Product Description

Nine year old Tiffany is in trouble she's armed only with a frying pan, her Grandma's dubious book of magic and, strangest of all, tiny blue men in kilts, the Wee Free men, who have come looking for a new hag.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3792 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-29
• Binding: Paperback
• 317 pages

Customer Reviews

A book of Discworld worth a place on your bookshelf
The Wee Free Men is Terry's second children's novel set on the Discworld. The story is about Tiffany Aching, a nine year old who lives and works with her family on a sheep farm located in a place know locally as 'The Chalk'.

Once a lonely old lady with no teeth was wrongly accused of being a witch and of cooking and eating the Baron's son. The old lady was turned out of her house and left to die in the winter. Tiffany knew the old lady was innocent because she only had a small oven (so couldn't possibly cook a person in it) and unexpectedly decided to become a witch to prevent this sort of thing happening again.

Being the youngest of the girls in the family Tiffany spends a lot of time looking after Wentworth, her little brother. When Wentworth is taken by an evil Queen, Tiffany decides to get him back. Armed only with her wits and the Nac Mac Feegle, Tiffany enters Fairyland on a quest to rescue her brother.

Being "a story of Discworld" Fairyland is not a very nice place. It is full of nasty creatures and is very difficult to get out of.

With this book Terry gets the opportunity to develop the background and culture of the Nac Mac Feegle (the titular Wee Free Men) to whom we were introduced in Carpe Jugulum. We discover that the Nac Mac Feegle used to live in Fairyland but were thrown out for being too rowdy and that they have a hatred of lawyers.

Tiffany is a very strong character and acts much older than her age. I imagine that Granny Weatherwax was probably like Tiffany as a child. She is sensible, intelligent and always carries a piece of string in case it may come in handy.

The Wee Free Men follows a single storyline and therefore doesn't
have the complexity of some of the Discworld novels. This makes the book much easier to read. On first reading I didn't want to put the book down.

The UK edition sports a Paul Kidby cover featuring the Nac Mac
Feegle and a small china shepherdess Tiffany won at a fete. The US edition features a highly stylised version of the Nac Mac Feegle attacking a sheep.

Each chapter in the UK book includes a small picture relevant to the chapter whilst the US version I saw didn't. I am unsure whether this will change for the final book.

I found The Wee Free Men to be highly entertaining and well worth a place on your bookshelf.

We willna' be fooled again!
You certainly will be fooled by this book. It is described as a childrens Discworld novel, and that may put some people off, but read this book and I promiase you you'll find it as rich with plot and humour, and as engaging as any of the other Discworld books. In this book we are introduced to the Nac Mac Feegle (Wee Free Men), who are very different to any kind of fairies you may have encountered before. This book will give you a whole eggs worth, and maybe even a carrots worth of education (read the book). Do you know what a susurrus is? Well know you can find out!

Seriously, this is a funny book and everyone should read it. It contains Pratchett's traditional blend of wit and humour, with an assortment of values and issues such as bravery, loyalty, and a desire to steal, fight, and steal.

So grab a packetof Jolly Sailor, pour yourself a glass of special sheep linament, and read this book! *****

Excellent Book!
Having not read a lot of Terry's work I thought I would give this book a try. I was not dissapointed it was rich with imagination, dark humour and enough of a plot to keep you going to the end. I would recommend this book to young teenagers but older people, like myself, can enjoy just as much! Very good book.