I Shall Wear Midnight

By: Terry Pratchett

Narrated by: Stephen Briggs

Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

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

The Pratchett of Pratchetts!

This book is wonderful in every Pratchett way. And, of course, Stephen Briggs' narration is spot-on. If you enjoy Terry Pratchett, you will love I Shall Wear Midnight.

Beautiful Continuation of Tiffany's Tale

Not only is this a genuinely engaging and fun story, but it is an important exploration of the nature of empathy and goodness, the nature of thought, and the roots of evil. I would recommend it for any young person on the cusp of discovering who they are. It's not all easy subject matter (infanticide, domestic violence, death) but Life isn't all easy subject matters and Pratchett does an admirable job of holding the gravity of these events and uses the carefully and not sensationalistically. We could all stand to tune into our First Sight and Second Thoughts.

Memorable and in memory

"Listen" was the best last word. We love you Terry Pratchett, you will be missed and your stories remembered.

My favorite!

This is my favorite so far among the first 4 Tiffany Aching books. Absolutely ove the story and reading!

Tiffany comes back for some more fun

What did you love best about I Shall Wear Midnight?

Having listened to the first three Tiffany Aching stories, I really enjoyed seeing her growing up and becoming - if not an adult, something close to one. The portrait of her dealing with her responsibilities as the Witch of the Chalk was really charming.

If you’ve listened to books by Terry Pratchett before, how does this one compare?

Terry Pratchett's books range from OK to brilliant. The first Tiffany Aching story (The Wee Free Men) is absolutely brilliant. This one is good, but just can't quite reach those heights. It's got all the things that make a Pratchett story good: solid social commentary wrapped in a humorous story, laugh-out-loud fun, characters who seem to step out of the page, and characters who are charmingly larger than life. And while it was a quite enjoyable listen, it didn't quite pull off the magic (no pun intended) brilliance that his best stories can achieve.

Have you listened to any of Stephen Briggs’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

A good reader has different voices for different characters, and tones of voice which express the emotions of the story. But Stephen Briggs is beyond a good reader, he's spectacular. He's right up there with Jim Dale in my pantheon of brilliant readers. When Mr. Briggs is reading, the entire world around me becomes the story - so real I think I can reach out and touch it.

If you could take any character from I Shall Wear Midnight out to dinner, who would it be and why?

This story is full of fun characters, so it depends on what kind of dinner I was going to. If it was a dinner party, with plenty of people and lots of fun, I'd definitely take Nanny Ogg. She's a minor character in this story, but her zest for life would turn any gathering into a party.
And if it was a small group, I'd take Preston the guard out to dinner. I love the way he thinks about the sounds and feel of words.

Any additional comments?

The late Terry Pratchett...I'll miss him.

book full of the excitement and mastery.

this is a great book. I have read many books from Terry Pratchett this is like the rest of his books they are full of excitement, intrigued and mastery.

this book puts to rest some questions but asks many more.

Superb finish to the sub-series of Tiffin Aching.

Saddened that there will be no more additions to this wonderful story. Rip Terry Pratchett

There is no bad Discworld novel but

There is a feeling running through this story of tiding up loose ends that constantly reminds you that this series as well as others by Terry Pratchett are coming to an end. It is fully understandable under the circumstances but it does add a thread of sadness to an otherwise delightful book. If you are considering this as your first Discworld novel I would suggest you at least read/listen to the other witch novels of the series (Equal Rites is first book) first to get the many references to past events / inside jokes. Though I would highly recommend starting with the first book (The Colour of Magic) and if you like it then glide your way through all 38 books of this series.

I am going to miss Terry Pratchett

I so love The Discworld, and even more so the witches that truly rule it. When though this book is aimed at young adults, there is nothing juvenile in the writing.

Magical (witch magic, not wizard's)

Tiffany Aching kissed the winter and now it's time for trial by fire! I loved every minute of it, a must read for any discworld fan.