The Wee Free Men: A Novel of Discworld

by Terry Pratchett

Genres: Humor

352 pages, Paperback

Published September 2, 2025

About the author

Sir Terence David John Pratchett was an English author, humorist, and satirist, best known for the Discworld series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983–2015, and for the apocalyptic comedy novel Good Omens (1990), which he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman.
Pratchett's first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971. The first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983, after which Pratchett wrote an average of two books a year. The final Discworld novel, The Shepherd's Crown, was published in August 2015, five months after his death.
With more than 100 million books sold worldwide in 43 languages, Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours. In 2001 he won the annual Carnegie Medal for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, the first Discworld book marketed for children. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2010.
In December 2007 Pratchett announced that he had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. He later made a substantial public donation to the Alzheimer's Research Trust (now Alzheimer's Research UK, ARUK), filmed three television programmes chronicling his experiences with the condition for the BBC, and became a patron of ARUK. Pratchett died on 12 March 2015, at the age of 66.

Reviews

[Jaime Garza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tiffany Aching, a young and aspiring witch, is herself an expert of the art of cheese-making. Her first adventure takes her to rescue her kidnapped brother, who was taken by the Queen through dream manipulation skills. Accompanied by the Wee Free Men—blue, small, and with a delightful way of speaking—and a pan as her weapon, Tiffany embarks on a journey that takes her to the dream world. The Wee Free Men have a way of speaking that initially baffles you with their unique language. However, with time, I adapted to it and found it perfectly comprehensible.

The world-building in this book is quite impressive, as much of it unfolds within the realm of dreams. Pratchett’s ability to create captivating and imaginative worlds is evident throughout the Discworld series.

I am a huge fan of Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels. They are a delightful blend of sweetness, intelligence, and humor. They serve as an excellent follow-up to any challenging book. Highly recommended!

[Ronda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have tried to read this one a few ti.es--and couldn't get into the dialect or story. The time must have been right, the stars must have aligned, or maybe I just held my mouth the right way. THIS time, after I made it through the 1st few chapters, I suddenly found I didn't want to put it down. Would it have been better to read previous Discworld stories first? I had the feeling I was missing out on some references. At any rate, this sent me down the rabbit hole to look at the painting by Dadd, The Fairy Feller's Master Stroke, which led me to find out that there is another Queen song that I now need to listen to, and that a visit to the Tate to see the original painting would be a fine, fine thing to do.

[Mary Welham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not enough stars for this one.