Tiffany Aching

Terry Pratchett's books are chock full of great characters; the cowardly Rincewind, the conniving Moist Von Lipwig, the philosophical Death. He's also a great writer of female characters, because they are characters first, women second. I can never decide whether my favourite characters of his are Granny Weatherwax, who is such a wonderfully honest person, who tells you what you need to know, as opposed to what you want to know.

Tiffany Aching is another practical character. She hears of a monster in the lake, so WHOPS it with a frying pan. Terrific. She also has a desire to learn, she will look up words in the dictionary, questions the depictions of characters in fairy tales. She has a mind of her own, and that is something Pratchett always admired. This is a great quote that celebrates bothe creation and creator:

“Zoology, eh? That's a big word, isn't it."

"No, actually it isn't," said Tiffany. "Patronizing is a big word. 

Zoology is really quite short.”