(no subject)

[skygiants]

This is a post about the second half of my Tiffany Aching read! I continue to be really glad I read all four books as close together as I could; it definitely makes me appreciate the themes he's working with over the course of the four books more.

I actually remember being shocked when I read Wintersmith for the first time that the book revolved so much around a sort-of-romance. Not that he doesn't write romance at all, it's just I can't think of another Terry Pratchett book where someone crushing on someone else is an actual plot driver as opposed to a character sidenote. Angua/Carrot and Verence/Magrat (for example) are long-running and important to the world and to the characters, but those romances inform the plot, they don't cause it.

- no, actually, I'm wrong, Susan's crush on Buddy in Soul Music does in fact trigger plot. So maybe this is a thing that Terry Pratchett considers relevant when writing about teenaged girls? I mean, I'm not complaining, it is relevant to most teenaged girls, and it's certainly not the only thing going on in Tiffany's life in this book (or in Susan's in any). Or maybe Pterry just felt that the time had come to write the obligatory Supernatural Creature In Love With My Teenaged Heroine book, with the usual Discworld twist of everyone being very pragmatic and long-suffering about it. Anyway, as far as my actual thoughts go, I love the continuity of the community-of-women plot (Tiffany rallying the teen witches to help Annagramma!) though I do wish Spring had gotten a more dignified portrayal to fit with the sympathy with which we see the Wintersmith. I also liked that Roland got his own plotline and character growth . . .

. . . though that did make it feel extra weird to me when his character got completely derailed in I Shall Wear Midnight. Don't get me wrong, I think it was a bold and probably a correct move to break up Tiffany and Roland and subvert the kids-who-have-magical-adventures-together-are-destined-to-end-up-together trope! I just wish that we hadn't had to send Roland off with the idiot ball for most of the book to do it. I don't think this would have felt as strange to someone who hadn't just read Wintersmith, but maybe I am wrong?

I do think the first half of the book felt fairly disjointed - the trip to Ankh-Morpork didn't actually seem all that necessary, and (minor note!) for a while Tiffany seemed to have forgotten how to use contractions, which is not a problem I'd noticed of her in earlier books. Also, while it's nice to see the callback to Equal Rites, I really have no idea what to make of the bits with Eska. The second half, though - Roland's idiot ball aside - was pure gold. Unsurprisingly, I loved all the developments with Letitia. Honestly, while the Cunning Man was frightening and effective, he was mostly a decoy plot, I think, for the real theme of the book: the part of growing up that's about finding a support network of your own.

(Also Preston is pretty adorable.)

Comments

[innerbrat]

I love that all Milliwaysers ever will refer to her as "Eska". This is Alex's fault.

[skygiants]

. . . Debi, I totally forgot that wasn't actually her name! *cracking up*

[innerbrat]

I win!

[petra]

I did find Roland's refusal to understand or honor Tiffany's witching frustrating, especially the time when I read all four of the books together. He seemed to be coming along nicely in that regard until it was necessary for him not to have been.

[skygiants]

Yeah, it was pretty much plot-necessary stupidity. I really liked the Roland we saw in Wintersmith - the one who respected Tiffany's intelligence, who was not actually very good at swordfighting but really really good at fighting things that mess with your brain because he hates things that mess with your brain more than anything. And then in this book, he's . . . pretty much just a victim again for something that messes with your brain, which is kind of depressing for everyone concerned, I think. We didn't even get to see him liking Letitia for her own intelligence and different kind of witchy strength, it was just 'lol he'll get a surprise!'

[petra]

You know, the latter point hadn't even occurred to me--but yes, and *ugh.* He will definitely get a surprise. I want him to like her for how awesome she is, but now I'm a little worried that he won't.

[skygiants]

Even when he's got the idiot ball he's a good kid at heart, so I do think he will (and I don't think the intention of the book is to imply that he won't) but . . . man, I really wish we'd got to see some of that liking her for her awesome self, instead of having to fanwank it.

[petra]

I'd say, "Yes, there's more narrative heavy lifting to do than to justify weird canon het," but I've been doing that too, so I think I'll just nod emphatically and say, "Yes! This."