| Terry Pratchett The Discworld series 30th novel – 1st Tiffany Aching story |
|
|---|---|
| Outline | |
| Characters | Tiffany Aching, Nac Mac Feegle, Granny Aching, Miss Tick |
| Locations | The Chalk, Fairyland |
| Motifs | Fantasy clichés |
| Publication details | |
| Date of release | 2003 |
| Original publisher | Doubleday |
| Hardback ISBN | ISBN 0-385-60533-1 |
| Paperback ISBN | ISBN 0-552-54905-3 |
| Other details | |
| Awards | WH Smith Teen Choice Award 2003 American Library Association's Best Book For Young Adults 2004 Parenting Book of the Year Award 2003 Center for Children's Books' Blue Ribbon Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book 2004 [1] |
The Wee Free Men, first published in 2003, is the second Story of The Discworld book for younger readers. A sequel, A Hat Full of Sky, appeared in 2004 (both books were republished in a combined edition, The Wee Free Men: The Beginning, in August 2010), a third book, Wintersmith appeared in 2006, and the fourth, I Shall Wear Midnight, was released in September 2010.
While Terry Pratchett's first Discworld book for children, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents had swearing translated to rat language, in this book it is in the dialect of the Nac Mac Feegle which is taken from Scots and Scottish Gaelic.
An illustrated edition of the novel, with pictures by Stephen Player, appeared in print on 2 October 2008.
Contents |
An experienced witch named Miss Tick and her toad arrive on the chalk. She feels that something is not right, so she decides to find out what's going on. Her intuition is right. The Queen of the Elves has made another attempt at invading the Discworld, this time by stealing children and infesting dreams.
With the help of the Wee Free Men, the Nac Mac Feegle, nine-year-old Tiffany Aching finds out that her grandmother used to be the witch of the Chalklands, and that she has inherited the trade. When her baby brother is stolen, Tiffany and the Nac Mac Feegle enter the elves' world to steal him back.
The novel contains a scene inspired by the painting The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke.
In January 2006, reports emerged that director Sam Raimi[2] had signed up to make a movie based on this novel with a script by Pamela Pettler, the writer of Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. Sony Pictures Entertainment had recently acquired the rights to the book. The producers are Josh Donen, Vince Gerardis, and Ralph Vicinanza. No other details have been released about the film adaptation.[3]
In a June 2008 interview, Pratchett said: "I saw a script that I frankly thought was awful. It seemed to be Wee Free Men in name only. It had all the hallmarks of something that had been good, and then the studio had got involved. It probably won't get made."[4]
| Reading order guide | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Night Watch |
30th Discworld Novel | Succeeded by Monstrous Regiment |
| Preceded by None |
1st Tiffany Aching Story Published in 2003 |
Succeeded by A Hat Full of Sky |