Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Yet another excellent Tiffany Aching book in Discworld,using as Pratchett does Tiffany and the witches as an exploration in true service and magic. This tale is a pivotal one in the Tiffany Aching saga, often referred to in later books (she’s “the girl who kissed Winter”). It has a dash of a favorite theme of mine, the importance of stories/folklore/tales/legends. But the book shines most in its interesting circumspection of the topic of what it means to be human (a question more commonly addressed in science fiction, not fantasy). Tiffany, as always, exemplifies passion and compassion, humility yet self-pride. The Mac Nac Feegles play a supporting role in this story while Tiffany deals with demi-gods and the forces of nature, all her problems coming about because of a lapse in her self-control early in the story. The conclusion is sweet and perhaps a little less profound but more epic (in a folk-tale sort of way) than others of her stories.
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