“Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willna’ be fooled agin!”

There are few better introductions to the world of Discworld than The Wee Free Men. Originally published in 2003, this is Sir Terry Pratchett at his funniest, cleverest and most accessible, delivering a story that works brilliantly as both a fantasy adventure and a wonderfully sharp introduction to everything that makes Discworld so special.

At its heart, this is a tale of First Sight, Second Thoughts and Wee Free Men. Tiffany Aching is a young girl with First Sight, meaning she can see things that other people cannot, and Second Thoughts, which are considerably less common and arguably much more useful. When her little brother is kidnapped by the Queen of Fairyland, Tiffany discovers that being sensible, observant and stubborn can be considerably more useful than waving a magical sword around.

Fortunately, she also has the assistance of the Nac Mac Feegle, the Wee Free Men themselves. They are tiny, blue, red-haired, aggressively Scottish warriors whose solution to almost every problem involves fighting, stealing, drinking or some combination of the three. They are magnificent creations, simultaneously terrifying, ridiculous and utterly endearing. The Feegles could easily have become a one-joke comedy act, but Pratchett gives them enough personality and heart to make them some of the most memorable characters in Discworld.

Tiffany herself is every bit as good. She is intelligent without being impossibly perfect, brave without being fearless and mature enough to understand that sometimes doing the right thing means doing something incredibly difficult. Pratchett has always been brilliant at writing young characters who actually feel like young people rather than miniature adults, and Tiffany is a particularly good example of this.

That is also why I think The Wee Free Men is such a great book for Discworld fans who want to introduce the world to their children. There is plenty here to entertain younger readers, from the chaotic Feegles to the genuinely exciting fantasy adventure, while adults will find all the wit, satire and clever observations that make Pratchett so rewarding. It does not talk down to its audience, either. There are jokes that children will enjoy and plenty more that will sail straight over their heads until they are older. It is the sort of book that can grow with the reader.

It also works remarkably well if you have never read Discworld before. While there are connections to the wider setting, you do not need to have worked your way through dozens of previous books to understand what is happening. Pratchett establishes the world naturally, introduces its absurdities with confidence and lets Tiffany’s story carry everything along.

I have been particularly enjoying these new Audible editions, and The Wee Free Men is another excellent example of why they work so well. Indira Varma and Steven Cree are wonderfully suited to the material, bringing a warmth, energy and sense of character to the narration that makes the whole thing feel alive. Varma in particular is an excellent fit for Tiffany, giving her exactly the right mixture of intelligence, determination and youthful uncertainty, while Cree is clearly having an enormous amount of fun with the more chaotic inhabitants of the story.

And then there is Bill Nighy, providing the voice for the footnotes. This is an inspired choice. Discworld’s footnotes have always been part of the fun, frequently containing jokes that are almost as good as the story itself, and Nighy’s wonderfully dry delivery makes them feel like an integral part of the performance rather than interruptions.

The Wee Free Men is funny, exciting, surprisingly thoughtful and packed with characters you will want to spend more time with. More importantly, it demonstrates just how accessible Discworld can be. Whether this is your first encounter with Tiffany Aching, your first encounter with the Nac Mac Feegle or your first step into Discworld altogether, there is an enormous amount to love here.

A brilliant adventure, a fantastic audiobook and, above all, another reminder of just how much Terry Pratchett could achieve when he combined ridiculousness with genuine heart.

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