No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away
With the passing of Sir Terry Pratchett and the publication of The Shepherd’s Crown, I embarked on an epic re-reading of all 41 official Discworld novels, with the goal of finishing by 31 December, 2016.
Famous for its wit and wisdom, the series offers countless quotable quotes on a variety of subjects. The quotes I share should not be considered the whole of Sir Terry’s excellent prose; indeed, they are the tasty appetizers to a succulent, nourishing meal.
About The Shepherd’s Crown
This is the 41st Discworld novel and the 5th in the Tiffany Aching series.
Tiffany Aching:
She drove out the Queen of the Faeries with a frying pan.
She determined to help an ancient entity find peace.
She danced with the Wintersmith and brought back Spring.
She defeated the Cunning Man at his own game.
Now, an old enemy has returned to the Disc, and Tiffany finds herself without the assistance of her oldest ally.
The time has come to prove herself as the hag-o’-hag’s
– not of the Hills
not of the Chalk
not of Lancre –
of the Disc.
This is the review I wrote when I first read Shepherd’s Crown:
This was the first book I ever pre-ordered to guarantee day-of-release delivery.
However, given the circumstances of the novel’s release, I waited almost two months to actually read it. I didn’t wait long enough. I was not ready for the first few pages; I had a hard enough time accepting the death of Sir Terry and that I was reading the last Discworld novel, let alone the death of Granny Weatherwax, who just so happens to be one of my favorite characters in the series.
Beyond that spoiler, I won’t say much except I felt it a fitting end to the Discworld series. It is obvious that this was not a finished, polished work, yet Sir Terry is evident throughout – much more than in Raising Steam in my opinion.
It has been said that each Discworld novel can stand alone; I believe that The Shepherd’s Crown is an exception: one should read at least one of the books about the Witches or Tiffany Aching to at least have context. However, perhaps I am of that opinion because of how I perceived the book.
No man is truly gone until the ripples they make in the world fade away. May Sir Terry’s ripples continue forever.
5 stars
The Goodreads Blurb:
A shivering of worlds.
Deep in the Chalk, something is stirring. The owls and the foxes can sense it, and Tiffany Aching feels it in her boots. An old enemy is gathering strength.
This is a time of endings and beginnings, old friends and new, a blurring of edges and a shifting of power. Now Tiffany stands between the light and the dark, the good and the bad.
As the fairy horde prepares for invasion, Tiffany must summon all the witches to stand with her. To protect the land. Her land.
There will be a reckoning…
.
To the Quotes!
The Librarian as he appears in The Discworld Companion, illustrated by Paul Kidby
FOR I CAN SEE THE BALANCE AND YOU HAVE LEFT THE WORLD MUCH BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT, AND IF YOU ASK ME, NOBODY COULD DO ANY BETTER THAN THAT. . . .
Esme Weatherwax hadn’t done nice. She’d done what was needed.
Our rulers rule by consent, which means that we like having them as rulers, if they do what we want them to do.
We are satisfied with happy memories – they’re there to be cherished.
You dealt with the reality—not what people wanted.
Don’t get your knickers in a knot . . . It won’t solve anything an’ will just make you walk odd.
Our skills, you will find, could be our jailers.
If you learn things . . . you might find yourself building a different kind of kingdom.
Ye mustn’t be afraid to ask for help. Pride is a good thing, my girl, but it will kill you in time.
Call it empathy. That means putting yourself in the place of the other person and seeing their point of view. I suppose it’s because in the very olden days, when humans had to fight fir themselves every day, they needed to find people who would fight with them too, and together we lived—yes, and prospered. Humans need other humans—it’s as simple as that.
Thus proving that books can teach you much, if only to give you a good name for a devilish, smart goat.
It was wild, it was exhilarating, it was almost getting killed–and the almost bit is what made it something they would feel able to talk about later, though clearly getting killed would shut up most people
Dreams that come true are not always the right dreams.
Miss Tick knew too that you can find out a lot about somebody from what’s in their pockets, and sometimes a lot about them from what they don’t have.
Mind how ye go, hag o’ hags. Ye’ll be sore missed.
. . .
Previous: Raising Steam | The Complete List
Running In My Head 