I Shall Wear Midnight

I Shall Wear Midnight is the finally book in the Tiffany Aching YA subseries of Terry Pratchett's sprawling Discworld series. Or at least it's the latest. There doesn't need to be another one, which is good since Pratchett may not live to write one. But the door is open for another chapter in young Tiffany's life.

Then again, this novel is a pretty fitting conclusion to Tiffany's story. In as much as any story on the Discworld gets a conclusion. Or any life really. The first of the four books in this miniseries began with Tiffany deciding to become a witch and setting down on that path. This book concludes with her being accepted as a peer by the other witches in Lancre. Along the way there have been plenty of adventures.

The evil in this book is more insidious, harder to pin down and easier to spread. It's fitting that Tiffany doesn't destroy it so much as fight it off for another generation. The whispered rumors that turn people against her, the conviction that witches are evil and ought to be burned at the stake, will come back around again eventually. That sort of evil never really goes away forever. But for her part Tiffany is able to get her people back on her side.

She also grows up a bit through watching her first boyfriend get married to someone else, and surprising herself by actually befriending his bride-to-be. Though a petty part of her wishes she could hate the girl, life is never actually that simple. And everyone is better off for their finding some common ground. For her part, Tiffany meets another young man who is much better suited to her intellect and independence.

I really like the Tiffany Aching books as a whole. They come together to tell a wonderful coming of age tale, with a lot of truth about taking responsibility and getting your hands dirty. As late as they are in the series overall, they'll actually be the perfect starting point for younger readers to become acquainted with Discworld, which is probably exactly their intention.

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