Tiffany Aching is having trouble. As a trainee witch she's been assigned to Miss Treason, a terrifying old woman who uses the eyes of whatever is nearby to see (Including Tiffany's own), a boyfriend being held hostage by his evil relatives and just to make matters worse, the spirit of Winter has fallen in love with her. Tiffany Aching has danced with the Wintersmith and once that happens, there's no going back. But how do you reason with a season?

Pratchett's latest foray onto the Discworld is both assured and, like the best of his novels, a remarkably dark story. The highest points of the series have always been the darker ones, from the loss of Twoflower's innocence to the political allegory at the heart of Monstrous Regiment. Here, the darkness comes from something which lies at the heart of almost everyone's worst nightmares; adolescence.

Tiffany's growing realisation of how the world works, whether its her troubled relationship with her boyfriend or her slow education in the politics of witchcraft makes for funny and often poignant reading. She's an utterly convincing adolescent, filled with the desire to do things just because she's not done them before but at the same time older than her years. She's perceptive but not self aware, and much of the book's drama comes from that. She knows she shouldn't get involved with the Wintersmith but at the same time is both flattered and impressed by his attempts to woo her. After all, when every snowflake is shaped like you, its difficult not to be impressed.

Whilst this relationship lies at the heart of the book, there's a lot more going on at the same time. Tiffany's relationship with her mentor, Miss Treason is both touching and sinister. Miss Treason's habit of 'borrowing' the eyes of creatures around her makes for some excellent running gags (Especially as she's fond of borrowing Tiffany's eyes, usually when she has post) and helps make her one of Pratchett's most memorable characters. She shows both the reader and Tiffany a lot about what it means to be a witch and Tiffany's discovery of what exactly 'Boffo' is is one of the highlights of the novel.

However, Tiffany, Miss Treason and co are far from alone in the book. The Wee Mac Feegles make a welcome return as well, intent on protecting 'The Wee Big Hag' as well as stealing everything that isn't nailed down. And fighting. And getting drunk. And trying to steal the nailed down things anyway. Like a grubby, blue tide of Celtic mayhem they sweep down across the book and provide a nice counterpoint to it's darker scenes. With their casual relationship with the truth and profound love for anything that doesn't belong to them the Feegles are a manic counterpart to the careful, subtle Witches and balance the book extremely well.

Combining high drama with a touching exploration of how relationships change, Wintersmith is Pratchett at his best. Packed with skin-crawling moments of horror, well rounded relationships and a laarge tribe of tiny blue men who like stealing things this is Discworld at it's best. Read it and you'll never look at snow in the same way again.