The Wee Free Men
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| Terry Pratchett The Discworld series 30th novel – 1st Tiffany Aching story  |
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| Outline | |
| Characters: | Tiffany Aching, Nac Mac Feegle, Granny Weatherwax |
| Locations: | The Chalk, Fairyland |
| Motifs: | Fantasy clichés |
| Publication details | |
| Year of release: | 2003 |
| Original publisher: | Doubleday |
| Hardback ISBN: | ISBN 0-385-60736-9 |
| Paperback ISBN: | ISBN 0-552-54905-3 |
| Other details | |
| Awards: | WH Smith Teen Choice Award 2003 American Library Association's Best Book For Young Adults 2003 Parenting Book of the Year Award 2003 Center for Children's Books' Blue Ribbon |
- For The Wee Free, see the Free Church of Scotland.
The Wee Free Men, first published in 2003, is the second Story of The Discworld book for younger readers. Although primarily written for children this book enjoys a large adult readership. For a period before its release it was known as For Fear Of Little Men. A sequel, A Hat Full of Sky, was published in 2004, and a third book, Wintersmith was published in 2006.
While Terry Pratchett's first Discworld book for children, The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents had swearing translated to rat language, in this book it is in the dialect of the Nac Mac Feegle which is taken from Scots and Scottish Gaelic.
The novel contains a scene inspired by the painting called "The Fairy Feller's Master-Stroke", by Richard Dadd.
An illustrated edition of the novel, with pictures by Stephen Player, was initially scheduled for November 1, 2007, but wasn't published until October 2, 2008.
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
A young witch named Miss Tick and her toad arrive on the chalk. She feels that something is not right, not that there is another witch there, which is impossible (chalk supposedly is among the softest of stones, and witches need hard rock to grow on). So she decides to find out what's going on.
She is right. The Queen of the Elves has another attempt at invading the Discworld, by stealing children and infesting dreams.
With the help of the Wee Free Men, the Nac Mac Feegle, 9-year-old Tiffany Aching finds out that her grandmother used to be the witch of the Chalklands, and that she has inherited the trade. When her baby brother is stolen, Tiffany and the Nac Mac Feegle enter the elves' world to steal him back.
[edit] Film
In January 2006, it was revealed that director Sam Raimi [1] had signed up to make a movie based on this novel, from a script by Pamela Pettler, the writer of Tim Burton's Corpse Bride. Sony Pictures Entertainment had recently acquired the rights to the book. The producers are Josh Donen, Vince Gerardis, and Ralph Vicinanza. No other details have been released about the film adaptation. [2]
In a June 2008 interview, Pratchett said "I saw a script that I frankly thought was awful. It seemed to be Wee Free Men in name only. It had all the hallmarks of something that had been good, and then the studio had got involved. It probably won't get made." [3]
[edit] References
- ^ "Raimi's a Free Man, Spidey helmer signs for new flick". IGN. 10 January 2006. http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/680/680582p1.html.
- ^ "Sam Raimi set to direct The Wee Free Men". 10 January 2006. http://www.paulkidby.com/news/jan2006.html.
- ^ "Tough at the Top", SFX SF and Fantasy Literature Special, June 2008, Future Publishing
[edit] External links
| Reading order guide | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Night Watch |
30th Discworld Novel | Succeeded by Monstrous Regiment |
| Preceded by None |
1st Tiffany Aching Story Published in 2003 |
Succeeded by A Hat Full of Sky |
