I Shall Wear Midnight
ISBN 0385611072 | | |
Preceded by | Unseen Academicals | |
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Followed by | Snuff |
I Shall Wear Midnight is a
It centres on Tiffany Aching, who is now fifteen years old and getting on with the hard work of being a witch. The title is taken from a quotation in A Hat Full of Sky: "When I'm old I shall wear midnight, she'd decided. But for now she'd had enough of darkness."
In an interview at the Guardian Book Club,[2] Pratchett remarked that the book is an urban fantasy.
Plot
Tiffany is working as
In the city she meets Mrs Proust, the proprietor of Boffo's joke shop, where many witches buy their stereotypical witch accoutrements. When they find Roland and Letitia the
When they are released the next day, Tiffany meets
Tiffany escapes, however, and goes to see Letitia, who she discovers is also an untrained but talented witch. She sees the Cunning Man twice while at Letitia's home, and as guests begin to arrive at Roland and Letitia's wedding, the other witches start to arrive, so that if the Cunning Man takes over her body, they can kill her. The night before the wedding, Tiffany, Roland, Letitia and Preston (a castle guard whom Tiffany has befriended) meet at one of the fields that needs to be burned to clear it of stubble; Tiffany lures the Cunning Man into the flames and defeats him.
After some discussions, the story then jumps forward a year where she is offered a beautiful black dress by Amber. Preston, who is about as smart as Tiffany, shows his love for her, which Tiffany reciprocates.
Characters
- Tiffany Aching
- The Cunning Man
- Jeannie
- Letitia Keepsake
- Nac Mac Feegle
- Deirdre Parsley, lately Lady Keepsake / The Duchess
- Amber Petty
- Preston
- Roland
- Eskarina Smith
References
- ^ "2010 Nebula Awards Winners", Locus Online, 21 May 2011, accessed 22 May 2011.
- ^ Gallagher, Andy; Bennett, Christian; Mullan, John (19 December 2009). "Video: Terry Pratchett talks to the Guardian book club". The Guardian. London: guardian.co.uk.
External links
- I Shall Wear Midnight title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Harper Collins book description.