The Shepherd's Crown

  • Author: Terry Pratchett
  • Page count: 276
  • Started on: 2025/07/28
  • Finished on: 2025/08/06
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • ★★★★☆

Cover of the audiobook The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett, featuring the title in large gold and white lettering over a blue background with a sand dollar shell at the center, surrounded by illustrated bees. Text at the bottom notes it is “A Tiffany Aching Adventure” performed by Stephen Briggs.

The Shepherd’s Crown is not just the final book in Pratchett’s 5-book series about Tiffany Aching, it is also the last book he wrote before he died from complications of a rare form of Alzheimer’s at age 66 in 2015. This book wraps many of the story arcs from the previous Aching books, with Tiffany stepping in the shoes of Granny Weatherwax who passes away, the queen of the elves finds redemption and friendship, and even Mrs. Earwig turns out to be not as completely useless as she’d seemed in the previous books.

As also said in the afterward by Rob Wilkins, Pratchett didn’t get to finish this book as much as he would have finished the books before. So while the story is all there, it is lacking in some of the finesse and humor of Pratchett’s other writings. The plot feels rushed at times, but I’m just grateful that Sir Terry rounded off Tiffany’s adventures for us in his final days.

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