Tiffany Aching is almost sixteen and is now a respected witch across the Chalk. She is taken aback when the death of a local dignitary seems to spark off a burst of hatred and fear towards witches. Her investigation reveals the return of an ancient force of evil, which unleashes bigotry and invective even from mild-mannered people, even from Tiffany's oldest friends and allies. Fortunately the Nac Mac Feegle are unaffected, and with their help Tiffany sets about restoring her reputation.
I Shall Wear Midnight is the thirty-eighth Discworld novel and the fourth to focus on the character of Tiffany Aching, ostensibly the protagonist of a series of books "for younger readers." It's also one of the darker Discworld novels, tapping into the idea that there is a coil of communal hatred in people that can be periodically unleashed for no real reason, and a canny operator can direct that bile towards their own ends.
The book is something of a Greatest Hits of the Ramtops, bringing in Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, though with tremendous restraint Pratchett does not allow them to overwhelm proceedings. We also get a flying visit to Ankh-Morpork complete with cameos from several Ankh-Morpork regulars), a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance by Magrat, and even the return of one of the major protagonists of one of the very first Discworld books and has been puzzlingly MIA for the thirty-five books since. It's the largest-scaled Tiffany book and the one that seems to make the most effort to make her books feel connected to the larger Discworld setting, which it is successful at.
But for all that, the story is focused a lot on Tiffany's personal story. She has found acceptance and respect, but that is suddenly endangered by people deciding they hate her for almost no reason whatsoever. Anyone who has been the victim of bigotry, for whatever reason, especially from people they've known for a long time, can identify with this idea. Pratchett explores the metaphor by making the source of this inexplicable hatred an actual entity, the Cunning Man, but also reinforces it by having it that the Cunning Man can only be defeated, not destroyed totally.
The book alternates between obvious in-your-face humour - the Mac Feegles would be getting tiresome if Pratchett wasn't so good at giving them development, as individuals and a species - and more subtle gags and vigorous poking of the human condition. Like Unseen Academicals before it, this book was written shortly after Pratchett learned of his early-onset Alzheimer's diagnosis. Whilst Unseen Academicals ended up feeling unfocused and distracted, I Shall Wear Midnight feels focused and angry, like Pratchett had decided if he was on his way out, he was going to go out kicking and screaming at the injustices of the world. And as we know from Small Gods, Night Watch and Monstrous Regiment (among others), nothing is more glorious than an angry, articulate Pratchett.
I Shall Wear Midnight (****) is not perfect, it's somewhat overlong and the final confrontation with the Cunning Man is vague at best, but this is otherwise a roaring return form for Pratchett after arguably the weakest book in the series. It's also the strongest outing for Tiffany Aching.
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