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I Shall Wear Midnight

I Shall Wear Midnight

FantasyHigh Fantasy
Pages
291
Published
2010
Language
English

Synopsis

Tiffany Aching is sixteen and the witch of the Chalk — the only one for miles — dealing with everything that entails: births, deaths, arguments, and a girl beaten nearly to death for being pregnant. But something is spreading through the countryside, something ancient that hates witches — a hatred that turns neighbours into mobs. The fourth Tiffany Aching novel is Pratchett at his most serious, dealing with witch trials, mob violence, and what it actually takes to hold a community together.

Prose complexity
6/10

Vibe

GrittyDarkEmotionalThought-Provoking
Coming of AgeAnti-HeroReluctant HeroSurvival

Genres

Fantasy High Fantasy YA Comic Fiction Humor Paranormal

About the author

T
Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) was an English author best known for the Discworld series, a sequence of forty-one comic fantasy novels set on a flat world carried through space on the backs of four elephants standing on a giant turtle. Across four decades, the Discworld grew from a parody of sword-and-sorcery fantasy into one of the most sustained works of social satire in English literature, examining politics, religion, science, gender, race, capitalism, and the nature of stories themselves. Pra...

Characters

Tiffany AchingProtagonist

Sixteen years old, the official witch of the Chalk, and fighting something that wants to make everyone around her believe she is dangerous.

The Cunning ManAntagonist

An ancient entity of hatred — the accumulated prejudice of generations of witch-burning, given form. One of the Discworld's most genuinely disturbing antagonists.

PrestonSupporting

A young guard-soldier who is unexpectedly intelligent and asks good questions — a new relationship for Tiffany.

Eskarina SmithCameo

The first female wizard from Equal Rites (1987), appearing here in a brief but meaningful cameo after more than twenty books' absence.

All characters in I Shall Wear Midnight

Frequently asked questions

  • When was I Shall Wear Midnight published?

    First published on 2 September 2010 by Doubleday. It is the thirty-eighth Discworld novel and the fourth Tiffany Aching book.

  • Why is I Shall Wear Midnight darker than the earlier Tiffany books?

    Tiffany is older and her responsibilities are real. The novel opens with a girl beaten for being pregnant and a man dying in poverty alone. Pratchett is describing the actual work of a community healer — unglamorous, necessary, and sometimes brutal — not just magical adventure.

  • What does the title refer to?

    The title comes from a traditional description of witches wearing black — 'I shall wear midnight' meaning darkness, not malice. The novel is partly about why communities fear the people who do the unglamorous necessary work.

  • What are witch trials in the Discworld context?

    The Cunning Man is the accumulated hatred of real witch burnings from the Disc's history — the entity formed from centuries of unjust persecution of women who were healers. The novel draws directly on the history of European witch trials.

  • Who does Tiffany meet in I Shall Wear Midnight that long-time readers will recognize?

    Eskarina Smith — the protagonist of Equal Rites (1987) — makes a brief but meaningful appearance. She is the first female wizard, and her return after more than twenty novels was a significant moment for long-term Discworld readers.

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