The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett, a Tiffany Aching Adventure

Denver Science Fiction & Fantasy Book Club

THE WEE FREE MEN
by
TERRY PRATCHETT

The Wee Free Men (2003)
A Novel of Discworld
Tiffany Aching Adventures book one

Harper Tempest paperback
375 pages
Cover art by Bill Mayer (left)

HarperCollins hardcover
263 pages
cover art by Chris Gall (right)

From the back cover of the paperback:
There's trouble on the Aching farm: monsters in the river, headless horsemen in the lane -- and Tiffany Aching's little brother has been stolen by the Queen of Fairies. Getting him back will require all of Tiffany's strength and determination (as well as a sturdy skillet) and the help of the rowdy clan of fightin', stealin', tiny blue-skinned pictsies known as the Wee Free Men!

From the inside flap of the hardcover:
Armed only with a frying pan and her common sense, Tiffany Aching, a young witch-to-be, is all that stands between the monsters of Fairyland and the warm, green Chalk country that is her home. Forced into Fairyland to seek her kidnapped brother, Tiffany allies herself with the Chalk's local Nac Mac Feegle -- aka the Wee Free Men -- a clan of sheep-stealing, sword-wielding, six-inch-high blue men who are as fierce as they are funny. Together they battle through an eerie and ever-shifting landscape, fighting brutal flying fairies, dream-spinning dromes, and grimhounds -- black dogs with eyes of fire and teeth of razors -- before ultimately confronting the Queen of the Elves, absolute ruler of a world in which reality intertwines with nightmare. And in the final showdown, Tiffany must face her cruel power alone . . .

Read for group discussion on March 28, 2007

RATINGS:
How we each rated this book

Dan	-	Amy	-	10 Wow! Don't miss it 8-9 Highly recommended 7 Recommended 5-6 Mild recommendation 3-4 Take your chances 1-2 Below average; skip it 0 Get out the flamethrower! U Unfinishable or unreadable - Skipped or no rating given
Cheri	9	Barb	-
Aaron	8	Cynthia	8
Jackie	-	Ron	8
Christine	9	Deb	-
Mike	-	Stephanie	-
Patty	8.5	Shannon	-

Our book group has also read the following books by Terry Pratchett:
-- Guards! Guards! in July 1995
-- Good Omens (written with Neil Gaiman), in May 1996
-- Small Gods in March 1999
-- Hogfather in July 2000
-- The Fifth Elephant in January 2002
-- The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents in July 2003
-- The Truth in June 2004

Bibliography:
Terry Pratchett (1948- ) is a English writer. His humorous, loosely-connected Discworld fantasy books are bestsellers in the UK.

Awards
1990 British Science Fiction Association Award for Pyramids
Carnegie Medal for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents

Pratchett's Discworld books include characters such as the inept wizard Rincewind, witch Granny Weatherwax, the City Guard or Night Watch, and Death.

Discworld series books
The Colour of Magic (1983)
The Light Fantastic (1986)
Equal Rites (1987)
Mort (1987)
Sourcery (1988)
Wyrd Sisters (1988)
Pyramids (1989)
Guards! Guards! (1989)
Eric (with illustrator Josh Kirby) (1990)
Moving Pictures (1990)
Reaper Man (1991)
Witches Abroad (1991)
Small Gods (1992)
Lords and Ladies (1992)
Men at Arms (1993)
Soul Music (1994)
Interesting Times (1994)
Maskerade (1995)
Feet of Clay (1996)
Hogfather (1998)
Jingo (1998)
Last Continent (1999)
Carpe Jugulum (1999)
The Fifth Elephant (2000)
The Truth (2000)
The Thief of Time (2001)
Night Watch (2002)
Monstrous Regiment (2003)
Going Postal (2004)
Thud! (2005)
Making Money (2007)
Nation (2008)

Discworld young adult books
The Tiffany Aching Adventures
The Wee Free Men (2003)
A Hat Full of Sky (2004)
Wintersmith (2006)

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents (2001)

Discworld related books Illustrated by Paul Kidby
The Pratchett Portfolio (1996)
Nanny Ogg's Cookbook (1999, with Stephen Briggs and Tina Hannan)
Gurps Discworld: Adventures on the Back of the Turtle (1998, by Phil Masters for Steve Jackson Games)
Death's Domain : A Discworld Mapp (1999)
Discworld's Unseen University Diary 1998 (with Stephen Briggs, 1997)
Discworld's Ankh-Morpork City Watch Diary 1999 (with Stephen Briggs, 1998)
Discworld Assassin's Guild Yearbook and Diary 2000 (with Stephen Briggs, 1999)
Discworld Fools' Guild Yearbook and Diary 2001 (with Stephen Briggs, 2000)
Discworld Thieves' Guild Yearbook and Diary 2002 (with Stephen Briggs, 2001)
The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable (2001).

Discworld related books with Stephen Briggs
The Streets of Ankh Morpork (1993)
The Discworld Companion (1994, 1997)
The Discworld Mapp (1995)
A Tourist Guide to Lancre (1998)
The New Discworld Companion (2003)

Discworld science books with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen
The Science of Discworld (1999)
The Science of Discworld II: The Globe (2002)
The Science of Discworld II: Darwin's Watch (2005)

Other Discworld spinoff books
Mort: A Discworld Big Comic (with Graham Higgins, 1994)
The Unseen University Challenge by David Langford (1996)
A Discworld Quizbook - The Wyrdest Link by David Langford (2002)
Where's My Cow? (illustrated by Melvyn Grant, children's picture book (2005)
The Unseen University Cut Out Book (with Alan Batley and Bernard Pearson, 2006)

Other books
Good Omens (written with Neil Gaiman, 1990) is subtitled The Nice and Accurate Prophesies of Agnes Nutter. It's a fantasy about the end of the world.

The YA Johnny Maxwell tilogy is Only You Can Save Mankind (1992), Johnny and the Dead (1993), and Johnny and the Bomb (1996)

The Nomes trliogy or the Bromeliad children's SF series is Truckers (1989), Diggers (1990), and Wings (1990).

Standalone works are his first novel The Carpet People (1971) a children's fantasy; The Dark Side of the Sun (1976) which is SF; Strata (1981) a SF parody; and The Unadulterated Cat (with Gray Jolliffe, 1990).

Links:
Fantastic Reviews: Aaron's book review of The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
Our book club's page for Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
Our book club's page for Hogfather by Terry Pratchett
Our book club's page for The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett
Our book club's page for The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents by Pratchett
Our book club's page for The Truth by Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett - Wikipedia
Discworld - Wikipedia
L-Space Web: About Terry Pratchett
Discworld Monthly - Online newsletter about Terry Pratchett & his works
Terry Pratchett and the Discworld
Discworld MUD - multi-user game based on the Discworld books
January magazine - Profile | Terry Pratchett
GURPS Discworld - RolePlaying Game
The Discworld Emporium
TerryPratchettBooks.com

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This page was last updated October 22, 2008