BOOK REVIEW: A Hat Full of Sky (Terry Pratchett)

Book: A Hat Full Of Sky

Author: Terry Pratchett

Rating:  5-6/10

Recommended age: 11+

This is Terry Pratchett's 2nd book involving Tiffany Aching and the Wee Free Men.


Tiffinay shouldn't just casually leave her body. It's just so incovenvienent having to look at herself in a tiny cracked mirror. What harm can it be? she is a trainee witch afterall.

She has never seen or heard of the being who stirs high above the downlands,a being with no brain or body, a being drawn iresitabally towards the empty body. Then the trail is lost, as Tiffany retunrs into her body.

A few days later she's packed her things and is heading with miss Tick to the mountains to stay and work for Miss Level, another witch,who for some reason is unusual.

That's when  the Nac Mac Feegle,the tiny fealess pictsies who were thrown out of fairyland for being drunk and disorderly, the fairies who like nothing more than "stealin,dinkin and fightin!".
They have been watching Tiffinay since the events of the 1st book:The wee free men.

They know what the creature is,and what it can do.A hiver posses body's and minds of those powerful and foolish enough to allow it in.
Tiffinay knows nothing of this and has bigger problems on her mind than unknown,invisible creatures.Problems like a woman with 2 bodies, The everyday life of a witch, Higher magik and the complete inability to do anything impressive.
She makes a fool of herself infront of other witches in training, and meets the boss snob Annagramma who bosses everyone about and is obssesed with the higher Magik and that witches should show off.

All of this leads to her being pretty unhappy and she once again utters the simple words that cause her to leave her body.But this time the hiver is ready and snap, she no longer has control of her body,and no one apart from the feegels know why she's changed...

The hiver greatly is enjoying it's new found body and power and embarks on becoing a person to be feared. It enlists the help of Annagramma, and goes shopping with a old mans funeral money, Turns a wizard into a frog just for a discount and generally is behaving badly. And Tiffinay trapped in her own mind can do nothing but watch as It slowly take control of her more and more and it starts creeping through her mind trying to find the last bit of  her.

But now the wee free men arrive , with the help of Miss Level and a bath, enter Tiffinays mind and find the last remenant of her being trapped in a replica of the chalk inside her own imagination.

There is no sign of Tiffinay in that strange place within the mind but as they look around the sun is setting and when it does Tiffinay will be lost forever. The nac mac feegle go to get things that might help using a scarecrow type thing made of themselves and gold coins. sheeps wool, jolly sailor tobbacco and turpentine.

The combination of these makes the mind remember and the hiver is drawn against it's will to the small part of Tiffinay's brain it doesn't control, and meets the feegles waiting their.

It's driven from Tiffinay's mind my sheer force of her mind and the power within her and the feegles can do nothing but watch has it get driven away by a huge creature made out of the land.

With a start Tiffinay wakes up,she's herself, then mistress weatherwax turns up and Tiffinay is having trouble sorting herself from the echos of the hiver other victims. Once that's done they leave and start travelling through the mountains as the hiver isn't gone it's just hiding.

Mistrees Weatherwax and Tiffinay go to the witch trials in the hope of luring it their where there are plenty of witches to help it when it arrives and Tiffany finally uncovers what it is and how to get rid of it.

But can they suceed? read the book to find out.







This book is still really goodbut i found it less funny and enjoyable compared ot the first one. good read and good plot just not quite as engaging. Still not a bad book and I will definately buy the next one.


Hope you found this review helpful.

The Devonian Book Reviewer.


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