Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

How very, very interesting.

When I read these novels the first time, I never paid much attention to anything over and above the worldbuilding or character development going on across all the novels or within individual ones. And honestly, that IS enough, with all the humor, classy fantasy, and heart going on.

In this novel, we have the classic tale of Orpheus and Euridice and/or Persephone and Hades. It's winter and summer, yo! But with Tiffany Aching doing a bit of a dance and having to deal with a pretty nice boy who happens to be an elemental.

But on this read, and having more of Terry Pratchett's life in my sights, and especially how the very last novels brought his decline and saying goodbye to the fore, something snuck up on me and bit me in the ass.

This was published in 2006. Terry Pratchett announced to the world how he had a rare form of Alzheimer’s in 2007. I wasn't expecting ANYTHING hinky as I re-read this book, but damn if it didn't catch me anyway.

This book has many hints in it that he was fully aware of his condition. He even spends a lot of his time working out his position, his feelings, and how he intended to fight. Almost the entire novel lends itself to a very clear personal interpretation, from the obvious elements of going into the underworld to losing one's memory and the even more obvious connection to perception and preoccupation with perception. The diagnosis WAS about his atrophying visual cortex. And of course, he was contemplating his eventual death, coming to grips with it.

So what do we think now about the witch who became a myth of herself?

Ah, yes, indeed, Mr. Terry.



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