Wintersmith, redux

I put "Shadowmarch" on hold to read "Wintersmith."

Anyone who reads this blog (or just happens to know me) is aware that I often gush about how much I like a book (or movie) then give all sorts of reasons not to like it.

That's because I have a very hard time explaining why I like something, so I point out problems to highlight that I liked it in spite of them.

I really don't want to do that with "Wintersmith." Mostly because there were very few bits that were disappointing.

Terry Prachett is one of the few authors that can make me laugh out loud in public. Douglas Adams was another. Surprisingly, Robert Ludlum can, too (yeah, I didn't know he wrote comedy either until Dad gave me "The Road to Omaha")

In "Wintersmith" this happened:
1: Whenever a Feegle said or did, well, anything.
2: When Prachett made an unexpected reference to a joke from an earlier chapter (*werk*)¹

You don't need to have read "Wee Free Men" or "A Hat Full of Sky" to enjoy "Wintersmith," but it will help to have done so, because there isn't much introduction to the characters.²

Like the two previous Tiffany Aching stories, this is written for a younger audience (I'd guess 10 to 14 or so), but it is still a great book for any age. As far as I can tell, the only real difference between these stories and Prachett's other Discworld books is that the main characters are younger (Tiffany has a dictionary and looks up any words she doesn't understand ³).

Later,

¹ You'll get this once you've read "Wintersmith"

² Except for Miss Treason (a witch) and Wee Dangerous Spike (a young Feegle)

³ Of which there are very few, as she sctually reads it, too.