2023 book club⤴

The Wee Free Men

Up on the chalk downs they call The Wold, witches are banned – ever since the Baron’s son vanished in the woods. Anyway, as all witches know, chalk’s no good for magic.

Nine-year-old Tiffany Aching thinks her Granny Aching – a wise shepherd – might have been a witch, but now Granny Aching is dead and it’s up to Tiffany to work it all out when strange things begin happening: a fairy-tale monster in the stream, a headless horseman and, strangest of all, the tiny blue men in kilts, the Wee Free Men, who have come looking for the new ‘hag’. These are the Nac Mac Feegles, the pictsies, who like nothing better than thievin’, fightin’ and drinkin’.

Then Tiffany’s young brother goes missing and Tiffany and the Wee Free Men must join forces to save him from the Queen of the Fairies.

Witches Abroad

What could be easier than preventing a servant girl from marrying a prince, especially for three clever witches? But Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick face more than they bargained for when they journey to the distant city of Genua.

For one thing, their power is limited to Mrs. Gogol’s weak voodoo spells, a one-eyed cat and a secondhand magic wand that works only on pumpkins.

Furthermore, the Godmother has made Destiny an offer it can’t refuse. Does a servant girls have to marry the prince? Is that what life’s all about?

Going Postal

uddenly, condemned arch-swindler Moist von Lipwig found himself with a noose around his neck and dropping through a trapdoor into…a government job?

By all rights, Moist should be meeting his maker rather than being offered a position as postmaster by Lord Vetinari, supreme ruler of Ankh-Morpork. Getting the moribund Postal Service up and running again, however, may prove an impossible task, what with literally mountains of decades-old undelivered mail clogging every nook and cranny of the broken-down post office.

Worse still, Moist could swear the mail is talking to him. Worst of all, it means taking on the gargantuan, greedy Grand Trunk clacks communication monopoly and its bloodthirsty, piratical headman.

But if the bold and un-doable are what’s called for, Moist’s the man for the job, to move the mail, continue breathing, get the girl and specially deliver that invaluable commodity that every being, human or otherwise, requires: hope.

Feet of Clay

Who’s murdering harmless old men? Who’s poisoning the Patrician? As autumn fogs hold Ankh-Morpork in their grip, the City Watch has to track down a murderer who can’t be seen.

Maybe the golems know something – but the solemn men of clay, who work all day and night and are never any trouble to anyone, have started to commit suicide….

It’s not as if the Watch hasn’t got problems of its own. There’s a werewolf suffering from Pre-Lunar Tension, Corporal Nobbs is hob-nobbing with the nobs and there’s something really strange about the new dwarf recruit, especially his earrings and eye shadow.

Who can you trust when there are mobs on the street and plotters in the night and all the clues point the wrong way? In the gloom of the night, Watch Commander Sir Samuel Vimes finds that the truth may not be out there after all….

Hogfather

was the night before Hogswatch and all through the house…something was missing.

The stockings are hanging ready, the sherry and pies are waiting by the fireplace – but where is the jolly fat man with his sack? It’s not right to find Death creeping down chimneys and trying to say ‘Ho ho ho’ – but someone’s got to bring the little kiddies their presents. Or else they might stop believing. Belief is important in Discworld, particularly on the last night of the year when the time is turning. If the real man in the red suit isn’t found by morning, there won’t be a morning. Ever again….

Eric

Eric is the Discworld’s only demonology hacker. The trouble is, he’s not very good at it. All he wants is the usual three wishes: to be immortal, rule the world and have the most beautiful woman fall madly in love with him. The usual stuff.

But what he gets is Rincewind, the Disc’s most incompetent wizard, and Rincewind’s Luggage (the world’s most dangerous travel accessory) into the bargain.

Terry Pratchett’s hilarious take on the Faust legend stars many of the Discworld’s most popular characters in an outrageous adventure that will leave Eric wishing once more – this time, quite fervently, that he’d never been born.

The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, & I Shall Wear Midnight

Tiffany begins her witching career at nine, upon being scouted out by the "witch finder" Miss Tick, after things from Fairyland begin making an entrance. She later leads the Feegles on a journey into Fairyland to rescue her brother Wentworth and the Baron's son Roland from the Queen of the Elves.

Two years later, Tiffany travels up to Lancre to be formally apprenticed to a witch, Miss Level. She is infested with a "hiver," (a gestalt entity of minds from the dawn of time) which uses her power to harm and cause chaos, using Tiffany's suppressed thoughts and desires as a basis, and must fight to overcome it and reclaim her self.

At the age of thirteen, while studying under Miss Treason, Tiffany accidentally attracts the romantic interests of the Wintersmith after unwittingly playing the role of the Summer Lady at the Autumn Morris Dance (the so-called Dark Morris). This made a lot of people very cold and been widely regarded as a bad move.

Later, while working as the Chalk's only witch, the local Baron (for whom she had been caring) dies of poor health, and she is accused of murder. Meanwhile, suspicion of witches is on the rise, and the evil Cunning Man has returned. And for some reason, this mess is Tiffany's to solve.

Oh, and there are Nac Mac Feegles involved in all of this, but best not call attention to them unless you're looking for trouble.