Book Review: Wintersmith
Author: Terry Pratchett
Publisher: Doubleday
2021 (First published in Great Britain by Doubleday 2006)
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 372
Date Read: November ’24 – January ‘25
Main Characters:
Tiffany Aching (A young witch)
The Wintersmith (The spirit of winter)
The Nac Mac Feegles (A type of fairy folk who help protect Tiffany)
Miss Treason (An older witch who Tiffany is learning from)
Granny Weatherwax (An elderly witch that the Nac Mac Feegles consider to be the hag o’ hags)
Nanny Ogg (An elderly witch whom Tiffany goes to stay with)
Roland (A boy whom Tiffany keeps correspondence with)
Blurb:
Young witch Tiffany Aching leaps into a dance, and suddenly the spirit of winter is in love with her. Now she must face the Wintersmith, or lose springtime forever…
My review:
It took me a little while to read this book in between getting to know my newborn son. Going by the title, I thought it was an appropriate book to read at this time of year.
This is the third book in the ‘Tiffany Aching’ series by Terry Pratchett, and it is also the 35th Novel in his ‘Discworld’ series. Terry Pratchett certainly has a very distinctive style of writing that often ‘beats around the bush’, adding in extra detail and commentary for the amusement of the reader. As such, it can sometimes take a little while for the storyline of his books to really get going, or they can appear to verge off on a complete tangent only to be brought back round again a few chapters later. Being the third book in the series, this was easier to get my teeth into compared to other books as I was already very familiar with the characters and fictional universe in which it is set. The Nac Mac Feegles are a very comical and loveable group of fairy folk who have their own glossary at the start of the book. You cannot help but put on a slight Scottish accent whilst reading their dialogue.
The storyline of this particular instalment has some very strong similarities to the story of Persephony and Hades from Greek mythology. In the previous book, the young witch Tiffany Aching had accidentally gone into an alternate universe when she unwittingly she stepped into the dance between the Wintersmith (spirit of winter) and the Summer Lady (spirit of summer). In Britain, Morris Men usually dance dressed in white and wearing bells to welcome in the spring/summer months. In the author’s note at the back of the book, Terry Pratchett claims to have invented the Dark Morris to welcome in winter. When Tiffany steps into one of these dances, she accidentally brings about a perpetual winter to the Discworld as the Wintersmith is obsessed with finding Tiffany and making her his queen. Of course, being a spirit of nature and not a deity, he is confused about his feelings and how to win Tiffany over. At times he comes across as a bit of a love-struck puppy as he has a constant obsession with her. However, he is also a very complex character who tries his hardest to learn more about humans and their behaviour to the extent that he tries to become human himself. For the reader this raises some thought-provoking questions about what it is to be human. When Tiffany unknowingly stepped into the dance and forced the Summer Lady out of the way, Tiffany discovers that she starts to almost become the Summer Lady herself and have new ‘powers’ that she is unsure how to fully use and/or utilise. It is only with the help of fellow witches, the Nac Mac Feegles, and her friend Roland that she is able to confront the Wintersmith, bring back the Summer Lady and restore the seasons (Sorry if that seems like a massive spoiler, but in all honesty the storyline is very obvious from the outset).
You may be asking whether there is any point in reading the book given the centuries old narrative/ main plot point. However, as the book centres around Tiffany Aching who is a witch, the book also delves into the trials and tribulations of the other Discworld witches with whom Tiffany is acquainted. I found it really lovely to get to know the other characters more throughout this book. Although Tiffany starts off fearing the Wintersmith and his immense power over the cold harsh months, as a reader you do end up feeling rather sorry for him as he comes across as being a very lonely but also sweet and endearing character. In his own way he really does try his best to work out what will make Tiffany happy and at times, listens carefully to what she has to say. In that respect, although he plot is highly predictable, the character development is fantastic and in my opinion this book is well worth the read.
Star rating: 4 out of 5.
