By Sir Terry Pratchett

For the longest time, this was the last Tiffany Aching book. I know there is another one that we will be discussing next week.

“Tiffany Aching is a witch alone.

Well, that’s how she feels. Everyone seems so distant. People respect her but also fear her. There are loads of secrets she can’t share.

And when the Baron dies, and Tiffany is framed for his murder, it’s clearer than ever that she is, well … not liked.

Now Tiffany must journey to Ankh-Morpork, to inform the Baron’s heir, Roland, of his father’s death.

But on the way she meets something that likes witches very much…. A bit too much- an evil ball of spite and malice that has only now woken up.

And now out to get witches everywhere…”

The spoiler-free review. I enjoyed this book. It is a very interesting read. But I should note that this book is not a children’s book; it is a straight YA book. I’m going to break my no-spoiler rule here; we don’t see it, but in the second chapter, a 13-year-old girl is beaten so badly that she loses her unborn baby. As I said, none of this is seen, but there is a reference to it. So, if that is an issue, feel free to skip the chapter.

I have three thoughts I would like to talk about.

Firstly, Eskarina Smith: this is a character that we see in the first Granny Weatherwax book, Equal Rights. I enjoyed the fact that we saw her again because she hadn’t even been mentioned before this point. Because this book was written around the time of Sir Terry Pratchett’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, I wonder if, at this point, he knew he didn’t have much time left and was taking the chance to tie up loose ends.

Secondly, the rough music. The rough music refers to the noise the mob makes on their way to enact their own form of justice. This is the second chapter, as I said before in my spoiler-free review. This is a YA instead of a children’s book, if the conversation about the green man and Tiffany being asked whether she has passion parts doesn’t spell this out. We have a man who beats his 13-year-old daughter so badly that she loses the baby. It is up to Tiffany Aching to make things right and save him from his neighbors, who want to take justice into their own hands. After all, as much as we want to beat this man until he is a red paste, that would make good people into murderers.

But that isn’t the only time that we see the rough music. In the first book with Miss Snapperly, they destroyed an old lady because they thought she was a witch and that she murdered the Baron’s son, even when anyone with two brain cells could see that doesn’t make sense.

Thirdly, the Cunning Man. It is a terrible thing how this is not only a representation of witch hunting, as the book he wrote is a Discworld version of the Hammer of the Witches. But even darker is the fact that he is the embodiment of any kind of hatred. He is sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia and any other way of thinking that blames the other for the problems. The line that “poison goes where poison’s welcome,” feels too real. As much as I wish I could kill off the cunning man, he never dies. But hopefully, he can be temporarily defeated. That being said I hope you have enjoyed this review and until next time.

Happy reading to all, and to all a good night.