Wintersmith

By: Terry Pratchett

Narrated by: Stephen Briggs

Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

At nine, Tiffany Aching defeated the cruel Queen of Fairyland. At 11, she banished an ancient body-stealing evil. At 13, Tiffany faces a new challenge: a boy. And boys can be a bit of a problem when you're 13.

But the Wintersmith isn't exactly a boy. He is winter itself: snow, gales, icicles, all of it. When he has a crush on Tiffany, he may make her roses of ice, but his nature is blizzards and avalanches. And he wants Tiffany to stay in his gleaming, frozen world. Forever.

Tiffany will need all her cunning to make it to spring. She'll also need her friends, from junior witches to the legendary Granny Weatherwax. Tiffany will need the Wee Free Men, too! She'll have the help of the bravest, toughest, smelliest pixies ever to be banished from Fairyland - whether she wants it or not. It's going to be a cold, cold season, because if Tiffany doesn't survive until spring...spring won't come.

Share the fantasy: listen to more of Tiffany's adventures in The Wee Free Men (Unabridged) and A Hat Full of Sky (Unabridged).

©2006 Terry and Lyn Pratchett (P)2006 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Yet another rollicking, clever, and quite charming adventure." (Booklist)
"Replete with dry and intelligent humor, this latest in the series is sure to delight" (School Library Journal)

Tiffany is growing up

This third instalment of the Tiffany Aching arc is all we've come to expect from her. Really, I wondered in the first how she'd do one better on herself after all that, and the same again in the second. After this, I know we'll see something great yet again for the 4th and 5th books, and I can hardly wait.

I've wondered about Pratchett would manage Tiffany when confronted with the romance, but I wasn't overly worried. I wish more teen-targeting fictions handled things as realistically and generously.

Not as good as the previous stories in the series

Would you listen to Wintersmith: Discworld Childrens, Book 4 again? Why?

Probably not .. getting too much in the realm of "gods" ...

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

Not as good as the first two.

Any additional comments?

Crivens, I still love the Nac Mac Feegles! And the reading is still outstanding. Love the narrator's voice.

its always going to be a good story.

like all of Terry's work this book has an extraordinary ability to transfer the reader into another universe full of Magick and intrigued. The entire series is a wonderful escape and a delight to read.

Briggs is marvelous

First, Briggs is best listened to at .9 speed. His performance here is virtuoso, especially his rendition of the Nac mac Feagels rendition of Row, Row, Row Your Boat. Delightful, funny.

Magical, as all Tiffany Aching’s books are!

This book is just as enjoyable as the earlier two books in the Tiffany Aching series by Terry Pratchett. Stephen Briggs is an outrageously talented narrator, he makes the characters come alive and is a genius with expressing characters personalities through voices and accents, the wee free men my absolute favorites. I’ve already purchased the last two books in the series and, while I can’t wait to start them, I’m already dreading finishing the series. Terry Pratchett is now one of my all time favorite authors - Good Omens is one of my all-time favorite Audible entries, now I know where much of the rampant humor came from. Highly endorse the entire series, you won’t be disappointed!

Music is too loud

Should be pulled out since it doesn’t match the volume of the rest of the book.

Spectacular!

A clever and charming story full of delightful humor. The narrator is absolutely top notch! The story comes alive spectacularly! I adore the performance of the Nac Mac Feegles! I was literally laughing out loud. I'll be re-listening many times.

What's with the annoying musical interludes?

This book is great. It might be my favorite of the Nac Mac Feegle Discworld books. I'm really enjoying reading about Tiffany Aching's journey through adolescence with the (sometimes unfortunate) companionship of the Wee Free Men. Stephen Briggs's reading is fantastic as always. He is excellent at differentiating character voices without making them too ridiculous. He is always able to pace his reading style to match the urgency of the story. This SHOULD be a 5-star review.

Except for the twinkly, horrible music that pops up periodically. It doesn't fit with the tone of the book. It really takes me out of the story whenever it comes on. It doesn't even seem to fall at appropriate intervals, like chapter breaks. It just comes in, seemingly at random. I wish I could easily advance through it, but unfortunately, it often seems to overlap the storytelling. I want it to be gone so that I could fully enjoy this audiobook.

I can't get enough!

I began the Disc World series with 'I Shall Wear Midnight', which follows the adventures a young witch or "hag" named Tiffany Aching. Since, I have been completing other Disc World novels with the same character and I just can't get enough. Terry Pratchett's stories are not only hilarious but also parrallel real life conflicts we may have encountered with society or even conflicts we may have struggled with ourselves. So in a humorous way, there is always something to learn. Listening to Pratchett's audio books was incredibly easy and was so entertaining that I preferred to listen to his novels rather than watch television. The narrarator is so incredibly talented that I could even call him " a one man show". I felt completely immersed in the novel as another character through the narrator's spectacular acting. These are amazing stories from an amazing author with an amazing narrator. Terry Pratchett, although recently departed from this world, has left behind a legacy that will forever stay in our hearts and minds.

Great read!

The story is a typical Terry Pratchett; funny, fantastic, sarcastic, and witty. The narrator did a great job overall, but spoke way too fast. I had to slow it down to 90% to get it to a normal sounding speed.