A Hat Full of Sky

Terry Pratchett's view of witchcraft is as down-to-earth as Tiffany. Primarily it consists of helping others, though for the really great witches, like Tiffany's Granny Aching, it means making them help one another, and themselves. There's a bit of magic too, and herbalism, and broomstick riding -- but Tiffany gets broomsick, so that's not much help.

This sequel is very entertaining, humorous, and moves along quite nicely. But it lacks the rollicking action and broad slapstick humor, both physical and verbal, of its predecessor. Mostly what it lacks is enough of the Feegles. Whenever these drinking, stealing, fighting pictsies are on stage, the fun picks right up. One group of children having The Wee Free Men read to them cheered every time the Feegles appeared in the story. But here they're missing from whole great swaths of the book, and the reader misses them.