The late Sir Terry Pratchett wrote an amazing number of humorous fantasies and also collaborated with Neil Gaiman on Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter. He left a rich legacy.

All of Pratchett’s books are funny. And his characters became increasingly engaging during the course of his career. Some of my favorite books set in Discworld are the ones featuring Sam Vimes, Fred Colon, and Nobby Nobbs of the City Watch (Guards! Guards! Men at Arms, Feet of Clay, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, Thud, and Snuff). The other members of the Watch include a very tall dwarf adoptee, a werewolf, a closeted vampire, a troll, a female dwarf forensic alchemist, a zombie, and a golem, who in a strange way are more sympathetic than many of the humans in early Discworld stories.

The witch series is also great (Equal Rites, Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Maskerade, and Carpe Jugulum), featuring Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Magrat Garlick, and Agnes Nitt. Pratchett dedicated his last book, The Shepherd’s Crown, to Granny Weatherwax (see below), well known for her note pinned to her chest when she has temporarily left her body: “I aten’t ded.”

One of the fun things about reading Discworld books is growing familiarity with its conventions. When I first started reading Pratchett I was surprised when an unidentified character spoke in “ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.” Now, of course, I immediately recognize Death, who is featured in Mort, Reaper Man, Soul Music, Hog Father (and, naturally enough, makes an appearance in almost all the Discworld books).

My favorite Discworld series features Tiffany Aching, a young witch in training who is aided by the Nac Mac Feegles or Wee Free Men, for whom the first book of the series is named: rowdy pictsie troublemakeers with a tendency to try to steal everything. Tiffany is an engaging, brave, and resourceful girl, who “read the dictionary all the way through. No one had told her you weren’t supposed to.” She begins discovering her witchly powers at the age of nine in The Wee Free Men, serves her apprenticeship in A Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith, and is a full-fledged witch in her teens in I Shall Wear Midnight and Pratchett’s posthumously published final book in the series, The Shepherd’s Crown.

 For the sheer number of witty, laugh-producing lines The Wee Free Men stands out: “Witches don’t like to be seen running. It looks unprofessional.” The book includes many little-known facts about witches, such as that they dry from the inside out. The pedantic Miss Tick, who discovers Tiffany’s talents, does have a pointy hat, “but it was a stealth hat and pointed only when she wanted it to.” Tiffany encounters Miss Tick at a fair where people teach varied skills, including a booth for Punctuation: “See the ampersand! (small extra charge).” And Tiffany has not only First Sight but Second Thoughts. Pratchett has made me laugh out loud when reading more often than any other fantasy writer.

While all the Tiffany Aching books have hilarious moments, they are a good deal deeper than his earliest works such as the Rincewind books centered in Unseen University. Pratchett grew up hearing folk stories and beliefs from people in his village, which play a central role in this series. Tiffany’s adversaries are reminiscent of folk characters: the Queen of the Fairies (whose name is dangerous because saying it will evoke her) in the first and last books, the hiver, who possesses the bodies of others, and the Cunning Man, who kills his hosts when he takes over their bodies.

Memories of Granny Aching (Tiffany’s grandmother), who is dead before these stories begin, play an increasingly important role. She was a pragmatic expert on sheep but at the same time a source of magic with close ties to the land, called the Chalk. Like her grandmother, Tiffany never forgets the land and people she comes from. In each book of the series we learn more about Granny Aching, who becomes very real, with touching details (despite her gruff personality) such as the tuft of raw wool attached to the bodies of shepherds to identify them in the afterlife.

The series features an amazingly diverse and individualized set of witches. The persnickety but plucky Miss Tick seeks out potential witches, aided by her toad companion (who can’t remember if he was enchanted or was always a toad). Granny Weatherwax of earlier Discworld novels (Mistress Esmeralda Weatherwax in these books, crotchety even in her younger days) and Nanny Ogg also play important roles. Tiffany’s mentor in the second book is Miss Level, a kind-hearted witch who helps all the needy people in the community and, incidentally, has two bodies. Tiffany’s mentor Miss Treason, perhaps my favorite, is the epitome of success in living up to people’s stereotypes of scary witches thanks to purchases from Boffo’s Joke Emporium. And they are accompanied by the stuck-up Anagramma, Mrs. Proust (the proprietor of the Joke Emporium), and others. Some members of the City Watch make cameo appearances in the fourth book.

Even though The Shepherd’s Crown contains great humor like all Pratchett’s works, it is painful to read because it is his last book. The dedication to “Esmeralda Weatherwax—mind how you go” evokes tears. He is saying good-bye not only to his readers but to his characters . As the series progressed, the books became more meaningful and somewhat darker (especially the fourth book), with deep resonances. But Pratchett remained a master of comedy to the end.

As Death said to Granny Weatherwax: “I CAN SEE THE BALANCE AND YOU HAVE LEFT THE WORLD MUCH BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT, AND IF YOU ASK ME, NOBODY COULD DO ANY BETTER THAN THAT.”

http://www.terrypratchett.co.uk/ (official website)
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/terry_pratchett_2.html
http://www.lspace.org/about-terry/biography.html

Tiffany Aching Series

Some Pratchett websites:

A few Pratchett quotes:

“Pets are always a help in times of stress. And in times of starvation, too, of course.”

“There are times in life when people must know when not to let go. Balloons are designed to teach small children this.”

“So much universe, and so little time.”

Terry Pratchett: Master of Comic Fantasy