Today’s female character was created by a man, Terry Pratchett. But Terry Pratchett wrote wonderful women, from witches Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, to Susan Sto Helit, Death’s granddaughter, from Angua the werewolf police officer to the evil Queen of the elves.
Tiffany Aching is the heroine of a number of children’s novels which show her growing up and training as a witch. The first novel is The Wee Free Men. She is discovered by Miss Tick, who travels around looking for girls who have a talent for witchcraft.
Tiffany lives in the Chalk country, on a sheep property. Her family have been shepherds for generations, like her grandmother, who was much admired, though she has passed away before the novel begins. Tiffany suspects that she was a witch herself.
The Chalk is based on the area of England that is made up of chalk and has the White Horse of Uffington(which appears in these novels). When Miss Tick first finds Tiffany she is surprised because chalk country is considered too soft for witches, but Tiffany feels a connection with the land.
The wee free men of the title, the Nac Mac Feegle, are small beings who love fighting and booze. They were kicked out of Faerie for being drunk. They think they are dead, living in a fabulous afterlife because how else to explain so many things to fight, and so much great booze to drink?
They help Tiffany when her little brother, Wentworth, is kidnapped by the Queen of the fairies(who are not remotely nice). They are all men except their Kelda, who is mother of them all. Tiffany becomes Kelda for a time, for convenience. Once they get one who is small enough to actually do the job, they still revere Tiffany and continue to help her throughout the series.
After the first book, she travels to Lancre(the home of Granny and Nanny) to start her training.
In Wintersmith, she unintentionally attracts the romantic attentions of the Wintersmith when she joins in with the dance called the Dark Morris, slotting herself in to a space meant for a spring goddess. He creates snowflakes with Tiffany’s face and icebergs also Tiffany-shaped.
By the second last book, I Shall Wear Midnight, the teenage Tiffany is the village’s witch, and a leader. I haven’t yet read the final book in the series, The Shepherd’s Crown, because it was Terry Pratchett’s last book and … you know. I have decided to reread all the Discworld books first.
Just a brief bit of amusement. Terry Pratchett’s fandom is huge. Once, when he was on tour, a bunch of fans turned up, danced a Dark Morris in complete silence, as in the book, and left.
All of Terry’s books are easily available. It is unlikely any of them will be out of print in the near future, so if you haven’t yet discovered Discworld, what are you waiting for?
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