A delight

Really enjoyed this book. If you love the Discworld and all things Prachett, you will love this. I, initially, thought it might be aimed at young children but that’s not the case. There are numerous references to other Discworld stories, particularly those in which the Witches are involved which made me want to listen to them all again. I especially love the comments from Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg about the advice Tiffany is giving, very much in character and funny. The narration is perfect too. I wish the book had been longer so more in this vein, please.

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Triggered Fond memories !

It was great, I felt like I was welcoming some old friends into my home after not seeing them for ages. Triggered some truly fond memories and made me slightly emotional.

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Brilliant

This is a great story for Terry Pratchett fans young and old. Very comical through out

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Rehashes the books, but captures voices well!

This book doesn't have a plot; it's more of a companion to all of the Discworld books with the witches in, which carefully documents every detail about witchcraft that was noted in Terry's own books. It's told in sections organised by topic, and narrated by Tiffany Aching, with constant footnotes/commentary from other witches.

The main positive here is that the authors do a very good job of capturing the voices of each of the characters. This bodes well should they write further Discworld books: capturing Terry's very distinctive writing style and humour is not an easy task, and the authors deserve recognition for achieving this difficult aim!

The main negative is that this feels like a well-researched paper rather than a book. It's clear that the authors combed through the books and extracted every detail and event so that they could carefully record and categorise it under the appropriate section. The result is a work that is 90% material that you've already read before, if you've read all the witches books. Even a lot of the humour is lifted directly from the books, such as Granny Weatherwax complaining in a footnote that a woman who wears trousers has 'bifercated' legs, and many, many more examples besides. Original comments and observations are rare enough that they noticeably stand out; but when they happen, they're well constructed and in-keeping with the high quality and originality of Terry's own writing.

The result is a book that's entertaining, but not gripping, because you feel you've read it all before! It's never-the-less a fun listen to fans of Terry's books; it almost feels like a trivia quiz, trying to remember which book each fact and event was taken from!

Spoilers ahead if you haven't read The Shepherd's Crown:

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One thing that was immersion-breaking is that the book is acknowledged to have been written after the death of a particular character, yet that character also constantly adds their commentary to the book, despite being dead. It kept me reminded of the fact that this is a work of fiction designed to please a reader who might want to hear from that character, rather than allowing me to lose myself in the Discworld universe, because I was constantly aware of the impossibility of that character adding their voice to the proceedings.

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A beautiful tribute

I loved this, it was in the spirit of STP himself but with a gentle and loving memory of the characters and discords life.
I listened over and over again.
Xxxxxxxxxxxx

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A must have

Loved this it was well written and a great tribute to terry pratchett done by his daughter

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Family Tradition

This is a brilliant post Pratchett book, by another Pratchett. It is well written well read. Tiff explains, with the help of the witches, what I means to be a witch. We are all Witches. All the wisdom and wit of Pratchett of old, but new and fresh by a new Pratchett. Thank you

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Superb

Thoroughly enjoyable writing and reading. So good I went straight back to the beginning to listen again as soon as I finished it the first time.

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A Summary of all things Tiffany

After listening to this audiobook, there are two takeaways:
1. this book touches on many (most?) highlights from the Tiffany novels, reminding us of the source material and giving context to the “story”
2. whilst very well narrated, the characters’ voices just don’t ring true:
- Granny sounds a bit doddery, and nothing like the hard as iron no-nonsense head witch who stares down monsters of all varieties, and uses headology (psychology) to help or manipulate people. Also, I can’t imagine Granny’s character would “be having with” adding footnotes to Tiffany’s book
- Rob sounds like someone trying to put on a Scottish accent, but without the Feegle intensity and craziness
- Nanny sounds like someone just reciting the nudge nudge wink wink ribald lines but without her heart in it
- even Tiffany sounds too … what? ladylike?, cultured?, easygoing? emotionless? - not at all like a pragmatic farm girl who comes of age as a formidable witch on the chalk

Perhaps these character voices were toned down for a young audience? It’s impossible to know. Certainly the audiobook would have had more impact with “edge-ier” voicings. Perhaps the physical book “reads” differently as one “inserts voice here”.

Overall, I am still glad that this book exists. It is obviously a labour of love: from R.Pratchett to T.Pratchett and to the Discworld community at large.

Thank you Rhianna.

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brilliant

I'd love more from my discworld friends. it was truly brilliant, thank you xxxxxxx

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