Welcome everyone to Part I of The Wee Free Men Read Along. If this is your first Terry Pratchett book, you are in for some fun. I absolutely love the Tiffany Aching books and I am so glad to be able to share them with so many folks. This week, if you did a blog post, please leave your link in the comments and I will create a running list of participating blogs as they pop up. If you just want to stop in and leave comments, that is excellent too.

Next week, we’ll be over at The Little Red Reviewer. See HERE for the schedule.

This week, Chapters 1-5 are covered and spoilers abound from here on in! Without further procrastination, here are these week’s discussion questions:

1) Since I am a nosy person, I want to know if this is your first Terry Pratchett book for you? Do you enjoy the humor and writing style so far?

As you already know, I have read this book several times, probably more than is healthy, as I named several chickens after Nac Mac Feegle curses. I really love Terry Pratchett’s mix of humor and serious one-liners. I have read other Discworld books, which are fun, but I find these to be a bit more grounded, less punny, and therefore more entertaining. I am also a big fan of snarky footnotes, which are used in this book to my amusement.

2) We’ve been introduced to Tiffany Aching’s world of shepherding and cheese making and her family. What about this quaint setting has caught your eye?

Uh… I had to look up the word ‘gazzunder’ the first time I read this book. While I was pretty sure from the context that it was a chamber pot, I still double checked. I also like that the farm cat, Ratbag, is a real cat alternating between snuggling humans and eating baby birds. Tiffany’s clothes are pass-me-downs, including her boots (which are far too big for her), and this gives me a humorous, butt-kicking boots mental image of our young heroine.

3) Ah, the Nac Mac Feegles! Can you understand their speech? Who or what do you think the kelda is?

Haha! OK, the first time I read this book, I was reading the Feegle lines out loud to work out what they were saying. Once I got their lingo down, it added yet another layer of amusement, chortling and snort laughing ensued. Since I have already read this book, I’ll have to be mum on the kelda, but I did not have a clue my first time around.

4) Do you see a future for Tiffany at a witches’ school? Or do you think Ms. Tick will take on a mentor’s role?

Ms. Tick, what will you do? Will she get help? Will they arrive in time to be assistance? Perhaps Tiffany will be stuck with the toad as her mentor for the foreseeable future. I look forward to seeing how other witches measure up to Ms. Tick – is she the best around, average, or below average? Hmmm…. Maybe Tiffany is better off with the toad…

5) Wentworth has gone missing and there is a Queen involved. What do think she wants with him? If this is a reread, then how do you like having one magical world (the Queen’s) nestled within the Discworld universe (Tiffany’s world)?

When I first read this, I really expected to simply be learning about yet another aspect of Discworld, and I was pleasantly surprised when Pratchett yanked us into a magical realm that most Discworld residents are not aware of. Even a place such as Discworld, as saturated with magic as it is, has to have its faerie tales.

I honestly forget what the Queen wants with Wentworth (tsk, tsk on me). Perhaps she simply stumbled into him and he stuck to her, being sticky by nature as he is.

Other tidbits:

I love that there is cheese and butter making. I assume they have a milk cow for the butter as it is very difficult to get butter from sheep or goat milk because the milk is naturally homogenized, which means the fat does not separate out – and that is what you need to make butter.

I forget why Tiffany takes the book on sheep ailments. I totally understand the frying pan.

Crivens!

Don’t forget to add your link in the comments! I so look forward to seeing everyone’s thoughts.

Over The Effing Rainbow

Tethyan Books

The Little Red Reviewer

Lynn’s Book Blog

Coffee, Cookies, & Chili Peppers

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