The Shepherd's Crown

[charliesmum]

I ordered The Shepherd's Crown from Amazon.co.uk around April. It came on Monday. I finished on Tuessday. After having to put it down for an hour or so because I was crying too hard.

I think in the last few books of Sir Terry's he was doing his best to give us a decent goodbye, having older characters come out and wave hello, as it were, but this book was really a goodbye.

More thoughts and spoilersI know for a fact that Granny Weatherwax was the one character that was Sir Terry's avatar more than any other, and that made her death so much more painful and sad. It wasn't just the death of a favourite character, it was him. If he hadn't have died before the book came out, it still would have been sad,and it still would have been him leaving us, in a way, but the fact that he did die really made it heartbreaking.

I still feel like i'm grieving for an actual friend, not just an author I happened to like. Even now, just looking at the book is enough to make tears want to spring into my eyes.

And the worst part is, there are still things left unanswered. WHY was Mrs Earwig unaffected by the elves? Geoffery was such a great new character, and we're never going to see him again. What will happen with baby Tiffany?

I'm glad I can revisit the DIscworld any time I like, but it's sad to know nothing more will ever be added to it.

I'm just hoping that the rumoured talk of a 'Night Watch' television series is a thing that will actually happen.

Comments

[betawho.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you warned me about this. I'd been meaning to read it, but if Granny is going to die in it, I might put it off for a while. I'm already in a depressing place in my life at the moment, so I'll put this off until I'm more prepared for it.

And, yeah, the world lost one of it's shining lights when Pratchett left us. The world needs more of the happiness and humor he brought.

For me, I was glad to find out I hadn't read all of his books yet. I've read all of the main Discworld series, but he apparently has some younger reader books set on Discworld that weren't published in America.

Interestingly enough, the hero in them is a little girl witch by the name of Tiffany Aching.

Could that be the baby you mentioned?

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

The baby's name is Tiffany Robinson. She's named after the witch who delivered her, Tiffany Aching (who's about eighteen or nineteen in this).

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

Actually, Shepherd's Crown is a Tiffany Aching book. The baby is named after her.

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

And the worst part is, there are still things left unanswered. WHY was Mrs Earwig unaffected by the elves? Geoffery was such a great new character, and we're never going to see him again. What will happen with baby Tiffany?

YES! I want to know why Letice Earwig wasn't affected by elven glamour. And about calm-weaving, the magic that Geoffrey does. What the hell is Mephistopheles the goat? What's going to happen to Maggie Anybody, one of the few girls of the Feegle race and thus destined for keldahood, marriage and hundreds of babies, but who would much rather be a warrior? Why do railways have such tremendous power over elves? Did Esme Weatherwax eventually become a goddess in Lancre? (I can see it happening, just as I can see something similar eventually happening to Sam Vimes, much to his everlasting disgruntlement, as per Lunik's story, Mister Vimes'd Go Spare!)

And for Great A'Tuin's sake, will SOMEONE get Tiffany Robinson out of her parents' house and into the care of someone who will love her?

I still feel like i'm grieving for an actual friend, not just an author I happened to like. Even now, just looking at the book is enough to make tears want to spring into my eyes.

I don't think that you're alone there. Almost every review I've seen--hell, one I wrote myself--speaks of this book as a goodbye. It does make you cry. But it also says that it's all right to grieve, to feel unsettled and unsure how to cope, to be uncertain, and to look for help if you need it, and that while change is inevitable, you can do your best to ride the wave of change instead of building a wall in its path. And it let the Discworld go ever, ever on. (I've seen too many authors destroy their worlds, accidentally or on purpose, in the finale, so this matters a lot to me.) It really does feel as if he was saying a very deliberate and comforting goodbye to us. It's just that right now...it hurts

Also--speaking of the old friend factor--I think it says something that six months after the man's death, "GNU Terry Pratchett" is still circulating--because a man's not dead while his name is spoken. It's in web code, signatures, hashtags, even reviews. And why not? What could be more natural than to want an old friend remembered?

All of which is a very long way of saying...yeah. I know how you feel.

[charliesmum.livejournal.com]

That story was amazing! Thanks for linking it.

I feel the same way about Baby Tiffany. And yes! Maggie Anybody! Loved her. And now we'll never know. But I guess that's what fan fiction is for, at least. We can come up with theories.