I'm still enjoying this series, but this book was slightly less charming than the first two Tiffany books. It was saved by the entertaining Nac Mac Feegle, who are instrumental in the solving of Tiffany's problems. I also appreciated Granny Weatherwax's approach to problem solving. I can see where the Witches subseries of Discworld will be one of my next Pratchett reading goals.
I grew up on a farm and as a result I loved the plague of chickens, predicted by the kelda of the Nac Mac Feegle. Tiffany ends up with the cornucopia of the Summer Lady, which produces quite a crowd of chickens when left unattended one night. Pratchett's description of chickens was bang on: ”The floor was covered in chickens. So was every room down below. In the kitchen, chickens had overflowed into the sink. They weren't making much noise, just the occasional 'werk' a chicken makes when it's a bit uncertain about things, which is more or less all the time.”
There was also a moment, when Roland, the Baron's son, is in the Underworld with the Feegles, when he states, “When you take away memories, you take away the person. Everything they are.” I have to wonder, as this book was published just before the time that Pratchett was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, if it was a comment on how he was feeling. That he realized that something within himself wasn't quite right. A sad moment in an otherwise playful book.
This was a buddy read with my SRR friends and I thank them once again for helping me find my way into Discworld.
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