The Wee Free Men

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The Wee Free Men, by Terry Pratchett -- audiobook read by Stephen Briggs

It's #MarchMagics Pterry Day!  The readalong was Wee Free Men, and I thought I'd try listening to the audiobook, as my mom said it was fantastic.  I don't usually like audiobooks, so this is a departure for me.  (Usually, I lack the patience to listen to a book I know I could be reading about five times faster.  Also I tend to let my mind wander and then I get lost.)

And indeed, the audio version of this book IS fantastic!  It's beautifully read, and Briggs gives everybody a wonderful variety of accents.  I recommend!

Now, in my opinion, the Tiffany Aching series is just about Pterry's apex of writing.  It would probably be hard to get any better.  The way he managed to blend humor, myth, and Big Important Stuff is simply amazing to me.  Tiffany is a fantastic character, and the Nac Mac Feegles are sheer genius.

As a result, it's hard to find much to say about The Wee Free Men besides enthusiastic words.  So I'll keep this short and participate in the discussion that should happen at Kristen's blog today.



Looking around, I saw that the Jim Henson Company announced it would be making a Wee Free Men film, which sounds like a great idea, but that was all from 2016 and there doesn't seem to have been much news since then, so I guess I won't hold my breath.


So many different covers!  Here are just a few.











Comments

  1. curlygeek04March 9, 2019 at 7:46 AM

    I love the Tiffany Aching series! This is definitely an audiobook that would need a very good reader, so I'm glad you enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. JeanMarch 9, 2019 at 10:25 AM

    Yes, he's very good indeed. Maybe I should listen to the rest of the Tiffany books? Hm.

    ReplyDelete
  3. LoryMarch 9, 2019 at 10:41 AM

    I need to give this to my son to read. I hope it might hook him on PTerry.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kristen M.March 9, 2019 at 10:58 PM

    I agree about this being his apex. I think his heart was in it perhaps more than in any other books. The emotional depth of the series as it gets to The Shepherd's Crown is wonderful and yet the books always remain funny and adventurous. I'm already a third through A Hat Full of Sky and having fun with the development of Tiffany's character even from the first book to the second. It's definitely hard to talk about this series without just gushing!

    ReplyDelete
  5. ed.pendragonMarch 10, 2019 at 4:25 AM

    I've recently finished the third of the series for the first time and can only say that Tiffany is up there with Dido Twite and Lyra Silvertongue as my all-time favourite young heroines. I thought the Wee Free Men would be irritating but they have as much heart as Miss Aching herself and compliment her perfectly.

    I agree with you, Jean, I just can't discuss any of this without gushing!

    ReplyDelete
  6. JeanMarch 10, 2019 at 1:21 PM

    Yep, gushing is impossible to avoid.

    Chris, the Feegles could SO easily have been irritating. I think in the hands of a lesser writer they would have been awful. Instead they are wonderful and some of my very favorites. I love everything about them.

    ReplyDelete

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