Terry Pratchett - I Shall Wear Midnight: A Story of Discworld (Discworld Novels)

Terry Pratchett

DOUBLEDAY

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Version 1.0

Epub ISBN 9781409096306

www.randomhouse.co.uk

I SHALL WEAR MIDNIGHT
A DOUBLEDAY BOOK 978 0 385 61107 7
TRADE PAPERBACK 978 0 385 61796 3

Published in Great Britain by Doubleday,
an imprint of Random House Childrens Books
A Random House Group Company

This edition published 2010

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Copyright Terry and Lyn Pratchett, 2010
Illustrations copyright Paul Kidby, 2010

Discworld is a trademark registered by Terry Pratchett

Chapters 13 and 14 include lyrics from two songs The Larks They Sing Melodious and The Shaking of the Sheets both traditional folksongs where the lyrics are now, to the best of our knowledge, out of copyright. The publishers would be grateful to be notified if this is erroneous and will be happy to make good any errors in future printings.

The right of Terry Pratchett to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

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Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc

BY TERRY PRATCHETT, FOR YOUNG READERS

THE CARPET PEOPLE

THE CARPET PEOPLE Illustrated edition

TRUCKERS

DIGGERS

WINGS

THE BROMELIAD omnibus edition

(contains Truckers , Diggers , Wings )

ONLY YOU CAN SAVE MANKIND*

(*www.ifnotyouthenwho.com)

JOHNNY AND THE DEAD

JOHNNY AND THE BOMB

THE JOHNNY MAXWELL OMNIBUS EDITION

(contains Only You Can Save Mankind , Johnny and the Dead , Johnny and the Bomb )

Discworld novels

THE AMAZING MAURICE AND HIS EDUCATED RODENTS

THE WEE FREE MEN

A HAT FULL OF SKY

WINTERSMITH

I SHALL WEAR MIDNIGHT

THE ILLUSTRATED WEE FREE MEN

The Discworld series: have you read them all?

1. THE COLOUR OF MAGIC

2. THE LIGHT FANTASTIC

3. EQUAL RITES

4. MORT

5. SOURCERY

6. WYRD SISTERS

7. PYRAMIDS

8. GUARDS! GUARDS!

9. ERIC

(illustrated by Josh Kirby)

10. MOVING PICTURES

11. REAPER MAN

12. WITCHES ABROAD

13. SMALL GODS

14. LORDS AND LADIES

15. MEN AT ARMS

16. SOUL MUSIC

17. INTERESTING TIMES

18. MASKERADE

19. FEET OF CLAY

20. HOGFATHER

21. JINGO

22. THE LAST CONTINENT

23. CARPE JUGULUM

24. THE FIFTH ELEPHANT

25. THE TRUTH

26. THIEF OF TIME

27. THE LAST HERO

(illustrated by Paul Kidby)

28. THE AMAZING MAURICE AND HIS EDUCATED RODENTS

(for young readers)

29. NIGHT WATCH

30. THE WEE FREE MEN

(for young readers)

31. MONSTROUS REGIMENT

32. A HAT FULL OF SKY

(for young readers)

33. GOING POSTAL

34. THUD!

35. WINTERSMITH

(for young readers)

36. MAKING MONEY

37. UNSEEN ACADEMICALS

38. I SHALL WEAR MIDNIGHT

(for young readers)

Other books about Discworld

THE SCIENCE OF DISCWORLD

(with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen)

THE SCIENCE OF DISCWORLD II: THE GLOBE

(with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen)

THE SCIENCE OF DISCWORLD III: DARWINS WATCH

(with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen)

THE NEW DISCWORLD COMPANION

(with Stephen Briggs)

NANNY OGGS COOKBOOK

(with Stephen Briggs, Tina Hannan and Paul Kidby)

THE PRATCHETT PORTFOLIO

(with Paul Kidby)

THE DISCWORLD ALMANAK

(with Bernard Pearson)

THE UNSEEN UNIVERSITY CUT-OUT BOOK

(with Alan Batley and Bernard Pearson)

WHERES MY COW?

(illustrated by Melvyn Grant)

THE ART OF DISCWORLD

(with Paul Kidby)

THE WIT AND WISDOM OF DISCWORLD

(compiled by Stephen Briggs)

THE FOLKLORE OF DISCWORLD

(with Jacqueline Simpson)

Discworld maps

THE STREETS OF ANKH-MORPORK

(with Stephen Briggs, painted by Stephen Player)

THE DISCWORLD MAPP

(with Stephen Briggs, painted by Stephen Player)

A TOURIST GUIDE TO LANCRE A DISCWORLD MAPP

(with Stephen Briggs, illustrated by Paul Kidby)

DEATHS DOMAIN

(with Paul Kidby)

A complete list of other books based on the Discworld series illustrated screenplays,
graphic novels, comics and plays, can be found on

www.terry pratchett.co.uk.

Non-Discworld titles

GOOD OMENS

(with Neil Gaiman)

STRATA

THE DARK SIDE OF THE SUN

THE UNADULTERATED CAT

(illustrated by Gray Jolliffe)

A FINE BIG WEE LADDIE

W HY WAS IT , Tiffany Aching wondered, that people liked noise so much? Why was noise so important?

Something quite close sounded like a cow giving birth. It turned out to be an old hurdy-gurdy organ, hand-cranked by a raggedy man in a battered top hat. She sidled away as politely as she could, but as noise went, it was sticky; you got the feeling that if you let it, it would try to follow you home.

But that was only one sound in the great cauldron of noise around her, all of it made by people and all of it made by people trying to make noise louder than the other people making noise. Arguing at the makeshift stalls, bobbing for apples or frogs, cheering the prize fighters and a spangled lady on the high wire, selling candyfloss at the tops of their voices and, not to put too fine a point on it, boozing quite considerably.

The air above the green downland was thick with noise. It was as if the populations of two or three towns had all come up to the top of the hills. And so here, where all you generally heard was the occasional scream of a buzzard, you heard the permanent scream of, well, everyone. It was called having fun . The only people not making any noise were the thieves and pickpockets, who went about their business with commendable silence, and they didnt come near Tiffany; who would pick a witchs pocket? You would be lucky to get all your fingers back. At least, that was what they feared, and a sensible witch would encourage them in this fear.