A Hat Full of Sky read along, part 1
Posted on: March 13, 2013
Welcome to the first week of our read along for A Hat Full of Sky, by Terry Pratchett.
This week we’re talking about chapters 1 through 3, which certainly didn’t feel like a hundred pages. I don’t know about you, but it was quite impossible for me to put the book down after only 3 chapters. I wanted to learn more about Tiffany’s new “job”, I can’t get enough of the Feegle, and come on, it’s Terry Pratchett, how can you not want to keep reading?
Here’s the reminder I needed about when to stop:
Post 1: Little Red Reviewer Chapters 1-3, 109 pages, 3/13/13
Post 2: Dab of Darkness Chapters 4-6, 88 pages, 3/20/13
Post 3: LRR Chapters 7-9, 94 pages, 3/27/13
Post 4: DoD Chapters 10-end, 107 pages, 4/3/13
and our discussion questions!
What do you think of Miss Level and her housemate Oswald? Did you guess the secret about her identity before she told Tiffany the truth?
Why kind of witchy stuff do you think Miss Level will start teaching Tiffany?
What do you think of Jeannie? Do you think she’ll get in the way of the Feegle continuing to help Tiffany?
Have your feelings for Roland changed any?
Which is creepier? a Hiver or a Drome?
my answers, spoilers, and maybe some other goodies, after the jump!
leave your link in the comment so I can visit your discussion. 🙂
What do you think of Miss Level and her housemate Oswald? Did you guess the secret about her identity before she told Tiffany the truth?
Poor Miss Level, I feel terrible for her. It’s not her fault she’s the way she is, but people have no idea how to deal with her, so she often gets dealt with badly. Tiffany is obviously a bit weirded out by Miss Level’s strange behavior (you’d behave like that too, if people had treated you like a freak your entire life!), but it’s not Tiffany doesn’t have moments of being beside herself. 😉 I’m looking forward to more kooky conversations with Miss Level, I find her very interesting!
At first I thought Oswald was the other Miss Level, but having an ondageist is way better! Oswald needs to come live with me! So no, I hadn’t really figured out her secret until she sat Tiffany down and told her the truth. Imagine all the tricks Miss Level could play on people, tee hee hee!
Why kind of witchy stuff do you think Miss Level will start teaching Tiffany?
Spells? herbs that heal people? how to not fall off a broomstick? how to cackle appropriatly? I’m sure there will be some practical witchy stuff in there, midwifery and horse whispering and such, but I do hope there is some fun witchy stuff too!
What do you think of Jeannie? Do you think she’ll get in the way of the Feegle continuing to help Tiffany?
Jeannie is in a tough spot. She’s got to keep control of the clan, be the alpha-female, but she does honestly feel a bit bad for Tiffany. That scene where she says she really knows what it’s like to be out there alone and all by herself, that really hit me. Jeannie will never have a best friend, she will never have a sister to share secrets with, she’s locked into her fate and away from her family. I always feel bad for these mythical creatures, locked into their fates as they are. 😦 Jeannie really is a prisoner. arrggg Pratchett! why are you making me feel all these feelings!
Leave it to a human girl to completely screw up clan politics!
Have your feelings for Roland changed any?
I’m happy to say they have changed! at the end of the first book I was down on Roland, even accused him of being a little shit who was already straying down the path of becoming a bigger shit. But the boy has potential all of a sudden to grow up to be a decent human being.
I loved the gift he gave Tiffany. I get the impression that he really thought hard about what she would like, He realized how important her connection to the land is, so got her something to reflect that, something that if you hadn’t seen the White Horse, you wouldn’t have understood the pendant. This is an item for Tiffany alone. Guys who grow up to be jerks don’t give gifts that thoughtful. And the whole passage about “not how horses look, how horses be“, I just loved that.
let it be know that I am on Team Roland!
Which is creepier? a Hiver or a Drome?
Hiver!!! At least with Dromes, I know they don’t really have control over anything they do, that trapping people in dreams and then killing the person is their natural method of eating, not something they choose to maliciously do. Tiffany isn’t scared of a Drome, so I’m not either. But if even Jeannie fears for her husband who may have to face a hiver, then I am going to be scared shitless too. Jeannie ain’t stupid, she knows what’s worth being afraid of.
12 Responses to "A Hat Full of Sky read along, part 1"
[…] everyone. Today is the first week in the A Hat Full of Sky readalong being hosted by Little Red Reviewer and Dab of Darkness. These books are such good fun – if you haven’t read them but […]
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March 13, 2013 at 5:58 pm
Yes, I forgot! My link:
http://lynnsbooks.wordpress.com/2013/03/13/a-hat-full-of-sky-by-terry-pratchett-readalong-week-1/
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March 13, 2013 at 9:25 pm
Not what a horse is, but what a horse be – see that there is true art, capturing that essence of something. And Pratchett does that so well with these books. I know they are ‘kid’ books, but they make me feel so much – humor and serious shit too.
Evil Hiver! If it can worry the Feegle, it must be seriously bad.
Since this book takes place about 2 years after the first, I wonder what the interactions between Tiffany and Roland have been during that time. Apparently there have been enough interactions for her to know how to make the boy blush!
My link: http://dabofdarkness.com/2013/03/13/a-hat-full-of-sky-read-along-part-i/
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March 15, 2013 at 4:12 pm
I always find it interesting that some authors can write ‘kid’ books that still fulfill all our needs as adults so that they don’t actually read as if they were written for kiddies. These tend to be the authors who are happy to confront the darkest themes and ideas head on without shying away from them. I’m thinking here of J.K. Rowling, Philip Pullman and Neil Gaiman, but I think Terry Pratchett does just as well, even though he tends more towards humor than the others.
I love the fact that Tiffany really enjoys torturing poor Roland 😀
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March 14, 2013 at 8:14 am
I’m glad I’m not one of the only ones defending Roland now :). I really like his gift to Tiffany, as well.
Maybe Tiffany and Fion never got on well, but I think Jeannie and Tiffany have some potential as friends. Maybe Jeannie will never have a female Feegle best friend or sister, but I bet that once she gets more of a handle on her life and situation, and Tiffany comes back, they could be close.
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March 15, 2013 at 4:13 pm
I agree that Tiffany could very well fulfill the role of a sister for Jeannie: after all they will both be interested in what is best for the land where they live.
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March 14, 2013 at 11:10 am
Here’s my link (sorry it’s late but I had a brain malfunction):
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March 15, 2013 at 4:05 pm
1. Miss Level certainly seems to have had a very sad life so far: no wonder she lives in the middle of nowhere.
2. I thought cackling was to be avoided at all costs?! 😀
3. I wonder if Jeannie is actually envious of Tiffany’s freedom to chose her fate because, you are right, she doesn’t have much excitement to look forward to in her own life.
4. Go, Team Roland!
5. So far we haven’t come across anything else that the Feegles can’t overcome, so this is a really scary thought.
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March 16, 2013 at 4:29 pm
I love that everyone has different editions, so everyone is posting different cover art. I’m such a nerd, but I love that!
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the Little Red Reviewer 
March 13, 2013 at 5:55 pm
I don’t like those Hivers at all! Creeepppyyy. A bit Evil Deadish – I can hear the music from the film whenever I read about them – when the demon was racing through the woods towards it’s victims…
Actually, I think Oswald needs to come and live with me! He even sorts out the knives and forks – actually he would be in a living hell if he saw my books stacks – oh, and he might tidy them away or rearrange them alphabetically. Okay, you have Oswald and I’ll have Jean (yep, still have a crush on JT)! That only seems fair and JT does seem a bit of a messy character (ahem) so he’ll be right at home.
Lynn 😀
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March 15, 2013 at 4:07 pm
I agree: Oswald would probably be far too neat for comfort . . . I always got the impression that it was Locke that was the messy one . . . 🙂
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