I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett
A man with no eyes. No eyes at all. Two tunnels in his head ...It's not easy being a witch, and it's certainly not all whizzing about on broomsticks, but Tiffany Aching - teen witch - is doing her best. Until something evil wakes up, something that stirs up all the old stories about nasty old witches, so that just wearing a pointy hat suddenly seems a very bad idea. Worse still, this evil ghost from the past is hunting down one witch in particular. He's hunting for Tiffany. Andhe's found her...A fabulous Discworld title filled with witches and magic and told in the inimitable Terry Pratchett style, "I Shall Wear Midnight" is the fourth Discworld title to feature Tiffany and her tiny, fightin', boozin' pictsie friends, the Nac Mac Feegle (aka The Wee Free Men).
This is the fourth, and apparently final, Tiffany Aching book from Terry Pratchett. It's brilliant - darker and more complex than the previous books, reflecting the fact that Tiffany is growing up, and the children who read Wee Free Men when it came out are growing with her. The Baron, Roland's father, is dying and Tiffany is taking his pain away. Roland has a new fiancee with a scary mother (with a secret of her own), and a secret of her own - and something is poisoning the people against witches - and only Tiffany can fight it.
As ever, the Feegles are helping her out in their own particular way, but even they seem to be more grown up than previously.
With the usual cameos from other Discworld stalwarts (this time including Carrot, Angua, Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and, of course, Death - in a beautifully written death sequence), the extremely skilful use of locations - Tiffany and the Feegles in Ankh - and the unexpected reappearance of a VERY old character (or, rather, a character from one of the first Discworld books - to explain more would be to spoil the surprise) all come together to make I Shall Wear Midnight simply brilliant - and I love the title (It comes from Tiffanys statement in a previous book when she's asked why she doesn't wear black - "When I am older, I shall wear midnight" - the discovery that she's right about that is one of the cleverest bits of the book - but again, that would be telling...
Whichever version you choose, go out and buy it as it shows that despite all the turmoil Mr Pratchett can still write an amazing novel! A full on 5 stars from me.
Available from:
http://www.play.com/ or
http://www.amazon.co.uk/
I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett
Hardback • ISBN 9780385611077
