The Shepherd's Crown

Feels mean to rate it three stars since it's unfinished, but still. Unfortunately missing his usual magic turns of phrase. RIP Terry.

• Note this is an unrated review due to the fact that Sir Pratchett had not completed this book before his death. We are lucky to have gotten something that could work as an ending for Tiffany, for Discworld, and for Terry.
  
  Much of the Tiffany Aching series is an exploration of self which is perfect for young readers. And The Shepherd's Crown is no different as we follow Tiffany as she navigates her grief and is challenged to meet the expectations of many. Once more she overextends herself, but in doing so learns what she wants for herself and is more confident in her path than ever.

The last one ever. The topic is fitting for Pratchett's last book, so much so that it was quite difficult for me to read the first few chapters.
Quite fascinating, how far the Disc has come from it's very traditionally "Fantasy" tropes and settings in the first books to the very current topics and (comparatively) current setting.

GNU PTerry

The plots are still good, but all Terry Pratchett's later books have lost the authentic voices of their characters.

Having previously read and enjoyed almost all the Discworld books, I approached this one with some trepidation. Would it live up to the rest of the series, or would it be a disappointment, and therefore affect my memory of Discworld as a whole.
While not the funniest of the novels, that award goes to the early ones, it still has some great humour. This is mostly generated by the Nac Mac Feegles - always up for a fight, never up for thinking they provide the comedy and the muscle when it is needed. The story centres around Tiffany and the return of the Elves to our world, but things have changed. No only does Granny Weatherwax die early in the story, but the Discworld has progressed and we have trains.
In many ways it is a story about a young woman (don't dare call her a girl) maturing under difficult circumstances. She has already proved her worth (in a previous book), but must now establish herself, and in the most difficult of roles - the 'head' witch.

It is a compelling read, and an up-to-date commentary on our times, it is not in the top half of the series in my opinion, and lacked a really good tense fight scene. The fight was left too late and covered in too little detail, so it was over before the struggle had hardly got under-way. Nevertheless it is a good read.

The 41st and final Discworld book by Terry Pratchett, and the fifth about Tiffany Aching. After the end of the book, the editor's note says that Pratchett's normal method of writing was to get the beginning, ending, and middle in place and then spend quite some time going over the details and revising and polishing and revising again. This book was missing that polish, which the note acknowledges. Pratchett wasn't able to "finish" it in his usual way, so although the framework of the story is there it doesn't feel as complete and polished as his books usually do.

Still, there is a complete story, a new and interesting character joining the witches, and continuation of Tiffany's story, so it's a good read for Discworld fans, but it does feel as if some of the plot points and characters are missing depth they probably would have got if Pratchett had had the time. Very sad to have finished this book, now knowing there will never be a new Discworld book to look forward to. :(

The Discworld still exists out there somewhere in the multiverse, but now you'll have to navigate l-space yourself to find it. With this book Pratchett has left us on a high note.