Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “Wintersmith (Discworld, #35; Tiffany Aching, #3)” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

Wintersmith (Discworld #35)

by Terry Pratchett

4.23 · Rating details · 41,135 Ratings · 1,372 Reviews

Tiffany Aching is a trainee witch — now working for the seriously scary Miss Treason. But when Tiffany witnesses the Dark Dance — the crossover from summer to winter — she does what no one has ever done before and leaps into the dance. Into the oldest story there ever is. And draws the attention of the Wintersmith himself.

As Tiffany-shaped snowflakes hammer down on the lan

...more

Get A Copy

Or buy for

Hardcover, 325 pages

Published October 1st 2006 by HarperTempest (first published 2006)

More Details... edit details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about Wintersmith, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Best of Discworld!

82 books — 858 voters

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

Best Kick-Ass Female Characters From YA and Children's Fantasy and Science Fiction

2,359 books — 7,797 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-10)

Rating details

Sort: Default

Filter

Jul 29, 2009 Nicholas Karpuk rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: young adults, Pratchett fans, fantasy readers, you

I physically twitch in the presence of cheap irony. You know the sort of lazy humor, like saying it's weird that a cop hates donuts, or acting surprised that a jock is smart. The sort of glib, lazy attempts at humor and cleverness that usually make it on to bumper stickers just makes me cringe. It's the same school of humor as people who put, "My other car is a broomstick" on their bumpers.

When Terry Pratchett started the witch series in the Discworld universe I considered that as close as the w I physically twitch in the presence of cheap irony. You know the sort of lazy humor, like saying it's weird that a cop hates donuts, or acting surprised that a jock is smart. The sort of glib, lazy attempts at humor and cleverness that usually make it on to bumper stickers just makes me cringe. It's the same school of humor as people who put, "My other car is a broomstick" on their bumpers.

When Terry Pratchett started the witch series in the Discworld universe I considered that as close as the witty, funny man would ever get to that sort of humor. Turning the fairytale villain into the shamans of the mountain towns had that vibe of lazy irony (I'm looking squarely at you, Wicked the Musical), but being Pratchett, he made a good story out of it just the same.

The reason the witch books never grabbed me had a lot to do with the main characters. They were very interesting but poor entry point for the reader. One main witch, Granny Weatherwax, is probably one of my favorite characters in Discworld, but she's smart, brutal, and rather unknowable, making her a poor protagonist in many ways. Nanny Ogg isn't much better, though her character is amusing.

Through the earlier books Pratchett tried more than one third witch (because that how it works, Macbeth style), but he never seemed satisfied enough with the dynamic to keep using it.

The fact that three Tiffany Aching stories have already been written indicate something that's clearly working for him, and I personally think it's some of his best writing to date.

Tiffany is a pretty astute choice in protagonist. She's bright, inquisitive, and annoyed when people don't give her the information she's asking for. I imagine this is highly relatable to many of Pratchett's fans, myself included.

What really impresses me is how the stakes keep getting raised over the books. In "Wintersmith" Tiffany makes a mistake that draws the attention of the elemental who controls winter. The beauty in this is that it's not the sort of plot motivating accidents and serendipity guiding series like Harry Potter, where characters are essentially powerless and shuttled through circumstances beyond their control. This entire story comes about because Tiffany screws up and must deal with the consequences.

The atmosphere in this story is some of Pratchett's best, with a depiction of the mountain towns so vivid you can almost feel the cold and the rustling of wind through leaves. Having a antagonist who freezes everything to the point of collapse works quite well with this, giving the book a truly powerful sense of dread.

What I like best about the Aching books as a whole is that they're a seldom talked about discussion of responsibility. The witches are essentially the last line of defense when things go wrong for these people, they're the justice in a cruel world, so for them saying, "it's not fair," is unnacceptable. Having control means fighting for fairness and losing the ability to whine about it.

Few young adult books address themes as deep and meaningful as this, and almost none with such humor and warmth. Though, come to think of it, most books in general don't, making it a truly rare accomplishment. ...more

flag 35 likes · Like · see review

Apr 02, 2017 Lyn rated it liked it

A very original Discworld story, this one the third in the Tiffany Aching sub-series.

First published in 2006 and the 35th in the Discworld bibliography, Terry Pratchett describes Tiffany as a young witch still in training but coming into herself and setting her sights on the kind of witch she will be (and not always in serviceable black.) As in others in this sub-series, the juxtaposition between Tiffany and the other witches (particularly Granny Weatherwax) makes this fun. Old Miss Treason (who ...more

flag 23 likes · Like · see review

Oct 12, 2013 Kalin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed-in-english

13 March 2015:

To one of my dads in spirit:

We remember you.

And then one day a traveling teacher (...) talked about how some wizards had once, using very skillful magic, worked out exactly what a human being was made of. It was mostly water, but there were iron and brimstone and soot and a pinch of just about everything else, even a tiny amount of gold, but all cooked up together somehow.

It made as much sense to Tiffany as anything else did. But she was certain of this: If you took all that stuff

...more

flag 18 likes · Like · see review

May 19, 2007 Res rated it liked it

Shelves: sff, kidlets-favorites, locus_poll

The third book involving Tiffany Aching and the Nac Mac Feegles -- the one where Tiffany dances with the Wintersmith and gets herself into the middle of the ancient romance of summer and winter.

I love the witches, and I love the Feegles, and I love Tiffany, and it's always a pleasure to spend time with them. And yay for Roland growing up. And I loved the subplot involving Miss Treason and the slight improvement in Annagramma.

Having said that, I had serious problems with this book.

The most criti ...more

flag 17 likes · Like · see review

May 30, 2013 Наталия Янева rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Чудно как на човек му е най-трудно да опише нещата, които са го впечатлили най-много. Като че думите не са точни и не достатъчно силни да предадат усещането. Ако ви попитат защо обичате някого, отговорът ще удовлетвори ли вас самите? Не звучи ли слабо, твърде традиционно? В никакъв случай не описва защо всъщност обичате, няма думи за това.

Понякога се питам как така някой писател сякаш надниква в душата ти, изсмуква всичкото ти внимание и то остава негово. В случая със сигурност не е темата – тя Чудно как на човек му е най-трудно да опише нещата, които са го впечатлили най-много. Като че думите не са точни и не достатъчно силни да предадат усещането. Ако ви попитат защо обичате някого, отговорът ще удовлетвори ли вас самите? Не звучи ли слабо, твърде традиционно? В никакъв случай не описва защо всъщност обичате, няма думи за това.

Понякога се питам как така някой писател сякаш надниква в душата ти, изсмуква всичкото ти внимание и то остава негово. В случая със сигурност не е темата – тя не е нищо нечувано (все пак въпросът „Сега за секс ли ще говорим?“ вероятно ще продължава да вълнува хората дори в някакво футуристично high tech утре, въпреки че написан така откровено при Тери Пратчет си звучи е особено). Дали е хуморът? Сър Тери е ненадминат в това отношение – може би единствените книги, на които се подхилквам на глас – когато издавам подобни звуци, баща ми винаги пита „А, нашия човек ли четеш?“ :).

Това, което мен ме е накарало да заобичам Тери Пратчет (освен безжалостния хумор, който просто няма как да подминеш, дори да си пълно дърво), е начинът, по който пише този човек. Малките откровения, които ти предлага винаги, дори всред най-смешните ситуации, сред най-глуповатите реплики от страна на някой персонаж, неочаквани, истински – като самия живот. Имам чувството, че всяка дума е не просто написана с цел сега да бъде зарадван читателят, защото така се очаква, а че е била почувствана, осмислена, оголена и предложена в най-чистия си вид – така, както е била усетена. Противно на факта, че се числят към някакво пародийно фентъзи и сатира, което не звучи особено като за пораснали, книгите на модерния Гандалф предлагат много по-истински неща от доста „сериозни“ творби.

Друго, което много ме впечатлява – когато Тери Пратчет прави заемки от някоя митология или религия, той винаги ти дава да разбереш това. Най-често нещата са директно взети от съответния източник, без излишни усуквания/разкрасявания/видоизменения и съответно най-често е запазено дори името на нещото (понякога в леко пародиен вид). Без заобикалки, без опити да бъде остроумен и да измисля базирана на митологията, уж различна, а всъщност еднаква ситуация. Когато нещо е негово – негово си е, в противен случай не прави нескопосани опити да го прикрие, претендирайки за оригиналност.

Просто прочетете „Зимоковецът“. А преди това не пропускайте „Волният народец“ и „Шапка, пълна с небе“. За да разберете „защо“. ...more

flag 16 likes · Like · see review

May 09, 2012 Clouds rated it really liked it

Shelves: discworld, fantasy, locus-ya, reviewed, young-adult, read-in-2012, pub-2000s

Following the resounding success of my Locus Quest, I faced a dilemma: which reading list to follow it up with? Variety is the spice of life, so I’ve decided to diversify and pursue six different lists simultaneously. This book falls into my LOCUS Y-A list.

I think I’ll always have a soft-spot for imaginative young-adult speculative fiction and as the good people at Locus did such a grand job with picking their Sci-Fi winners, I’ll trust them to single out some special y-a books too.

I remember r ...more

flag 13 likes · Like · see review

Apr 19, 2017 YouKneeK rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, completed-series

Wintersmith is the third book in the Tiffany Aching subseries of Discworld. In this book, Tiffany has made a mistake that has put not only herself but also everybody she knows, and a whole bunch of people she doesn’t know, in danger.

There really isn’t too much I can say about this book that I haven’t already said about the previous two. I’m still really enjoying the series, and I still really like the characters in it. In this book, two of my favorite characters from previous books got a decent ...more

flag 9 likes · Like · see review

Aug 09, 2010 Nicole rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: five-star-novels, fantasy-satire, fairytale-myth

Another case of feeling whatever I could write in praise of this would be insufficient, so I'll just be brief in my Pratchett-worship.
This is yet another fantastic Tiffany adventure, deceptively simple in some ways, very complicated and profound in others. The Wintersmith is both frightening and something to feel a bit sorry for. What it really takes to be a witch is the same thing it takes to be a responsible human being of any type--it's just the various embellishments that change people's pe ...more

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Dec 17, 2014 Sophie Narey (Bookreview- aholic) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Published: 27/09/2007
Author: Terry Pratchett
Recommended for: fans of fantasy novels

This is another amazing book in the Discworld series (number 35), in this book we meet the character Tiffany Aching. She is a really wonderful, likeable and funny character who adds a great amount of fun to the novel. In this book we go on the adventure with her when the spirit of winter (the wintersmith) falls in love with her! If she doesnt figure out a way to deal with him there will never be spring again, howe ...more

flag 8 likes · Like · see review

Nov 11, 2011 Shovelmonkey1 rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: brain-fluff, fantasy-fantastic

I read this a long time ago, but not as long ago as I read all the preceding Pratchetts. Yes. I love all things Pratchett (mostly) and have accumulated an extensive Pratchett archive since about the age of thirteen. Sadly most of these books have been tucked away in my parents attic for the last twelve years but the wonder of encountering the Discworld has never been forgotten.

I've read all of the Tiffany Aching series, including the Wee Free Men. Thinking back now, I can't really remember a lo ...more

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
2015 Reading Chal...: Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett	5	57	Apr 12, 2015 05:44PM
Discworld: Wintersmith Read Along Part III	1	17	Sep 30, 2013 08:33AM
Discworld: Wintersmith Read Along Part II	1	17	Sep 23, 2013 07:07AM
Discworld: Wintersmith Read Along Part I	1	21	Sep 16, 2013 07:28AM
Discworld: Tiffany Aching Read Along - Books 3 & 4	4	32	Sep 11, 2013 05:32AM
Madison Mega-Mara...: Another DiscWorld Series	1	4	May 21, 2012 06:50AM

Readers Also Enjoyed

Genres

Fantasy

3,006 users

Young Adult

579 users

Fiction

541 users

Humor

398 users

See top shelves…

About Terry Pratchett

Sir Terry Pratchett sold his first story when he was thirteen, which earned him enough money to buy a second-hand typewriter. His first novel, a humorous fantasy entitled The Carpet People, appeared in 1971 from the publisher Colin Smythe.

Terry worked for many years as a journalist and press officer, writing in his spare time and publishing a number of novels, including his first Discworld novel, ...more

More about Terry Pratchett...