And so we reach the end of our readalong of Terry Pratchett’s A Hatful of Sky.  This has been a great book for a readalong as it’s such good fun.  If you didn’t join in with the readalong then I would still recommend you read this series.  The Little Red Reviewer and Dab of Darkness have acted as hosts for this.  Questions and answer to follow but read no further if you don’t wish to encounter spoilers and if you do – don’t say I didn’t tell you so!:

1) Mistress Weatherwax has a philosophy of her job is to make sure everyone today can get to tomorrow – such as letting people believe in water sprites and goblins if it lets them lead a better life. Do you see yourself somewhere in this philosophy?

I suppose this is similar to ‘live and let live’ which I would say I do believe in also.  Absolutely let people believe in water sprites if they want – anyway, they’re real aren’t they????

2) Do you think Mr. Weavall will be successful with the Widow Tussy? Do you think Tiffany got off light concerning Mr. Weavall’s stash?

I think Mr Weavall and the Widow will be very happy and probably rack up another 100 years between them with this new lease of life!  I’m not sure about Tiffany getting off lightly really – at the end of the day the Hiver was controlling her – but, she does also realise that the Hiver is just fulfilling your own wishes – so really she did covet the money??  Anyway, she did feel really bad about her actions during the possession and I loved the fact that the Feegles helped her out with this – after all they weren’t using the money, other than for serving plates and they obviously didn’t want her to feel bad for stealing from Mr Weavall.

3) What was your favorite part of Mistress Weatherwax’s and Tiffany’s bonding time in the mountains with the little picnic and the owls and such?

I loved the way that Mistress Weatherwax was always being grumpy but then kind of looking askance at Tiffany to see how she was really reacting.  She tries to act like a real meanie but actually she’s not really.  I enjoyed the part where she was trying to sleep and attract the owl and Tiffany woke her up and scared away the owl.

4) Petulia Gristle heard Tiffany was going to face something nasty and went out to see if she could use some help. Have you ever had an awkward situation like that?

I thought that was really good of Petulia.  I knew she was a good character and I thought it was great when she finally plucked up enough courage to tell Annagramma off!  I don’t know if I’ve had an awkward situation like that – don’t get me wrong I end up in plenty of situations, usually embarrassing and probably more than my full share, but not really like this one.

5) Tiffany has her first and last conversation with the Hiver/Arthur. Did you see Tiffany’s answer to the Hiver dilemma coming or were you taken by surprise?

I was taken by surprise.  I never figured out the conclusion at all and I couldn’t piece together what all her talk about wishes was about.  I thought the conclusion was more satisfactory than with the Fairy Queen.  And, I liked that she helped Arthur instead of simply trying to destroy him.

6) The Witch Trials are almost like a county fair, a happy outing for the entire family, or so Granny Weatherwax was grumbling about. What about the affair caught your attention?

You wouldn’t think a bunch of witches at a trial would be a family occasion would you – you could be turned into a toad just for a bit of sport!  I suppose the Mexican standoff with Tiffany and GW was the most stand out part of the trials for me.  You could sort of cut the tension surrounding them as they shared that moment – I really liked that part and thought it was very wise of Tiffany to act as she did.

7) In the final chapter, we learn the meaning of the title of the book. Did you feel this was a good wrap up to the novel?

It was a very satisfying ending.  I liked the fact that she returned to the chalk  to help with the lambing and then created her own hat.  I thought it was interesting to see her changed feelings for Roland and also that he seems to be growing up and basically as with the last book I felt it was quite touching – the way everything returns to Granny Aching and the fact that Tiffany now seems to be taking her place in everyone’s eyes.

Thank you ladies for hosting both these readalongs and taking the time out to come up with all the questions.  It’s been very enjoyable and I’m looking forward to spending time with Tiffany again later in the year. 😀