The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

A riotous, wise, and gripping junior Discworld novel from the Carnegie Medal-winning author and acknowledged master of comic fantasy.Nine-year-old Tiffany Aching thinks her Granny Aching - a wise shepherd - might have been a witch, but now Granny Aching is dead and it's up to Tiffany to work it all out when strange things begin happening: a fairy-tale monster in the stream, a headless horseman and, strangest of all, the tiny blue men in kilts, the Wee Free Men, who have come looking for the new 'hag'. These are the Nac Mac Feegles, the pictsies, who like nothing better than thievin', fightin' and drinkin'. Then Tiffany's young brother goes missing and Tiffany and the Wee Free Men must join forces to save him from the Queen of the Fairies-

Understanding the Feegle's accent was a challenge, but they are funny as hell.

I used to think that, were I stuck on a desert island, I'd bring the complete works of Terry Pratchett and be happy. Now – just this week – I've discovered the audiobooks read by Stephen Briggs and life just got so much more complicated. Now when they come to take me away to said isle I'm going to have to say “er, um, just a moment, I need not only the print books but also the MP3s, and a player, earphones, solar charger, and backups for each.”

Why are we humans like that? Why can't we ever be satisfied with what we have? I mean, pretty soon I'll be taking my digital watch, grapefruit spoon set, Kwan Yin statue, Kitchenaid, some paintings, an extension ladder to reach coconuts, a few close friends, their favorite things and people, and before you know it the island will just be too crowded. All because my friend K. loaned me this audiobook. (Not that I'm ungrateful, mind you. Just pensive.)

And then I got to thinking that every bit of progress, everything that makes us human, every neat idea from digital watches to Terry Pratchett books, has come from someone not being satisfied with what they have. So I guess it's OK for me to take these audiobooks with me.

(What? You were expecting a review of this book? Don't be silly. It's a Terry Pratchett book. It's one of the great ones. If you haven't already read it multiple times, you probably should, maybe on audiobook as well. There's nothing else to say, really.)