First published in 2010, "I Shall Wear Midnight" is set on the Discworld and is Terry Pratchett's fourth book to feature Tiffany Aching and the Wee Free Men.

Tiffany, still only fifteen, had been brought up on a farm in an area on the Chalk and - after a lengthy training period - has now returned home as the area's witch. Tiffany was inspired to follow the path's she's on by her Granny Aching, who'd always said it was important to stand up for those who have no voice. However, the Chalk's a wide area to cover, and there are times she has to push herself beyond her limits. Still, she wields a mean frying pan, is very good with cheese and, very luckily, she has the Nac Mac Feegle on her side. (The Feegle are a Pictsie race who were thrown out of Fairyland for being drunk, disorderly and rebellious : an extremely fast and strong race, their main hobbies are fond of fighting, stealing and drinking).

The book opens at the Scouring, a three-day fair held at the end of the summer. Most of the Chalk are there, but Tiffany feels pretty much alone. Now that she's "fully qualified", Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg are leaving her to it and people tend to avoid getting too familiar. (There's the respecct that comes with the position but, thanks to the fairytale image of malevolent old hags, there's a touch of fear too - an image that's dying, but hasn't fully gone yet). The isolation Tiffany feels is a little more pronounced, in that she's the Chalk's first "official" witch - although Granny Aching had fulfilled the role for the area, she'd never actually gone through the formal training and worn the hat. Things have even gotten frosty between Tiffany and Roland, the Baron's son. Roland is now engaged Letitia, an exceptionally wet, dreary streak of handwringing misery. It had been widely expected that Tiffany would have been Roland's intended - in fact, it was something the old Baron himself had wanted.

The old Baron has been on his last legs for some time, and Tiffany has been helping him deal with the pain - much to the annoyance of his nurse. Sadly, there's nothing she can do to prevent his death - though, tanks to her help, at least he dies happily. With Roland and his fiancee in Ankh-Morpork, Tiffany herself makes the journey to break the bad news. Having beaten the Elf Queen, danced with the Wintersmith and seen off an Hiver, Tiffany has now attracted the very unwanted attentions of the an evil spirit called Cunning Man - and she meets him, face-to-face, on the journey. He despises witches, and is bent on reigniting the fear, mistrust and hatred that once led to witches being burnt at the stake. If he succeeds in beating Tiffany, the temperature will once again rise.

Like everything else I've read by Pratchett, this is an excellent book. It's easily read, features plenty of likeable characters and there are plenty of laughs. On the down-side, I've never read a book by Pratchett that's felt so much like an ending - although Pratchett's personal circumstances mean there won't be too many more books, the thought of no more Feegle makes me a little sad. Absolutely recommended, naturally - though it's probably best to read "The Wee Free Men", "A Hat Full of Sky" and "Wintersmith" first.

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Dropped into the post for Fleurdelys.

A wee pressie via Mr Postie this morning. Thank you Cluricaune :)

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