A Hat Full of Sky

Author: Terry Pratchett
Genre: fiction, fantasy
Publication info: HarperCollins, 2004
Pages: 278

Eat your heart out, J. K. Rowling. This is fantasy I can really enjoy. I'm not saying this book is perfect—there are a few aspects I really don't like—but, unlike my experience with the Harry Potter books, I was not utterly relieved when it was over. Terry Pratchett is a talented and enjoyable writer, plain and simple.

I read this book on recommendation from my mom, whose opinion I usually trust. The novel is actually the second in a series, sequel to The Wee Free Men, which I'd never read nor heard of before this. That may be part of the reason behind what I didn't like about the book. Pratchett makes many jumps in logic and imagination and seems to expect the reader to fill in the gaps. I was unable to do so a lot of the time, and I think the reason is that I haven't read the first book. I hope that's the reason.

A Hat Full of Sky continues the story of a young witch named Tiffany Aching, who is going to be an apprentice to a witch named Miss Level. (Forget all you've learned about witches from Harry Potter.) Tiffany has already shown a lot of promise as a witch—so much, in fact, that she has caught the attention of a formless, dangerous being called a hiver. And when the hiver strikes, there is little Tiffany can do to save herself.

To her aid come the Nac Mac Feegle, or the Wee Free Men who appear to be the subject of the previous book. They are the best part of the story. Six-inch-tall, blue-skinned fairies who love to drink and fight, who speak in thick Scottish accents and have names like Daft Wullie and Awf'ly Wee Billy Bigchin—you can't get much better than that. Although their part in the book is big, I wish it could have been bigger. They don't figure in so much at the end, but their hijinks in the rest of the story had me laughing out loud quite often.

The only other thing I didn't like about the novel is that at times, especially at the end, it tries too hard to be deeply philosophical. The thoughts about life and death and fear and all that are interesting, but I'm more interested in the story itself. But the philosophy doesn't take up too much of the story, so I don't mind it all that much.

After reading this, I'm excited to read The Wee Free Men one of these days. Maybe I'm just bitter with Rowling, but given a choice between the two of them, I'd go with Pratchett any day.