A Hat Full of Sky
Terry Pratchett
When I’m old I shall wear midnight
A Hat Full of Sky is the 32nd novel in Terry Pratchett‘s Discworld series, but more important, it is the second in the subseries devoted to the brilliant Tiffany Aching. We first met Tiffany at the age of nine in The Wee Free Men.
Tiffany is now eleven years old, and she is ready to begin training to be a witch. Formally. Tiffany thought she would be going to Witch School. But that, she learns, is not really a thing. Witches train as apprentices. Tiffany is apprenticed to Miss Level. Witchcraft, as Miss Level practices it, is the least glamorous profession Tiffany can imagine. Miss Level doesn’t do magic or teach Tiffany to do magic.
Tiffany is impatient with Miss Level’s training. It doesn’t help that, up here in the Ramtops where Miss Level lives there are lots of witches, and they have apprentices. These other girls are not impressed by Tiffany. Whatever problems Tiffany might have, she doesn’t suffer from low self-esteem. It is not easy for her to bear the scorn of the other girls.
Tiffany gets into trouble -- I’ll not spoil by saying more about that. Granny Weatherwax, who knows Tiffany from her adventures two years ago, comes to her aid. Granny’s help is not for the faint of heart. {spoiler1] But Granny makes it clear that she thinks Tiffany is a genuine witch.
One of my favorite moments comes near the end of the book, when Tiffany visits Granny. Tiffany wears green for the visit, unlike Granny, who always dresses in black. Tiffany tells herself, “When I’m old I shall wear midnight.” I took this not simply as a momentary sartorial choice, but as a statement that Tiffany would one day become what Granny now is. (Reader Indira Varma deserves credit for somehow implying this only subtly hinted idea.) Granny may be the Discworld‘s greatest witch, but Tiffany’s day will come.
In the course of being helped by Granny, Tiffany has a conversation with Bill Nighy. Discworld audiobook listeners know what that means!