I Shall Wear Midnight

By: Terry Pratchett

Narrated by: Stephen Briggs

It starts with whispers.

Then someone picks up a stone.

Finally, the fires begin.

When people turn on witches, the innocents suffer. . . .

Tiffany Aching has spent years studying with senior witches, and now she is on her own. As the witch of the Chalk, she performs the bits of witchcraft that aren't sparkly, aren't fun, don't involve any kind of wand, and that people seldom ever hear about: She does the unglamorous work of caring for the needy.

But someone - or something - is igniting fear, inculcating dark thoughts and angry murmurs against witches. Aided by her tiny blue allies, the Wee Free Men, Tiffany must find the source of this unrest and defeat the evil at its root - before it takes her life. Because if Tiffany falls, the whole Chalk falls with her.

Chilling drama combines with laugh-out-loud humor and searing insight as beloved and bestselling author Terry Pratchett tells the high-stakes story of a young witch who stands in the gap between good and evil.

©2010 Terry and Lyn Pratchett (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

Another Pratchett Gem!

In this installment of the Tiffany Aching portion of Disc World Tiffany is neck deep in hagging when trouble comes her way. Pratchett developed some of the peripheral characters while adding some interesting new ones. The NMF follow Tiffany into the city, and become a pain in the King's... Neck. You'll appreciate that more after a listen. Briggs does another fine job bringing Pratchett's characters to life. Let's hope T.P. has another novel for Tiffany to sort out some trouble... perhaps it can involve a daughter.

Tiffany Aching is Growing Up, sigh.

I really like Terry Pratchett's sense of humor and his writing is delightful - he has a wonderfully light touch, a dry wit with just the right touch of crazed hilarity, and a nicely polished syntax. I have followed the tale of Tiffany Aching, the witch of the Chalk, from the beginning (never having read one, you understand, but having listened to all the audiobooks). However, starting with great writing and a wonderfully interesting premise, what really makes this book, and what has really made the prior books, is the narration by Stephen Briggs. He is the best narrator of all time. I could listen to the 'phone book if it were narrated by Stephen Briggs, because he BECOMES the story, he doesn't just READ the story, by which I mean that I totally forget that someone is reading it to me, I just sort of live it along with the characters when he is narrating. Briggs's voice, his exquisite timing, his precise diction, and his humorous sensibility combine to make a remarkable instrument and it is a pleasure to fall into a story that he is narrating. It is really hard to quantify what makes a truly great narration, but I hate narrations where I am made aware of the narrator by "overacting", lousy accents, or weird vocal tics used to denote character. Briggs doesn't do any of that, and his characterizations are natural even when the accent is extreme ("oh, aye, Crivens!!!"), and for that, I adore him. That said, I don't think this is the best book of this series from a story perspective - topping "The Wee Free Men" might be impossible (but then, that was the first one I listened to, so it has sort of a golden glow in my memory). The plot in "I Shall Wear Midnight" was a tiny bit predictable, and for some reason seemed somewhat clunkier than the plots in the prior books, but I guess I am not as picky as some reviewers whose reviews I have read on Audible, because I liked it all the same and it was an enjoyable listen, well worth the one credit.

Oh so good!

This is one of my most favorite disc world stories. Read with a smile, some of the best Pratchett quotes about life, witches and the like:)

One of my favorite series

I have read the Tiffany Aching series before, but getting to hear it was lovely!

wonderful story, great performance

I love all the books! She is one of my favorite characters. The little folk are funny.

I Absolutely Loved It

I loved this book. I loved that Tiffany has grown so believably from the first book through the fourth. I loved that the story tackled such big issues. I loved that Tiffany visited Ahnk Morpork and fit so nicely into the larger Discworld. I loved seeing Carot and Anqua and Vimes (I always love seeing Vimes) and The Times and everything that makes the Discworld such a fully realized and amazingly created place. I loved the plot. I loved the sense of threat. I loved that you could appreciate this book even if it was your first discworld book ever, and I loved that there were so many characters and references to past discworld books that made it even better for long time fans.

And boy did I love the ending. It was beautiful. It was done so well. It actually brought a tear to my eye.

To me, each Tiffany Aching/Wee Free Men book has been better than the last, and this book is a briliant, insightful, exciting, beautiful book I'd recomend to anyone.

harry potter meets hichhickers guide to the galaxy

Terry Pratchett's style reminds one almost immediately of the late Douglas Adams. Immensely enjoyable story line with vibrant characters fun for all ages.

One of the best of this series

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed all of this latest release. There were lots of good antics and philosophies of the macFeegles and a fresh plot.

I enjoyed the insights into the everyday working life of Tiffany as she cares for her stedding. I also liked the introduction of two new characters with powers that can be part of future plots.

As always, this read does a great job.

great

this is a set of books i love to listen to over and over again.

Deliciously satisfying to your brain.

Need entertained? Something light, yet satisfying? Something that is easy to follow, pleasant to the ear, mildly funny, and mildly sarcastic? Something not stuffy, needing heavy thinking, or sickenly sweet? This is a story for you. It isn't a useless fluffy airhead story though. You don't even really notice that youre thinking about some of our character flaws, our tendancy to be lazy when it comes to considering other people's needs. The author doesn't hit you over the head with guilt or anything. It just sort of sneaks up on you. While listening yu just figure the story's sarcasm is entertainment but 2 hours or 2 days after listening, in a quiet moment, you find yourself thinking about the srory, how we humans act, and how we can be better peiple. It is the best way to get a lesson in how to be a nicer person, not all in your face like a sermon at church.