This book was the subject of the new bookclub run by the Victorian Discworld Klatch on Discord. People assume that because I have been involved in the Discworld Conventions and the Victorian Discworld Klatch that I must have read all the books. That is not a good assumption. I’m an opportunistic reader and that includes Terry Pratchett books. The opportunity will present itself and then I’ll read another of his books for the first time. That is what happened with this book. It’s not even resident in my house, I had to borrow it from the library and now I have to return it.
Reading a Terry Pratchett book for the first time is a joy. Reading the words and watching everything play out in the book, watching Tiffany Aching as a 16 year-old is another joy. And then sitting down to discuss it with like-minded people is a separate joy.
It is a Young Adult book so you’re more likely to find it in the YA section of the library or bookshop. I feel Pratchett knew that YA readers need chapters, so he divided this book up into chapters. Unlike many other of his Discworld books where there are no chapters, just one big long book. In a previous life I would have gone to bed and then read the entire book in one night…let’s not talk about sleep here. Although this book is emanently readable and easy to read in one sitting, I knew I had to make it last at least a few days.
This book ties together previous books with Tiffany Aching and shows us that there are horrors in this world. Some of them are here because Tiffany has brought them in and it’s now her job to banish them again. But Tiffany was a strong witch at the age of 9 and she’s even stronger now.
Discussing this book was great. Someone would put a quote into the chat and we’d discuss it thoroughly. One person put in a Wikipedia link to Charvari and we were able to follow the links and find that when Pratchett is talking about ‘rough music’ he’s talking about something that really happened. The ‘rough music’ would be roughly similar to ‘discordant music’ mentioned in Wikipedia. Music designed to lead people into shaming a member of the community. Maybe the man has beaten his wife or his daughter and Charvari would happen in order to shame the man into better behaviour. It’s a pity this doesn’t happen now, people might exhibit better behaviour.
I really enjoyed the reference to Alice in Wonderland. There’s a toad who is apparently a lawyer. Tiffany asks what she’s supposed to do and he says
“Well, if you hit your head on this low ceiling, you would have a definite claim for damages,” said the toad. “Er…did I just say that?”
Well, if you’re a toad you might say things that don’t make sense and that’s what Alice in Wonderland was all about, not making sense.
This is a lovely little treatise on people and how they work. How people support those in their communities, but there’s little details they don’t notice. Things like dressing someone’s leg every day so it doesn’t fester. Or checking on someone else’s health because they’ve been poorly. These are things Tiffany did.
‘I make it my busness. I’m a witch. It’s what we do. When it’s nobody else’s business, it’s my business.’
A lovely quote to end this slight glance into a lovely book. It’s one I will recommend to many people.