I’ve just finished Terry Pratchett’s Wee Free Men, which is a really wonderful book. Patrick Rothfuss (author of The King Killer Chronicles) thinks that it’s Pratchett’s greatest work. I’ve only read a handful of Pratchett’s many novels, so I can’t say if Rothfuss is right, but I know it must at least be one of the best. As a writer, Pratchett’s skill is enviable to the point of frustration. His books are funny, and that is the primary quality for which they are known, but they are also smart, wise, engaging, and true. Wee Free Men has all of those qualities, but is truly special among Pratchett’s works.
I think part of what sets Wee Free Men apart is its characters. Most of Pratchett’s characters are endearing, but not all of them are heroes. Rincewind the wizard comes to mind as a likable protagonist, but one who is intentionally unheroic. Half the fun with Rincewind is watching him blunder through danger and fall backward into adventure, but that is not the case with Tiffany Aching. Tiffany is the protagonist of Wee Free Men, and she is unapologetically awesome. She consciously makes the decision to face danger, and solves nearly all her own problems using her own cleverness. There is practically nothing that Tiffany does that is unconscious; she’s hopelessly self-analytical. Tiffany is on her way to becoming a witch, a position that requires one to be curious, perceptive, and logical. As the book repeatedly asserts, the magic is just advertising.
The only creatures Tiffany requires help from are the eponymous wee free men, also called the Nac Mac Feegle, or the Pictsies. The Pictsies are about six inches in height, have a shock of red hair, a kilt, a claymore slung over their backs, and are so covered in blue tattoos that they appear to have entirely blue skin. They are essentially Scottish stereotypes in fairy form, which makes them much closer kin to the real fairies of folklore than the butterfly-winged pixies of Victorian England. The Pictsies love to drink, fight, and steal, and are quite adept at all three. They become the staunch allies of Tiffany Aching in the course of the novel, and provide her with invaluable help. In return, Tiffany provides them with some much needed leadership. As the mother of the Chalk Downs Clan remarks, her sons think their heads are more useful for bashing enemies than thinking. In their defense, they are really good at bashing with their heads, as they are particularly hard-headed.
Perhaps my favorite lesson from Wee Free Men is that magic doesn’t stop being magic just because you know how it works. As a biologist, that lesson is especially poignant. There are many people, both laypeople and those within the scientific community, who believe that the march of scientific progress is destined to banish the last superstitions from the earth. In that day, we’ll all live in a glorious age of reason, peace, prosperity, and Star Trek will become a reality. Personally, I think the whole concept is nonsense, and horribly boring in its goals. Nobody who gets enough fresh air has ever thought such a thing, which is why most biologists seem to be immune to the cult of science worshipping. Understanding how something works doesn’t make it cease to be magical. I can understand how photosynthesis works, but that takes away none of the magic of growing things. I can understand the internal anatomy of trees, but that doesn’t prevent me from wondering at their majesty. Humanity has been able to track and predict the movement of the stars for millennia, but only in the past couple hundred years have we determined that their movements are not magical because they are predictable. If anything, understanding should make us say, “Yes, it is magic, just as we thought.” Tiffany Aching teaches us that art and science can coexist, and even shows us how: she carries her keen intellect with her into the very realm of Faerie. [As a brief side note, you can tell I’ve given thought to this issue before because my Elvish word for magic literally means “understanding”.]
The Sensiahd word of the day is “rethambir”, which means “to imagine or create”, literally “to work thought.” Example sentence: Es ean rethambir a bita voe ninaim. I’ll imagine a world with magic.