Book:The Wee Free Men

The Wee Free Men
Cover art by Paul Kidby
Co-author(s)
Illustrator(s)
Publisher	Doubleday
Publication date	May 2003
ISBN	9780385605335
Pages	318
RRP	£12.99
Main characters	Tiffany Aching Nac Mac Feegle Toad Miss Perspicacia Tick
Series	Tiffany Series
Annotations	View
Notes	Book #30
All data relates to the first UK edition.

Blurb

There's trouble on the Aching farm – a monster in the river, a headless horseman in the driveway and nightmares spreading down from the hills. And now Tiffany Aching's little brother has been stolen by the Queen of the Fairies (although Tiffany doesn't think this is entirely a bad thing).

Tiffany's got to get him back. To help her, she has a weapon (a frying pan), her granny's magic book (well, Diseases of the Sheep, actually) and—

'Crivens! Whut aboot us, ye daftie!'

—oh yes. She's also got the Nac Mac Feegle, the Wee Free Men, the fightin', thievin', tiny blue-skinned pictsies who were thrown out of Fairyland for being Drunk and Disorderly...

A wise, witty and wonderfully inventive adventure set on the Discworld.

Plot

Tiffany Aching is a 9-year old girl who lives on a farm in The Chalk. One day, she is looking after her little brother Wentworth by the river when she sees two Nac Mac Feegles (rowdy and mischievous pixies with Glaswegian accents) who warn her of a monster in a river. Sure enough, a monster Jenny Green-Teeth rises out of the water, and Tiffany defeats it with a frying pan. She visits a travelling teacher Miss Tick, a witch who has been watching her. Miss Tick realises that Tiffany is a witch, like her late grandmother Sarah Aching. She gives her a pet Toad to act as a guide before vanishing.

Soon after, Wentworth is kidnapped. Tiffany realises that the Nac Mac Feegle are afraid of her, as she is both a witch and able to read and write. Taking advantage of this, she goes to them for help. A group of Feegles led by Rob Anybody and including Daft Wullie and Big Yan take her to their home. Here, she meets more Feegles including their dying queen, the Kelda. They explain that Wentworth was kidnapped by the Queen of Fairies and taken to her domain. They agree to accompany Tiffany to the Queen's domain but also ask her become their new Kelda (though she avoids having to marry Rob Anybody). Tiffany then uses her witch thinking skills to find the entrance to the domain.

Once inside the dreamscape, they are attacked by wolves, which the Feegles fight. They then encounter dromes, magical organisms that control people's dreams. Tiffany passes through several dreams and the until she meets Roland, the son of the local Baron who was kidnapped many years ago. Tiffany and Roland pass through several more dreams and the original dreamscape until they discover Wentworth and the Queen. She almost defeats Tiffany, but Roland releases the Feegles from being trapped inside a giant walnut. They escape into another dream, where Wentworth and the Feegles appear to be trapped and Roland is knocked out. The Queen taunts her as she drags Roland back into the original dreamscape and heads for the exit. Tiffany turns back, inspired by the memory of the late Granny Aching, and defeats the Queen at her own game.

The Feegles reappear, having escaped from the trap with the help of Toad, and Wentworth is also fine. Tiffany, Roland and Wentworth return with them back to their home world. The Baron gives Roland all the credit for saving them, though Tiffany is not fussed. She finishes her role as Kelda, while Toad is adopted by the Feegles.