In the first chapter of Wintersmith<\/i>, this was DESIGNED so that I would not be prepared. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This chapter is one huge example of that feeling you get when you know there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s more to a story, but you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not quite sure if that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the case, and maybe you just didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pay attention to one crucial detail, but then you are VERY certain that this all new information and THIS IS THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THIS BOOK.<\/p>\n

Hello, Discworld<\/i> friends! Today, I start book #35 in this series, bringing me ever close to the end. (Which is still some ways away, but Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. Thirty-five of these? Remember when I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t read a series if it had like more than four books in it? L M A O. ) I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m so, so<\/i> happy that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m getting yet another Tiffany Aching book, as I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a huge fan of the way that Pratchett writes young adult lit. I have read a LOT of it this year\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m still counting how many books I read in 2018 that weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t for this site for a Patreon thing, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m up to somewhere between 100-120, but I read from my Kindle, PDFs, and physical copies, soooooo. Maybe I should have kept track along the way. The point I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m trying to make: sometimes, YA authors can be either condescending to kids, believing they need after-school special type lectures in order to understand the world, or they write books that feel like… well, adults writing children. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s subjective, I know that, but I respect that the Tiffany books flow so perfectly in between all the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153adult\u00e2\u20ac\u009d books. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not that<\/i> much difference in tone; just some tweaks in his writing style from a craft perspective.<\/p>\n

And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great way to talk about this introduction, because this would have enraged me as a kid in all the best ways. Even as an adult, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m FURIOUS because HOW ARE YOU GONNA OPEN YOUR BOOK WITH A HUGE SCENE LIKE THIS. Pratchett routinely teases the future or the big twist at the start; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s one of his staples in these books. But he generally does that with tiny details, with small scenes or snippets of the truth before settling into the narrative. He casually reminds you along the way about The Thing, but often\u00e2\u20ac\u201dor at least in my case\u00e2\u20ac\u201dit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hard to piece together everything because so many details are still missing.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This, however? IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S A WHOLE CHAPTER. A whole scene of thousands of words of Tiffany ready to face the Wintersmith because she knows it is her fault the Wintersmith has arrived at her home. And I know that means something, but WHAT THE HELL DOES IT MEAN.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let me try and make a guess.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcTis the work o\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 the Wintersmith! Noo there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a scunner that willna tak\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcno\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 fra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 an answer!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So… why is it important that the Wintersmith doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like being told no? Did this being want something or demand something? Or is this just a random thing that Rob Anybody said?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s found the big wee hag again!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Okay! Then this chapter is clearly not the first time Tiffany and the Wintersmith have met! Sooooo… what happened when they did<\/i> meet?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We canna fight the Wintersmith for her! That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s her road! We canna walk it for her!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Okay, fair. And this might be a reference to some logistical thing\u00e2\u20ac\u201dmaybe only Tiffany has the power to stop or defeat the Wintersmith?\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut Tiffany also doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like it when other people solve her problems for her. Now 13\u00e2\u20ac\u201dfour years after the events of The Wee Free Men<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u201dshe\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s got to be even more independent. And I think the text in this chapter alone<\/i> supports that! Look at the way she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s risen to be the center of this community, which is something she was worried about in the previous book. How was she supposed to fulfill this role when her Granny was so, so good at it? How do you step into shoes like that?<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153But the hag o\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 hags has set us on another path! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a dark one, and dangerous!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
A subplot! With… something! I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know! DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T LAUGH, I HAVE NOTHING TO GO ON.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
My father\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s face is gray with worry and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s begging. My father is begging me<\/i>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Pratchett makes it very clear at the start of this book that there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a new dynamic at hand. At some point, the people of the Chalk accepted Tiffany as their witch in a big way, and as far as I can remember, we haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t actually seen that on the page. Tiffany\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s father is VERY open about her being a witch, and the imbalance is unnerving to her. Isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t a child supposed to rely on their parent in a time of terror and fear? Instead, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the other way around. All<\/i> the adults are relying on Tiffany to counter the devastating effects of the Wintersmith on the lambs, who are dying due to the snow.<\/p>\n
And this is my fault. I: I started all this. I must finish it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So… not really a logistical thing? This is a pervasive motif across this chapter. Tiffany repeatedly<\/i> blames herself for what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening. Why is that? Why is she so sure that she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s at fault? WHAT HAPPENED?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
That was the magic of the pointy hat. It was what Miss Treason called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Boffo.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ooooh, a new witch??? Perhaps a new teacher for Tiffany???<\/p>\n
She held out a hand, caught a snowflake, and took a good look at it. It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t one of the normal ones, oh no. It was one of his special snowflakes. That was nasty. He was taunting her. Now she could hate him. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d never hated him before. But he was killing the lambs.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Hi, what are the special snowflakes<\/i>? What makes them \u00e2\u20ac\u0153nasty\u00e2\u20ac\u009d??? How can snowflakes taunt<\/i>???? Also, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s laugh at me using the term \u00e2\u20ac\u0153special snowflake\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in a context that isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mortifying in the way we expect?<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This I choose to do. If there is a price, this I choose to pay. If it is my death, then I choose to die. Where this takes me, there I choose to go. I choose. This I choose to do.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I feel like I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have the context to appreciate this, and yet, I STILL FULLY APPRECIATE IT. There is such a powerful intention in this, one that feels like the culmination of all the things Tiffany has learned about being a witch or has lived through. You have to mean what you say. What you believe. What you want to do! And she does so right before SHE BASICALLY BECOMES WALKING FIRE.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Wait, one other part of this before I move on:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153So that if this… doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t work, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no one fault but mine.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
TIFFANY WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS, WHY DO YOU FILL ME WITH FEELINGS.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I… haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t told your mother this yet,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said her father very slowly, as if the words required enormous care, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153but I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find your brother.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So, is this just Wentworth\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s thing? Wandering off and getting lost and kidnapped or buried in snow? Does he ever get tired of having to be saved, like, ever?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
She wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the Summer Lady…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
WHO IS THAT. The opposite of the Wintersmith, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m guessing???<\/p>\n
She should have practiced more. She should have listened to people. She should have listened to herself.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Oh no, why is she thinking this? Listened to who about WHAT? Listened to herself<\/i>? What happened?\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Frost to fire!\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Holy shit, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, this is just…. a whole lot??? This is magic done out in the open that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s undeniable magic in every traditional sense, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s such an intense scene. Like, I wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sure Tiffany was actually going to do magic in front of her father? NOPE. She turns the frost to fire with the help of a bonfire that burns up anything thrown into it in seconds. And just as soon as Wentworth is found, as soon as a ton of lambs are saved, the fire dies, and Tiffany is face-to-face with the Wintersmith.<\/p>\n
Maybe<\/i>. Because then Pratchett pulls us away at the last second, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s possible the story unfolds differently. What the HELL!!!! What is all this? Who is the Wintersmith? What happened<\/i>???<\/p>\n
https:\/\/youtu.be\/zzpq3fUxKXg<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n
– The paperback edition of my debut, ANGER IS A GIFT, is now up for pre-order!<\/a> It comes out on May 7, 2019.\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In the first chapter of Wintersmith, this was DESIGNED so that I would not be prepared. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Discworld.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[451],"tags":[463,248,556],"class_list":["post-4851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discworld","tag-mark-reads-discworld","tag-terry-pratchett","tag-wintersmith"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}