Unlock the ancient spells of The Witch of Fern Island

The Witch of Fern Island is a popular children's mystery novel written by Edward Ormondroyd. Published in 1967, it follows the story of three siblings who stumble upon an old house on Fern Island and encounter a mysterious woman known as the Witch. The story begins when Jamie, Tom, and Allie Nelson find themselves spending the summer on Fern Island with their Aunt Jocelyn. The island holds many secrets, including an abandoned house rumored to belong to a witch. Naturally curious, the children decide to investigate. One day, while exploring the island, the siblings come across a hidden pathway that leads them to the old house.

"There can only be one t'ousand!" is still based on the "There can be only one" quote from Highlander, as already seen in Carpe Jugulum.

In The Last Hero , he flatly states that he does not wish to join an expedition to explore over the edge of the Disc but, being fully geared for the expedition at the time, clarifies by saying that any amount of protesting on his part is futile, as something will eventually occur that will bring him into the expedition anyway. Her closest friend is Nanny Ogg, a jolly, personable witch with the common touch who enjoys a smoke and a pint of beer, often leading to her singing several folk songs including the Hedgehog song.

One day, while exploring the island, the siblings come across a hidden pathway that leads them to the old house. They cautiously enter and discover a neat and orderly interior, but with a slightly eerie atmosphere. As they explore further, they stumble upon a room filled with broken bottles, dried herbs, and strange symbols on the walls.

Thread: Terry Pratchett's "Wee Free Men" are scottish?

Well, not exactly media as in tv or magazine but I think Sir Terry is one of the best known authors of the UK..

Only recently I had a sudden burst of insight and figured out (yea yea, I'm kinda dense sometimes) that the Wee Free Men were fashioned to the look of a highlander; (they even live "up at the downs"). No idea how many real scots wear bones in their hair or how they feel about being pictured as violence-loving, stealing and cussing, er, vertically challenged gents though.

Anyway, I love the fantastic tales of the Discworld. Any more fans out here?
Mods, feel free to move or delete this thread. I just thought it would be a fun addition..

Last edited by sadkingbilly; 28th July 12 at 04:00 PM . Reason: Used the 'sir' without proper knowledge. Thanks, Mike Oettle!

Join Date 9th June 10 Location Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa Posts 3,121 Mentioned 0 Post(s) Tagged 0 Thread(s)

Oh, yes, the Nack MacFeegle are definitely supposed to be Highlanders (if you allow for the fact that their skins are blue and they only stand a few inches tall!).
They swear like Gleska keelies (at any rate, that is my impression based on reading Pratchett and George Macdonald Fraser�s recollections of his time as an officer in a kilted regiment at the tail end of the Second World War). And they wear a tartan that includes a fair amount of red.
My son is a fanatical Pratchett fan with a large collection of his books. I am not so keen on most of the Discworld novels, but I do have a soft spot for his series about the young witch Tiffany Aching, who is befriended by the Wee Free Men in the first of her stories and who keeps their loyalty (such as it is) through to the most recent of the tales I have read.
Oh, and since Pratchett was made a knight in 2009 he may be called Sir Terence or Sir Terry � but never Sir Pratchett.
Glad to find another fan o� the Feegles!
Regards,
Mike

Join Date 14th January 11 Location Langley, BC, Canada Posts 659 Mentioned 0 Post(s) Tagged 0 Thread(s)

Up the Pictsies! Nac Mac Feegle! Crivens!

(I'm a Terry Pratchett fan, as is our whole family, can you tell? Read his first 20 or so books aloud to the kids as they were growing up. I'm embarrassed to say that when I finally met him at a book-signing in Vancouver many years ago, I actually backed away and bowed to him after he signed our books )

"They can tak' oour lives, but they cannae tak' oour troousers!" This is "They can take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom", from the movie Braveheart.

"Bang went saxpence!" is of those punchlines everyone's forgotten the joke to, reflecting the alleged meanness of the Scots. It comes from a Punch cartoon in which a Scotsman complains about the expense of London. "Mun, a had na' been the-erre abune Twa Hoours when- Bang went Saxpence. "

"Ye'll tak' the high road an' I'll tak' yer wallet!" is based on the refrain of 'The Bonny, Bonny Banks of Loch Lomond': "Ye tak' the high road, and I'll tak' the low road".

"There can only be one t'ousand!" is still based on the "There can be only one" quote from Highlander, as already seen in Carpe Jugulum.

"Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willnae be fooled again!" echoes the sentiments of The Who's song 'Won't get fooled again'.

Last edited by Dale-of-Cedars; 28th July 12 at 09:47 PM .

Any recommendations on a title that would be a good starter? If one hasn't read any of Sir Terence's work?

Join Date 14th January 11 Location Langley, BC, Canada Posts 659 Mentioned 0 Post(s) Tagged 0 Thread(s)

Any recommendations on a title that would be a good starter? If one hasn't read any of Sir Terence's work?

You can either start with book 1 of the Discworld series, The Colour of Magic, or follow the recommended reading order here.

A couple of his non-Discworld books are "Good Omens (1990), a collaboration with Neil Gaiman (which was nominated for both Locus and World Fantasy Awards in 1991), a humorous story about the Apocalypse set on Earth, and Nation (2008), a book for young adults." For more see his wikipedia entry from whence the preceding quote hath been filched.

Last edited by Dale-of-Cedars; 28th July 12 at 11:45 PM .

Join Date 22nd July 12 Location Zwolle, the Netherlands Posts 68 Mentioned 0 Post(s) Tagged 0 Thread(s)

There are several "story lines" troughout the discworld series so it kinda depends on where your fancy lies; best I can do to make it as comprehensive as possible is to quote from Wikipedia (edit, removed most of it. Visit wikipedia for all info. Just left the major storylines):

btw, for the fans, there's a new book out called "The Long Earth", a collaboration of Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter. Nothing to do with discworld but a decent read nonetheless
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discworld

Discworld is a comic fantasy book series by English author Sir Terry Pratchett, [1] set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, [2] Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody, or at least take inspiration from J. R. R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft and William Shakespeare, as well as mythology, folklore and fairy tales, often using them for satirical parallels with current cultural, political and scientific issues. The series is extremely popular and more than 70 million copies have been sold, with translations made into 37 languages. [3]
Since the first novel, The Colour of Magic (1983), 39 Discworld novels have been published as of September 2011, five of which are marketed as children's or "young-adult" (YA) books. The original British editions of the first 26 novels, up to Thief of Time (2001), had distinctive cover art by Josh Kirby; the American editions, published by Harper Collins, used their own cover art. Since Kirby's death in October 2001, the covers have been designed by Paul Kidby. Recent British editions of Pratchett's older novels no longer reuse Kirby's art. There have also been six short stories (some only loosely related to the Discworld), three popular science books, and a number of supplementary books and reference guides. In addition, the series has been adapted for the theatre, as computer games, and as music inspired by the series. The first live-action screen adaptation for television (Terry Pratchett's Hogfather) was broadcast over Christmas 2006 for Sky1. A second, two-part TV adaptation of The Colour of Magic was broadcast on 23 March 2008 in the UK. A third two-part TV adaptation, of Going Postal, was broadcast on 30 and 31 May 2010.
Newly released Discworld books regularly top The Sunday Times best-sellers list, making Pratchett the UK's best-selling author in the 1990s, although he has since been overtaken by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. Discworld novels have also won awards such as the Prometheus Award and the Carnegie Medal. In the BBC's Big Read, four Discworld books were in the top 100, and a total of fourteen in the top 200.

The main threads within the Discworld series are:

Rincewind
Main article: Rincewind
Rincewind was the first protagonist of Discworld; a wizard with no skill, no wizardly qualifications and no interest in heroics. He is the archetypal coward, but is constantly thrust into extremely dangerous adventures. In The Last Hero, he flatly states that he does not wish to join an expedition to explore over the edge of the Disc—but, being fully geared for the expedition at the time, clarifies by saying that any amount of protesting on his part is futile, as something will eventually occur that will bring him into the expedition anyway. As such, he not only constantly succeeds in staying alive, but also saves Discworld on several occasions, and has an instrumental role in the emergence of life on Roundworld (Science of Discworld).
Other characters in the Rincewind story arc include: Cohen the Barbarian, an aging hero of the old fantasy tradition, out of touch with the modern world and still fighting despite his advanced age; Twoflower, a naive tourist from the Agatean Empire (inspired by cultures of the Far East, particularly Japan and China); and The Luggage, a magical, semi-sentient and exceptionally vicious multi-legged travelling accessory, made from sapient pearwood. Rincewind has appeared in six Discworld novels as well as the three Science of Discworld supplementary books.

Death
Main article: Death (Discworld)
Main article: Susan Sto Helit
Death appears in every novel except The Wee Free Men and Snuff, although sometimes with only a few lines. As dictated by tradition, he is a seven-foot-tall skeleton in a black robe who sits astride a pale horse (called Binky). His dialogue is always depicted in small caps, and without quotation marks, as several characters state that Death's voice seems to arrive in their heads without actually passing through their ears as sound.
As the anthropomorphic personification of death, Death has the job of guiding souls onward from this world into the next. Over millennia in the role, he has developed a fascination with humanity, even going so far as to create a house for himself in his personal dimension.
Characters that often appear with Death include his butler Albert; his granddaughter Susan Sto Helit; the Death of Rats, the part of Death in charge of gathering the souls of rodents; Quoth, a talking raven (a parody of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven"); and the Auditors of Reality, personifications of the orderly laws of nature and the closest thing Death has to a nemesis. Death or Susan appear as the main characters in five Discworld novels. He also appears in the short stories Death and What Comes Next, Theatre of Cruelty and Turntables of the Night.
Death also appears in Good Omens written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.

Witches
Main article: Witches (Discworld)
Witches in Pratchett's universe are largely stripped of their modern occultist, Wiccan associations (though Pratchett does frequently use his stories to lampoon such conceptions of witchcraft), and act as herbalists, adjudicators and wise women. That is not to say that witches on the Disc cannot use magic; they simply prefer not to, finding simple but cunningly applied psychology (often referred to as "headology", or sometimes "boffo") far more effective.
The principal witch in the series is Granny Weatherwax, who at first glance seems to be a taciturn, bitter old crone, from the small mountain country of Lancre. She largely despises people but takes on the role of their healer and protector because no one else can do the job as well as she can. Her closest friend is Nanny Ogg, a jolly, personable witch with the "common touch" who enjoys a smoke and a pint of beer, often leading to her singing several folk songs including the Hedgehog song. The two take on apprentice witches, initially Magrat Garlick, then Agnes Nitt, and then Tiffany Aching, who in turn grow on to become accomplished witches in their own right, and, in Magrat's case, Queen of Lancre.
Other characters in the Witches series include: King Verence II of Lancre, a onetime Fool; Jason Ogg, Nanny Ogg's eldest son and local blacksmith; Shawn Ogg, Nanny's youngest son who serves as his country's entire army and civil service; and Nanny's murderous cat Greebo. The witches have appeared in numerous Discworld books, but have featured as main protagonists in seven. They have also appeared in the short story The Sea and Little Fishes. Their stories frequently draw on ancient European folklore and fairy tales, and also parody famous works of literature, particularly by Shakespeare.

City Watch
Main article: Ankh-Morpork City Watch
The stories featuring the Ankh-Morpork City Watch are urban-set, and frequently show the clashes that result when a traditional, magically run fantasy world such as the Disc comes into contact with modern technology and civilization. They center around the growth of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch from a hopeless gang of three to a fully equipped and efficient police force. The stories are largely police procedurals, featuring crimes that have heavy political or societal overtones.
The main character is Sam Vimes, a haggard, cynical, working-class street copper who, when we first meet him in Guards! Guards!, is the drunken/alcoholic Captain of the 2-person Night Watch: lazy, cowardly, and none-too-bright Sergeant Fred Colon and Corporal Nobby Nobbs, a petty thief in his own right. Then Carrot Ironfoundersson, a 6-foot-tall dwarf-by-adoption, comes down from the mountains to join the Watch and do real policing. The Night Watch manages to save the city from a dragon, we learn that Carrot is possibly the rightful heir to the throne of Ankh-Morpork, and the Patrician decides to allow Vimes to create a real police force.
Other main characters include Angua, a werewolf; Detritus, a troll; Reg Shoe, a zombie and Dead Rights campaigner; Cuddy, a Dwarf who appears in Men at Arms; Golem Constable Dorfl; Cheery Littlebottom, the Watch's forensics expert, who is one of the first dwarves to be openly female (and who tried to rename herself "Cheri", but without success); Sam's wife, Lady Sybil Vimes (n�e Ramkin); and Havelock Vetinari, the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork. The City Watch have starred in eight Discworld stories, and have cameoed in a number of others, including the children's book, Where's My Cow? and the short story Theatre of Cruelty.
Pratchett has stated on numerous occasions that the presence of the City Watch makes Ankh-Morpork stories 'problematic', as stories set in the city that do not directly involve Vimes and the Watch often require a Watch presence to maintain the story—at which point, it becomes a Watch story by default.

Wizards
Main article: Unseen University
The Wizards of the Unseen University (UU) have represented a strong thread through many of the Discworld novels, although the only books that they star in exclusively are the Science of the Discworld series and the novels Unseen Academicals and The Last Continent. In the early books, the faculty of UU changed frequently, as rising to the top usually involved assassination. However, with the ascension of the bombastic Mustrum Ridcully to the position of Archchancellor, the hierarchy has settled and characters have been given the chance to develop. The earlier books featuring the wizards also frequently dealt with the possible invasion of the Discworld by the creatures from the Dungeon Dimensions, Lovecraftian monsters that hunger for the magic and potential of the Discworld.
The wizards of UU employ the traditional "whizz-bang" type of magic seen in Dungeons & Dragons games, but also investigate the rules and structure of magic in terms highly reminiscent of particle physics. Prominent members include Ponder Stibbons, a geeky young wizard; Hex, the Disc's first computer/semi-sentient thinking engine; the Librarian, who was turned into an orangutan by magical accident; the Dean; the Bursar; the Chair of Indefinite Studies; the Lecturer in Recent Runes; and the Senior Wrangler. In later novels, Rincewind also joins their group, while the Dean leaves to become the Archchancellor of Brazeneck College.
The Wizards have featured prominently in nine Discworld books and have also starred in the Science of Discworld series and the short story A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices.

Tiffany Aching
Main article: Tiffany Aching
Tiffany Aching is a young apprentice witch and star of a series of Discworld books aimed at young adults. Her stories often parallel mythic heroes' quests, but also deal with Tiffany's difficulties as a young girl maturing into a responsible woman. She is aided in her task by the Nac Mac Feegle, a gang of blue, 6-inch tall, hard-drinking, loudmouthed pictsie creatures also called "The Wee Free Men" who serve as her guardians. Both Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg have also appeared in her stories. She has, to date, appeared in four novels (The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith and I Shall Wear Midnight). Major characters in this series include Miss Tick, who discovered Tiffany; Annagramma Hawkin, Petulia Gristle and Rob Anybody.

Moist von Lipwig
Main article: Moist von Lipwig
Moist von Lipwig is a professional criminal and con man to whom Havelock Vetinari gives a "second chance" after staging his execution, recognising the advantages his jack-of-all-trades abilities would have to the development of the city. After setting him in charge of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office in Going Postal, to good result, Vetinari ordered him to clear up the city's corrupt financial sector in Making Money. A third book, in which Lipwig is ordered to organise the city's taxation system, is planned [citation needed] . Other characters in this series include Adora Belle Dearheart, Lipwig's acerbic, chain-smoking fianc�e; Gladys, a golem who develops a strange crush on Lipwig, Stanley Howler, a mildly autistic young man who was raised by peas and becomes the Disc's first stamp collector, and the very old Junior Postman Groat, who never got promoted to Senior Postman because there was never a Postmaster alive long enough to do so.

By default, Mavericks has a text replacement for the copyright symbol in the form of the three character sequence: (c). You can see this in System Preferences > Keyboard > Text. In Pages, you will need:

It becomes apparent to them that the rumors of a witch living there may be true. They continue to explore the house, becoming more puzzled and intrigued by the strange occurrences they witness. They eventually encounter the witch herself, Mrs. Wilgus, who turns out to be a kind-hearted woman with an extensive knowledge of herbs and healing remedies. She explains that the rumors of her being a witch were started by the superstitious townspeople who were afraid of her unconventional ways. Mrs. Wilgus befriends the children and shares her wisdom with them. She teaches them about the healing properties of herbs and the importance of living in harmony with nature. As the children spend more time with her, they begin to realize that she is not a witch but a misunderstood and lonely woman. However, their newfound friendship with Mrs. Wilgus is put to the test when a suspicious duo arrives on the island, claiming to be long-lost relatives. The siblings begin to suspect foul play and fear that the strangers are after Mrs. Wilgus's belongings. With the help of their Aunt Jocelyn, the children devise a plan to expose the true intentions of the strangers and protect Mrs. Wilgus. Their bravery, intelligence, and loyalty are put to the ultimate test as they work together to unravel the mystery and save their new friend. The Witch of Fern Island combines elements of adventure, mystery, and friendship. Ormondroyd skillfully weaves a captivating tale that explores the themes of prejudice, courage, and the power of understanding. The story not only keeps readers on the edge of their seats but also imparts important life lessons about acceptance and empathy. Overall, The Witch of Fern Island is a delightful and enchanting book that continues to captivate young readers and stands the test of time. It reminds us that appearances can be deceiving and the true value of a person lies in their character rather than the rumors that surround them..

Reviews for "The Witch of Fern Island: Exploring themes of power and destiny"

1. Name: Sarah

Rating: 1/5

Review: I was highly disappointed by "The Witch of Fern Island". The plot was confusing and lacked any real depth. The characters were one-dimensional and unrelatable. The writing style was tedious and disconnected. Overall, it felt like a poorly executed attempt at a fantasy novel. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

2. Name: John

Rating: 2/5

Review: "The Witch of Fern Island" had potential, but it fell short in many ways. The pacing was uneven, making it difficult to stay engaged with the story. The world-building was underdeveloped, leaving gaping holes in the narrative. The dialogue felt forced and unnatural. While the concept had promise, the execution was lacking. I was left feeling unsatisfied and uninterested in continuing the series.

3. Name: Emily

Rating: 2/5

Review: I had high hopes for "The Witch of Fern Island", but unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations. The characters were forgettable and their motivations were unclear. The dialogue was stilted and often felt forced. The plot lacked originality and failed to capture my interest. I found myself struggling to finish the book, and I won't be picking up the sequel. Overall, it was a disappointing read.

4. Name: Michael

Rating: 1/5

Review: "The Witch of Fern Island" was a complete letdown. The writing was amateurish, with excessive adjectives and clichéd phrases. The plot was predictable and lacked any surprises. The protagonist was unlikable and made irrational decisions throughout the story. The world-building was poorly executed, leaving me with more questions than answers. I would not recommend wasting your time on this book.

The Witch of Fern Island: A timeless tale of love, betrayal, and redemption