I Shall Wear Midnight / Terry Pratchett

I Shall Wear Midnight

(Discworld 38)

by Terry Pratchett

fantasy, humour, subadult

copyright 2010

read in June 2017

rated 7/10: well worth reading

This is one of Pratchett's books "for young readers". How young? The heroine is now sixteen -- and she is a fully-fledged witch with responsibilities for her own area. The theme of the book is the darkness within ordinary people, the propensity to be violent against anyone who is different.

Serious topics are handled with wild humour, lots of action and a blatant disregard for subtlety. Almost every character has at least one redeeming feature. Everything is sorted out with goodwill and good sense... eventually.

Much like every other Discworld book, really !

I seem to remember an earlier book starring the heroine, Tiffany Aching. It was much lighter. Much more obviously a book "for young readers". That's the trouble with a heroine who grows up... her books will also grow up. As I understand it, the book title indicates a major stage of growing up. Would the next book still be, for young readers?

And all of that simply means, this is a good Discworld book !

The heroine may have grown too old for another subadult book. This book is suitable for "subadult" readers but it is also suitable for adult readers. Many of the characters may have begun as an appeal to younger readers. They have all grown into a more adult appeal... Without losing the younger readers.

Apart from all that... Midnight is another excellent book set on Pratchett's Discworld. It is set in a microcosm of the Discworld, with its own set of unique characters. Plus some overlap -- not too much -- with a few people and places from the broader Discworld.

The story has less depth and less complexity than most other Discworld books. This suits the "young reader" target audience. The threat is as serious but not as dark as some Discworld books.

The humour, however, is excellent. The adventure is enjoyable. The ending is -- a bit simplistic, a bit confused but -- solid.

A morality fable for young readers but a bit dark for extremely young readers. An extremely enjoyable book for any fan of Discworld... Or for any reader who likes a good laugh with their adventures.

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Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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Hamilton's fourth law: "Infer nothing without ground or reason."