The Wee Free Men

I skipped ahead a bit in my consumption of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Part of it was that I momentarily forgot which order the books were in (I just bought three and got a bit confused) and part of it was that I was so excited to dive into the Tiffany Aching arc.

Unlike the rest of Discworld, which is aimed at adults, the Tiffany Aching subseries is YA. Tiffany is a nine-year-old witch in training who must save her baby brother from "The Queen". The plot is familiar. And the story hits many of the same beats as The Snow Queen; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; The Golden Compass; and Labyrinth. Ultimately the young girl saves the boy who has been kidnapped by outwitting or otherwise defeating the Queen (or Rebel, Rebel King) who is holding him hostage. That's not the point.

It's the details that make a story like this worth revisiting. Is the Queen sufficiently scary? Is the danger real, but not so extreme as to present an impossible challenge? Is the protagonist likeable? Or at least easy to relate to? Does she meet cool creatures along the way? Is there a crowning moment of badassery?

The Wee Free Men has all of this. Tiffany is stubborn and rational. She has a selfish streak that she uses to her advantage and is able to stay grounded enough to escape the various dream sequences that the Queen uses to trap her. And of course she gets to hang out with the Wee Free Men, first introduced in Carpe Jugulum. They're an awesome cross of Smurfs and the warriors from Braveheart (full disclosure: I've never seen Braveheart). Together they all journey to Faery and save Tiffany's little brother before Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax have time to arrive and help. The two older witches appeared in the story only briefly, and I'm hoping to see more of them in future Tiffany Aching adventures.

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