Pratchett, Terry. The Wee Free Men. Doubleday, 2003. Discworld 30.
It should not surprise us that one of the last books Terry Pratchett wrote was The Shepherd’s Crown, a bittersweet story of the young witch Tiffany Aching. Pratchett’s heroes and heroines are people who just put their heads down and get the job done. From The Wee Free Men, the first Tiffany Aching story, we know that Tiffany will not be fooled for long by fairy dreams. We should not underestimate her. As she learns from the feegles, the universe is more complicated than it looks from the outside. So is Discworld. 5 stars. ( )

paperback

Armada con tan solo una sartén y su sentido común, Tiffany Dolorido, una joven aspirante a bruja, es lo único que se interpone entre los monstruos del País de las Hadas y la cálida y verde tierra de la Caliza, su hogar. Obligada a entrar en los dominios feéricos para rescatar a su hermano secuestrado, Tiffany se une a los Nac Mac Feegle locales (también llamados pequeños hombres libres), un clan de hombrecillos azules de quince centímetros de altura que roban ovejas, blanden espadas y son tan feroces como divertidos. Juntos lucharán en un territorio espeluznante y siempre en movimiento, se enfrentarán a brutales hadas voladoras, seres tejedores de sueños y perros sombríos (unos canes negros con ojos de fuego y dientes como cuchillas), antes de llegar hasta la Reina de los Elfos, la soberana absoluta de un mundo en el que la realidad se mezcla con las pesadillas. En el momento decisivo, Tiffany tendrá que enfrentarse sola a su cruel poder...

I heard about the Discworld series for years and read that this was a good place to start. While I liked the story, I wish I'd know that this was a rather simply-written YA novel and seemingly not written for adults. It was still a good, and entertaining, story, just not with one with the level of depth and complexity I was expecting after all the build up of the series I'd heard. Hopefully the other Discworld books are more grown-up and complex. ( )

Was especially fun to read aloud ( )