think would be suitable for 12 year olds upwards, though it still will have plenty of appeal for adults too. I would recommend it to established Pratchett fans for the middle chapters, but if you're new to Pratchett start with some of his better works first.
On the whole, not bad but not great. If Pratchett wants to write a fourth he needs to inject some originality and find a stronger central storyline that can carry the entire length of the book.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nice to have hope for a Pratchett book!, 18 Nov 2006
I've been so disappointed in Pratchett recently - the "proper" Discworld novels have completely lost their way - but this series has been a treat. These hark back to the early Discworld books, with a small cast of characters, and one story, not thousands of them trying to intertwine.
This continues to tales of Tiffany Aching and her Mac Na Feegle in their battles against the personification of winter itself, who takes an unwelcome shine to Tiffany. The joy in this book is that it stays simple, and allows the characters to grow at a pace that feels natural. Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg have worthy roles to play, without ever overpowering young Tiffany, and it continues to build the witch mythology nicely ("Boffo" takes over as my new favourite witch idea...).
It's certainly not his best; this feels a little drawn out in the middle, and very rushed towards the end - this was certainly a book that could have been 20/30 pages longer comfortably. But still, it's a treat to read a Pratchett book and enjoy it again, it's something you don't get from the proper books anymore.
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