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A review of The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
Since college every respected reader I’ve met has told me to read Terry Pratchett because they’re sure I will love him. Discworld was been recommended to me over and over. And I totally meant to read it. I even got halfway through Colour of Magic before Potter 7 came out and derailed everything I was reading at the time. Not to say I didn’t enjoy Colour of Magic, but with so much to read and so little time (grad school and all) it got shuffled to the “maybe later” shelf of my book case.
Listening to Stephen Briggs perform and I do mean perform The Wee Free Men is fantastic. Besides doing great voices for the herione Tiffany, the villian the “Quin” and the victim, Tiffany’s little brother Wentworth, Briggs voices the Nac Mac Feegle like Rob Anybody and Not-as-big-as-Medium-sized-Jock-but-bigger-than-Wee-Jock-Jock. Its hilarious. I’m alone in my car at a stop light laughing. I know people think I’m crazy. I’ve seen the looks. Yes Pratchett is funny. But hearing the over accented Scottish and the outragous, ridiculous things the Wee Free Men say is too much sometimes.
“Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willnae be fooled again!”
Don’t get me wrong, I love Tiffany. She’s clever, but not too clever. She’s brave, but messes up too. The story is fast-paced, exciting and full of good ol’ fashion magic. There’s an evil “Quin” who steals children. There’s odd “Alice in Wonderland” type side characters. There’s wise women and hard working men. But the book is called the Wee Free Men and it might not be their story, but it is their show.
Totally gets an Awesome. Chek out the audio even if you’ve read the book. It’s a whole different experience. Can’t wait to start the next “Tiffany” book A Hat Full of Sky.
