Wintersmith: A Discworld Novel (Hardcover)

published	October 1st 2006 by HarperTeen
binding	Hardcover
isbn	0060890312 (isbn13: 9780060890315)
pages	336
description	At 9, Tiffany Aching defeated the cruel Queen of Fairyland. At 11, she battled an ancient body-stealing evil. At 13, Tiffany fac...more [close] At 9, Tiffany Aching defeated the cruel Queen of Fairyland. At 11, she battled an ancient body-stealing evil. At 13, Tiffany faces a new challenge: a boy. And boys can be a bit of a problem when you're thirteen. . . . But the Wintersmith isn't exactly a boy. He is Winter itself—snow, gales, icicles—all of it. When he has a crush on Tiffany, he may make her roses out of ice, but his nature is blizzards and avalanches. And he wants Tiffany to stay in his gleaming, frozen world. Forever. Tiffany will need all her cunning to make it to Spring. She'll also need her friends, from junior witches to the legendary Granny Weatherwax. They— Crivens! Tiffany will need the Wee Free Men too! She'll have the help of the bravest, toughest, smelliest pictsies ever to be banished from Fairyland—whether she wants it or not. It's going to be a cold, cold season, because if Tiffany doesn't survive until Spring— —Spring won't come. [close]
date added	01-11-07 edit book

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The best of discworld!

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Seth rated it:

03/31/08

bookshelves: discworld, funny-ha-ha, sf-f-h, ya

Read in March, 2008

The Tiffany Aching books (so far, 3 of the 4 YA Discworld novels) are by far the best of Discworld. Funny, smart, and taking the reader on a life-lesson journey of the sort that should be required CEUs for keeping your Adult License.

This one returns to the themes of Hogfather and the recurring Pratchett theme of Life as a Story. Tiffany accidentally injects herself into the annual myth-story of the seasons, this time around equinox cele...more The Tiffany Aching books (so far, 3 of the 4 YA Discworld novels) are by far the best of Discworld. Funny, smart, and taking the reader on a life-lesson journey of the sort that should be required CEUs for keeping your Adult License.

This one returns to the themes of Hogfather and the recurring Pratchett theme of Life as a Story. Tiffany accidentally injects herself into the annual myth-story of the seasons, this time around equinox celebrations (samhain and beltane), whereas Hogfather was around the mythology of midwinter. The equinoxes are less violent a change than the solstice, but any Pratchett reader knows to expect that the more subtle the change, the greater the danger, both to the world and to the protagonist.

As with all the Tiffany Aching stories, even of all the witch stories, the plot centers around Tiffany learning what the problem is and eventually finding the way that sort of problem is designed to be solved. The model is that a problem always defines its solution. Tiffany steps into the biannual dance between Summer and Winter, interfering with the process and causing Winter to become obsessed with her.

Because she jumped in and danced at the samhain festival, Winter spends his six months pursuing her and becoming sentient; in essence, converting from a force of nature (an elemental) to a god. Tiffany doesn't know what to do about it, and Granny Weatherwax won't tell her.

Everything with witches is a test, and with Granny Weatherwax around it's a test with high stakes. She has clearly marked Tiffany as a special witch (her probably successor as the unstated first among equals with the witches) and she takes the opportunity to test Tiffany against the Wintersmith--a formidable entity in his own right, even disregarding the anger his Summertime counterpart has at Tiffany taking over her role--but also to use Tiffany as a pawn in a bit of political one-upsmanship against the rising witch star Miss Earwig.

Of course, as with all of Granny's machinations, if it works it will leave everyone better off, with only the witches knowing she scored a point and even her detractors admitting she improved life for them, and as always Tiffany breaks the unwritten rule and openly discusses the politics. And, of course, there is a different set of life lessons for Tiffany (and her friends, and Miss Earwig) tied up in the plan.

Unlike some of the other books, Wintersmith doesn't have a lot of plot-oriented action. Tiffany faces the Wintersmith in various guises as he woos her, but much of Tiffany's time is taken up with distractions: the death of her current mentor, Granny's politics, Nanny Ogg's own special brand of instruction (*ahem*), growing adolescent confusion around her friendship with "her young man"), struggles dealing with the "modern" witchcraft of the snobby Ammagramma (Earwig's student), and homesickness for the sheep-farming plains. Fortunately, her way of handling these do not coalesce into one set of skills needed for the major plot at hand; Pratchett is too good of a writer to fall into that lazy trap.

So this is another good Tiffany Aching book. Suitable for the YA crowd (actually quite tame for them) but not in any way condescending for adults, funny (but not as funny-for-funny's-sake as some of the main-line Discworld books), excellent story, and very strong character development.

Absolutely worth a read. If you aren't a Discworld fan yet, try start with the Aching books (Wee Free Men is the first, the Hat Full of Stars), then jump to Witches Abroad and read them from there. (Skip the earlier ones unless you're a completist)....less

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Wintersmith: A Discworld Novel (Hardcover)

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