There are just some things that make me laugh. Penguins, for one. Alec Baldwin, for another. You have them too, I imagine, things or people or characters which just make you crack up, no matter what they do. Chief among my list is Terry Pratchett's Nac Mac Feegle, the Wee Free Men. Of all the madcap characters in Discworld, these blue-skinned, red-haired riffs on Mel Gibson's Braveheart make me giggle indecorously. I mean, how can you not love a whole species of six-inch pseudo-Scots, who's guiding principle in life is this: "A Feegle liked to face enormous odds all by himself, because it meant you didn't have to look where you were hitting" (p. 77).

Even though it is geared for younger readers, this books is still classic Pratchett. He uses precise prose to weave together high fantasy with a contemporary sense of humor, making the two disparate elements seem as natural as breathing. This is the second adventure of Tiffany Aching and the Wee Free Men. Whereas the first book was more concerned with Tiffany's inward strength, this story sends the very clear message that those who can help others have an obligation to get on with it, regardless of how the helper is treated. Much to my surprise, the novel was tuned to one of the deepest notes of my faith.

This belief about the nature of service is the essential lesson that eleven-year-old Tiffany must learn in her training as a witch. She thinks she's off to discover secret spells and potions, magic in the traditional sense. Instead, she is almost immediately immersed in taking care of village simpletons and their mundane problems. She cleans houses, sits and listens to old people ramble on, and helps feed babies, all for very little reward. Miss Level, Tiffany's first teacher puts it like this: "You can't not help people just because they're stupid or forgetful or unpleasant. Everyone's poor around here. If I don't help them, who will?" (p. 81).

That last line is essentially Miss Level's modus operandi, and it earns high praise from the greatest witch in Discworld, Granny Weatherwax: "[Miss Level] cares about [people]. Even the stupid, mean, drooling ones, the mothers with the runny babies and no sense, the feckless and the silly and the fools who treat her like some kind of servant. Now that's what I call magic--seein' all that, dealin' with all that, and still goin' on" (p. 196). In the pantheon of Discworld characters, Granny Weatherwax is a heavy hitter. She's been around nearly since the series started, and her presence in a story moves things. She doesn't do cameos (she would see it as a waste of time), thus her words always carry weight, both in the created world and on a broader philosophical level. So, for her to call unselfish service "the soul and center" of witchcraft is a big deal. Essentially, Pratchett, through Granny, is placing an ideological flag in the ground and saying pay attention; this is important.

I find this so darn interesting because, so far as I know, Terry Pratchett is not a Christian. In his public life, he has advocated for things which I find objectionable, assisted suicide among them. And yet, in this book, he is drawing a firm line under one of the cornerstones of the Way. In one of the most poignant scenes in the New Testament, Jesus washes his disciple's feet (John 13). Afterwards, he says "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you" (John 13:15). When He called them, he said "follow me." Now, just before he leaves them, he says "like this." Jesus is acting out the point he made in Mark 10: "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as ransom for many." Granny Weatherwax's "soul and center" speech I quoted part of above echoes this so much it might as well have used the same tuning fork. You want to be a great witch in Discworld? You serve. You want to be a great Christian? You serve. In both the created world and the real world there is a class of people set apart from the rest of the world. And what defines them? The symbols, the trappings associated with them? No. It's service. Unselfish, unheralded service.

This book is great fun to read. The writing is exemplary; the characters are memorable and entertaining; there is plenty of action and comedy. What elevates it to a different place, however, what makes me want to put it in the hands of kids, is a belief you just don't run across much anymore:

"You couldn't say: It's not my fault. You couldn't say: It's not my responsibility.
You could say: I will deal with this.
You didn't have to want to. But you had to do it.
Tiffany took a deep breath and stepped into the dark cottage." (p. 204).

This isn't the scene where Tiffany faces down the immortal creature which has been trying to possess and destroy her. That comes later. Here, she is going to see an old, lonely man so she can own up to a mistake. In many ways, it is the most important scene in the book. ( )

The second Tiffany Aching subseries of the Discworld novels.

Young Tiffany is off to learn witchcraft with Miss Level. It's not glamorous or full of sparkles and spells. The apprentice witches aren't exactly welcoming. And then the hiver comes...

Tiffany fights with all she has, and she has the help of the Nac Mac Feegle, Miss Level, and Granny Weatherwax. Can she overcome the hiver's occupation?

I really like Tiffany and the wee free men. I like the lessons that witchcraft isn't all about magic. I'm out of touch enough with children that I have no idea if the way Tiffany acts is age realistic or not, but I love her story all the same. ( )

In the second Discworld novel about Tiffany Aching, the now 11-year-old witch leaves home to apprentice to an eccentric witch named Miss Level. Apart from being frustrated with having to do more chores than learning spells, Tiffany has to deal with an entity known as a hiver. The hiver occupies peoples' minds and causes trouble up to and including death.

Meanwhile, the Wee Free Men under the leadership of Rob Anybody go on a quest to aid Tiffany. Eventually the conflict with the hiver leads Tiffany to have to go on a journey of her own, accompanied by the powerful witch Granny Weatherwax. What I love about this book is that when Tiffany finally confronts the hiver, she does so with compassion. Even Granny Weatherwax is impressed.

It's another funny and imaginative work from the pen of Pratchett ( )

I sort of struggled with the first Tiffany Aching book, but I blame that on the fairies. I don't know what it is about fairies, but they kill my interest in anything stone dead. Therefore, I was open to enjoying the later ones more—and thankfully I did.

A Hat Full of Sky sees Tiffany begin her education as a witch, taken on as an apprentice and leaving home for the first time. It begins to delve into what it actually means to do witchcraft, as Tiffany comes into conflict with other apprentice witches who are more into it for the glamour than for helping other people. There's a lot of good comedy with the Feegles, the little blue men who in this one travel across country to warn Tiffany about impending danger by working as a group to operate a suit of clothes. Good jokes, good themes; I did feel (as I often do with Pratchett) that the end was a bit of a fizzle, in this case a bit drawn out, but otherwise this has a lot to recommend it.

I think what distinguishes the later Tiffany books from The Wee Free Men is that Pratchett figured out what he wanted to say through Tiffany by the time he wrote Hat Full of Sky, about what it means to be a witch: to do the hard work that needs doing because it helps others, and for no other reason.

http://bactra.org/weblog/algae-2006-10.html#hat ( )