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Discworld is a comedic fantasy book series by the British author Terry Pratchett, 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, 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, technological and scientific issues.
Since the first novel, The Colour of Magic (1983), the series has expanded, spawning several related books and maps, four short stories, cartoons, theatre adaptations, computer games, and music inspired by the series.
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Quotations
It could be worse,.
he said by way of farewell. "It could be me."
Look, I'll be frank,.
he said. "I could point you in the direction of a great brothel.""I've already had lunch," said Mort vaguely.
Nac Mac Feegle! The Wee Free Men! Nae king! Nae quin! Nae laird! Nae master! We willna be fooled again!
Sometimes I really think people ought to have to pass a proper exam before they're allowed to be parents. Not just the practical, I mean.
That was my egg, you bastard!
he screamed, punching the nose. "With soldiers!"
Ye've got tae let me go sooner or later, you big 'natomy!
yelled Rob Anybody. "And then ye're gonna get sich a kickin'!"
Encyclopedia
Discworld is a comedic fantasy book series by the British author Terry Pratchett, 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, 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, technological and scientific issues.
Since the first novel, The Colour of Magic (1983), the series has expanded, spawning several related books and maps, four short stories, cartoons, theatre adaptations, computer games, and music inspired by the series. The first live-action screen adaptation for television (Terry Pratchett's Hogfather) was broadcast over Christmas 2006. A second, two-part TV adaptation of The Colour of Magic was broadcast in March 2008 in the UK.
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, five Discworld books were in the top 100, and a total of fifteen in the top 200.
As of 2008, there have been 36 Discworld novels published, four 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 HarperCollins, 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.
Very few of the Discworld novels have chapter divisions, instead featuring interweaving story-lines. Pratchett is quoted as saying that he "just never got into the habit of chapters", later adding that "I have to shove them in the putative YA books because my editor screams until I do".
However, the first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was divided into "books", as is Pyramids. Additionally, Going Postal and Making Money do indeed have chapters, prologue, epilogue, and brief teasers of what is to come in each chapter, in the style of A. A. Milne, Jules Verne and Jerome K. Jerome.
Storylines
To a greater or lesser degree, Discworld stories stand alone as independent works set in the same fantasy universe. However, a number of novels and stories can be grouped together into grand story arcs dealing with a set number of characters and events. The main threads within the Discworld series are:
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 adventures.
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 (the Discworld's equivalent of China); and The Luggage, a magical, semi-sentient and exceptionally vicious multi-legged travelling accessory. Rincewind has appeared in six Discworld novels as well as the three Science of Discworld supplementary books.
Death
Death is the closest thing the Discworld series has to a main character, in that he appears in every novel except The Wee Free Men, although sometimes with only a few lines, if any. As dictated by tradition, he is a seven-foot-tall skeleton with a black robe and a scythe who sits astride a pale horse (called Binky). He talks in , as he is a skeleton and has no vocal cords, projecting words right into the heads of those he talks to.
The anthropomorphic personification of death, his job is to guide souls onward from this world into the next. Over millennia in the role, Death has developed a fascination with humanity, even going so far as to create a house for himself in his personal pocket 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 The Raven who is "only in it for the eye balls"); and the Auditors of Reality, personifications of the orderly laws of nature, who have declared war on life itself, believing that it is "messy". Since Death cannot exist without life, he finds himself taking its side against the machinations of the Auditors. 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.
The Witches
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 psychology (headology) 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. 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, or, in Magrat's case, Queen of Lancre.
Other characters in the Witches series include: King Verence II of Lancre, a onetime Fool who as a result takes his job as king very seriously; Jason Ogg, Nanny Ogg's eldest son and local blacksmith (and also, like the smiths of old, something of a magician himself); Shawn Ogg, Nanny's youngest son who serves as his country's entire army; 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.
The 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 centre 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 a mystery that frequently has political or societal overtones.
The main character is Sam Vimes (later His Grace, Sir Samuel Vimes, The Duke of Ankh), a haggard, cynical street copper who finds himself swept up in history as his inept cadre of law enforcement officials (comprising nominally human petty thief Nobby Nobbs and perennially lazy Sergeant Colon) grows and takes on new recruits, particularly from the Disc's "minority groups", such as dwarfs, trolls, and the undead.
Other main characters include Carrot Ironfoundersson, (possibly) the rightful heir to the redundant throne of Ankh-Morpork, who thus has a traditional hero's destiny thrust upon him but chooses to ignore it; his girlfriend Angua, a werewolf; Detritus, a troll who in himself represents an entire army; Golem Constable Dorfl, the brute strength of the watch; Cheery Littlebottom, the Watch's forensics expert, who is one of the first dwarfs to be openly female; Sam's wife, Lady Sybil Vimes; and his boss, 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.
The Wizards
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. 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 who, unlike the more orthodox members of the staff, actually wants to learn about the universe; Hex, the Disc's first computer; the Librarian, who was turned into an orangutan by magical accident, an incident mentioned in passing in The Light Fantastic, and has refused all attempts to be turned back; and the Bursar, the clinically insane savant who crunches UU's numbers and subsists on a diet of his own nerves and dried frog pills. In later novels, Rincewind also joins their group.
The Wizards have featured prominently in eight 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
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 hard-drinking, loudmouthed pictsie creatures who serve as her guardians. Both Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg have also appeared in her stories. She has to date appeared in three novels.
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, to which he rather ironically acquitted himself well. A third book, in which Lipwig is ordered to organise the city's taxation system, is planned. Other characters in this series include Adora Belle Dearheart, Lipwig's acerbic, chain-smoking lover, Gladys, a golem who develops a strange crush on Lipwig, and Stanley Howler, a mildly autistic young man who was raised by peas (by, not on) and becomes the Disc's first stamp collector.
The History Monks
The History Monks are a group of vaguely Taoist-like monks who have taken on the job of ensuring that history passes smoothly. They perform their task in two ways: first, their monastery is home to the History Books; 20,000 ten-foot long, lead-bound volumes that record every event of historical relevance as it occurs. Second, they manage and control the flow of time, pumping it from the places where it's wasted (the sea or the desert) to places like cities where there's never enough time. The principal History Monk in the novels is Lu-Tze, nominally the monastery's sweeper but in fact one of the highest ranking monks in the establishment. The History Monks have appeared in three Discworld novels to date.
Themes
Villains
Discworld has a relative lack of recurring or overarching villains. Many of Pratchett's potential villains, such as Lord Vetinari and Lord Downey, are too complex or multifaceted to be simplistically characterised as "evil", while other more standard villains, such as Lord Rust, are depicted merely as egocentric dullards. Principal villains in Discworld novels tend to die or be put similarly out of action by the story's end. The Lovecraftian creatures from the Dungeon Dimensions cannot be considered evil in the traditional sense, since they are utterly amoral.
Elves and Auditors
There are, however, two groups of villains that feature prominently in many of the stories and have, in their own ways, come to represent the force of 'wrongness' in the Discworld: the Auditors of Reality and the Elves.
The Auditors, cosmic bureaucrats who prefer a universe where electrons spin, rocks float in space and imagination is dead, represent the perils of handing yourself over to a completely materialist and deterministic vision of reality, devoid of the myths and stories that make us human. The Elves, innately psychopathic beings who seek to dominate people by usurping their free will with glamour and false magic, represent the dangers of giving yourself over completely to stories and superstition.
Together they appear to reflect the philosophy Pratchett expresses in Hogfather and is a recurring theme throughout the series: that while the stories we weave may not be true, we still need them to continue our existence. However, it would be wrong to categorise the Auditors or Elves simply as 'evil'. While their actions cause misery, it is merely incidental. Elves do not understand the suffering they cause as they have no empathy, while the Auditors are simply a form of supernatural bureaucrat who think humans cause too much inefficiency.
Humans
His good witch, Granny Weatherwax, takes the form of an archetypal evil crone:
- Mrs Earwig would definitely have objected to the cottage. It was out of storybook. The walls leaned against one another for support, the thatched roof was slipping off like a bad wig, and the chimneys were corkscrewed. If you thought a gingerbread house would be too fattening, this was the next worst thing.
- "In a cottage deep in the forest lived the wicked old witch ..."
- It was a cottage out of the nastier kind of fairytale.
- – A Hat Full of Sky
His good public servant, Lord Havelock Vetinari, is an assassin and a tyrant, but acting in his city's best interests as a benevolent dictator nonetheless. It is speculated that he is based on one of the Medici rulers of Renaissance Florence, or perhaps Machiavelli.
In general, Pratchett presents the notion that to be good quite often results in being perceived as bad or evil by the very people you're doing good for, and in many of his stories image is eventually overcome, without fanfare, by substance.
- , said Death.
- – Hogfather
In the Elf books, as elsewhere, he presents the notion that our "world" is subjective, and is constructed internally. In particular, that it is constructed out of stories. Related to this is the idea that most of our experience is filtered out before it reaches consciousness:
- You build little worlds, little stories, little shells around your mind and that keeps infinity at bay and allows you to wake up in the morning without screaming!
- – A Hat Full of Sky
- "All right," said Susan, "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need ... fantasies to make life bearable."
- "Tooth fairies? Hogfathers?"
- "So we can believe the big ones?"
- "They're not the same at all!"
- "Yes. But people have got to believe that or what's the point — "
- – Hogfather
Also in the Elf books, Pratchett presents elves as nasty, evil creatures. This follows original English and Scottish folk songs and stories e.g. Tam Lin, quite in contrast with how they were portrayed by Tolkien which is more commonly known these days.
- Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder.
- Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels.
- Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies.
- Elves are glamorous. They project glamour.
- Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment.
- Elves are terrific. They beget terror.
- The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake, and if you want to find snakes look for them behind words that have changed their meaning.
- Nobody said elves were nice.
- Elves are bad.
- – Lords and Ladies
A large portion of Carpe Jugulum is about "internal struggles", and how pieces of our mind do not always agree with other pieces of our mind (and how some of us feel we have "Darker" selves within us, that we keep deep, deep down). Aside from the obviously "split" mind character (Perdita and Agnes, Good Oats and Bad Oats), it is shown that even characters as decisive as Granny Weatherwax have inner "selves" with whom they struggle.
While central human villains do not recur from novel to novel, the individuals often share certain personality traits. The most prominent of these traits is the lack of the aforementioned "internal struggle". They are villains not because their bad self has won the struggle, but because they never had a conception of good and bad in the first place. This results in a person who is completely dispassionate, egocentric, and lacking most recognizable human emotions. This is very similar to the character of the elves, but portrayed in a more negative light, since such characteristics are inherent in elves as a species, while the reason for a human to act in such a manner is less clear cut. These amoral human villains are often highly intelligent and develop schemes to shape society or the world to conform to their views of how things should work. While the description may not apply to every central villain, many of them could be described as sociopaths. Examples include Mr. Pin("The Truth"), Vorbis (Small Gods) and Mr Teatime (Hogfather). In the book Night Watch Commander Vimes considers that the book's villain, Carcer, is not a madman but is actually dangerously sane, having realised that the laws and conventions most people follow don't have to apply to him if he doesn't want them to.
The theme of racial hatred is touched upon often when Trolls and Dwarfs are present, and forms a significant plot pillar in Thud!, in which the most ardent proponents of racial hatred are the clear villains. In Pratchett's universe, this is termed speciesism: "Racism was not a problem on the Discworld, because — what with trolls and dwarfs and so on — speciesism was more interesting. Black and white lived in perfect harmony and ganged up on green." The problems of racial integration, multiculturalism, and racial hatred are also a topic of Jingo, which also echoes the long held divisions and superstitions between rival great powers, using the metaphor of "two big men in a small room". Such group conflicts in Pratchett's books are often portrayed as pointless contests of power among a ruling class, manufactured for propaganda purposes, with little relevance for the ordinary people involved, as demonstrated in Monstrous Regiment, Jingo, and Night Watch.
Heroes
In several books, characters or narration bring up the question of precisely what constitutes a "hero" and whether there's anything really "heroic" about gung-ho violence.
This is generally the basis for Cohen the Barbarian and the actions of his Silver Horde, as shown in The Last Hero, in which the Patrician points out that when people say that heroes defeat tyrants, steal things from the gods, seduce women and kill monsters, they are, in fact, saying, that heroes murder, steal, rape, and wipe out endangered species. Lord Vetinari also asks the question, "When a tyrant is defeated or a monster killed, who is the person defining the monstrousness of the monster, or the tyranny of the tyrant? The hero. In fact, when a hero kills someone, he is in fact saying that, if you have been killed by a hero, then you are a person who is suitable to be killed by a hero."
Many Discworld stories feature Rincewind, a dour and ill-fated wizard who specialises in the art of the escape. Any 'heroic' actions on Rincewind's part are, for the most part, caused by accident or sheer bad luck, which often puts him straight back into the very situation he was running from in the first place. Rincewind is categorically not a 'hero' in the traditional sense, since he merely wants to be left alone and worships the state of boredom above all others. Many Discworld protagonists share this trait, such as Moving Pictures' Victor Tugelbend and The Truth's William de Worde.
In particular, The Fifth Elephant raises the point of view that if someone can kill a villain and then joke about it, they are no less a murderer than the villain himself. This thought is had by Commander Vimes, who actually considers several possible "quips" after tricking the villain to his death, but declines to say them out loud, raising the prospect (dealt with at greater length in Night Watch, among many other books) that the most effective heroes are natural villains who choose to act in accordance with a particular system of ethics.
Bibliography
Novels
| N° | Name | Published | Group | Notes | Motifs |
|---|
| 1 | The Colour of Magic | 1983 | Rincewind | Came 93rd in the Big Read. | Fantasy clichés, H. P. Lovecraft, tourism, insurance, Dungeons & Dragons | | 2 | The Light Fantastic | 1986 | Rincewind | | Tourism, apocalypse, Conan the Barbarian | | 3 | Equal Rites | 1987 | The Witches, The Wizards | | Gender equality, Quantum Physics | | 4 | Mort | 1987 | Death | Came 65th in the Big Read | Death and its personification, apprenticeship | | 5 | Sourcery | 1988 | Rincewind, The Wizards | | Apocalypse, Kubla Khan, Aladdin, Arabian Nights | | 6 | Wyrd Sisters | 1988 | The Witches | Came 135th in the Big Read | Shakespeare (especially Macbeth and Hamlet), the Globe Theatre, Sleeping Beauty | | 7 | Pyramids | 1989 | Miscellaneous | | Egyptian mythology, quantum physics, British Public Schools, Greek philosophy (including Zeno's paradoxes), United Kingdom driving test | | 8 | Guards! Guards! | 1989 | The City Watch | Came 69th in the Big Read | Cop novels, show dogs, dragons, fraternal organisations, aristocracy, secret societies | | 9 | Faust Eric | 1990 | Rincewind | First published 1990 in a larger format, fully illustrated by Josh Kirby; reissued as a paperback without illustrations. | Faust, Dante's Inferno, Homer's Iliad | | 10 | Moving Pictures | 1990 | Miscellaneous | | Hollywood (especially silent movies and the early years of the studio system), the Cthulhu Mythos, celebrities, King Kong, Gone with the Wind and many other films | | 11 | Reaper Man | 1991 | Death, The Wizards | Came 126th in the Big Read | Death and its personification, Alien invasion SF, Man with No Name, westerns, Minority rights movements, Consumerism | | 12 | Witches Abroad | 1991 | The Witches | Came 197th in the Big Read | The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, fairy tales (especially fairy godmothers),The Hobbit, Voodoo, tourism, Esperanto | | 13 | Small Gods | 1992 | Miscellaneous | Came 102nd in the Big Read | Abrahamic religions, the Spanish Inquisition (with thematic references to Nietzsche), ancient philosophy, Brecht's play Life of Galileo | | 14 | Lords and Ladies | 1992 | The Witches, The Wizards | | Shakespeare (especially A Midsummer Night's Dream), UFOs, fairy lore, the mythopoetic men's movement | | 15 | Men at Arms | 1993 | The City Watch | Came 148th in the Big Read | Cop novels, gun politics, racism, "kings in hiding" | | 16 | Soul Music | 1994 | Death, The Wizards | Came 151st in the Big Read | Rock music, Beatlemania, punk subculture, Woodstock Festival , Welsh language, The Blues Brothers | | 17 | Interesting Times | 1994 | Rincewind, the Wizards | | Imperial China, Maoism, Lemmings | | 18 | Maskerade | 1995 | The Witches | | Opera,gothic novel, The Phantom of the Opera | | 19 | Feet of Clay | 1996 | The City Watch | | Cop novels, I Robot, robots, golem mythology, robocop, atheism, race relations, heraldry, slavery and serfdom | | 20 | Hogfather | 1996 | Death, The Wizards | Came 137th in the Big Read | Christmas, mythology, Mary Poppins | | 21 | Jingo | 1997 | The City Watch | | War, diplomacy, imperialism, xenophobia, multiculturalism, Lawrence of Arabia, jingoism, Captain Nemo, the Cthulhu Mythos, the John F. Kennedy assassination | | 22 | The Last Continent | 1998 | Rincewind, The Wizards | | Australia (Mad Max; The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; Aborigines; Dreamtime); evolution; creation | | 23 | Carpe Jugulum | 1998 | The Witches | | Vampires, existentialism | | 24 | The Fifth Elephant | 1999 | The City Watch | Came 153rd in the Big Read | Diplomacy, Eastern European folklore and literature, Political-conspiracy novels, global economy, national myths, The Fifth Element | | 25 | The Truth | 2000 | Miscellaneous | Came 193rd in the Big Read | Watergate scandal, newspapers, organized crime, yellow journalism, oligarchy, Pulp Fiction | | 26 | Thief of Time | 2001 | Death, the History Monks | Came 152nd in the Big Read | Martial arts, Eastern monastic mysticism, quantum physics, teaching, the 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse (& the Beatles), chocolate lovers, James Bond (especially Q the gadgeteer) | | 27 | The Last Hero | 2001 | Rincewind | Published in a larger format and fully illustrated by Paul Kidby | Legends, Prometheus, Dungeons & Dragons, Apollo program | | 28 | The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents | 2001 | | A YA (young adult or children's) Discworld book; winner of the 2001 Carnegie Medal | The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Beatrix Potter | | 29 | Night Watch | 2002 | The City Watch, the History Monks | Received the Prometheus Award in 2003; came 73rd in the Big Read | Cop novels, Les Misérables, time travel, revolutions | | 30 | The Wee Free Men | 2003 | Tiffany Aching | The second YA Discworld book | Folklore, mythic Scotland (e.g. Braveheart), The Smurfs | | 31 | Monstrous Regiment | 2003 | Miscellaneous | The title is a reference to The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women | Folk songs, Joan of Arc, crossdressing during wartime, the Napoleonic and other wars, single mothers, Taliban, feminism, pacifism | | 32 | A Hat Full of Sky | 2004 | Tiffany Aching, Witches | The third YA Discworld book | The history and folklore of witches in Britain, mind controlling aliens in science fiction | | 33 | Going Postal | 2004 | Moist von Lipwig | | Politics, cons, corporate crime and business practices, monopolies, libertarianism, the postal system and stamp collecting, the Internet, cracking and phreaking, fraternal organizations, alternative medicine, golem and pins | | 34 | Thud! | 2005 | The City Watch | | Cop novels, politics, affirmative action, race relations, chess and tafl games, The Da Vinci Code | | 35 | Wintersmith | 2006 | Tiffany Aching, Witches | The fourth YA book. | The Snow Queen, Orpheus, Persephone, Sleeping Beauty, The Snow Maiden | | 36 | Making Money | 2007 | Moist von Lipwig | | gold standard vs. fiat currency, computer simulation, fraud, golems | | 37 | The Unseen Academicals | 2009 | the Wizards, Mustrum Ridcully | | Association football |
Possible future novels
Pratchett has occasionally hinted at other possible future Discworld novels. These include
- I Shall Wear Midnight a possible future Tiffany Aching novel confirmed by the author at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on October 6, 2007
- Raising Taxes The third book in Moist's series, announced on 21 September 2007 at the book signing in Torrance, CA.
- Scouting for Trolls the title of which would parody Scouting for Boys.
Short stories
There are five short stories by Pratchett based in the Discworld, and an additional short story ("Turntables of the Night"), that is based in the United Kingdom and Death has a featured role:
Four of the short stories along with Discworld miscellany (e.g. the history of Thud and the Ankh-Morpork national anthem) have been collected in a compilation of the majority of Pratchett's known short work named Once More* With Footnotes.
The Mapps
Furthermore, there are four "Mapps":
The first two were drawn by Stephen Player, based on plans by Pratchett and Stephen Briggs, the third is a collaboration between Briggs and Kidby, and the last is by Paul Kidby. All also contain booklets written by Pratchett and Briggs.
Terry Pratchett also admitted: "There are no maps. You can't map a sense of humour."
Science books
Pratchett has also collaborated with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen on three books using the Discworld to illuminate popular science topics. Each book alternates chapters of a Discworld story and notes on real science related to it. The books are:
Quiz books
Two Discworld Quiz books have been compiled by David Langford:
Diaries
Most years see the release of a Discworld Diary and Calendar, both usually following a particular theme.
The diaries feature background information about their themes. Some topics are later used in the series; the concept of female assassins and the character of Miss Alice Band were two notable ideas that first appeared in the Assassins' Guild Yearbook.
The Discworld Almanak - The Year of The Prawn has a similar format and general contents to the diaries.
Other books
Other Discworld publications include:
- The Discworld Portfolio (a collection of Paul Kidby's artwork, with notes by Pratchett)
- The Discworld Companion (an encyclopaedia of Discworld information, compiled by Pratchett and Briggs. An updated version was released in 2003, titled The New Discworld Companion.)
- Nanny Ogg's Cookbook (a collection of Discworld recipes, combined with etiquette, language of flowers etc., written by Pratchett with Stephen Briggs and Tina Hannan)
- The Art of Discworld (another collection of Paul Kidby's art)
- The Discworld Almanak (an almanac for the Discworld year, in the style of the Diaries and the Cookbook, written by Pratchett with Bernard Pearson)
- Where's My Cow? (a Discworld picture book referenced in Thud! and Wintersmith, written by Pratchett with illustrations by Melvyn Grant)
- The Unseen University Cut Out Book (Build your own Unseen University, written by Pratchett with Alan Batley and Bernard Pearson, published 1 October 2006).
- Wit and Wisdom of Discworld (a collection of quotations from the series)
- The Folklore of Discworld (a collaboration with British folklorist Jacqueline Simpson, discussing the myths and folklore used in Discworld)
Reading orders
Reading order is not restricted to publication order; however, each arc may be best read chronologically. Some main characters may make cameo appearances in other books where they are not the primary focus; for example, Carrot Ironfoundersson and Angua von Überwald appear briefly in Going Postal and Making Money. The books take place roughly in real-time and the characters' ages change to reflect the passing of years. No distinction will ever be clear-cut. Many stories (such as The Truth and Monstrous Regiment) nominally stand alone but, nonetheless, tie in heavily with main story-lines. A number of characters, such as members of staff of Unseen University, Lord Vetinari, appear prominently in many different story-lines without having titles of their own. As it is, many of these "standalone" stories deal with the development of the city of Ankh-Morpork into a technologically and magically advanced metropolis that readers will find analogous to real-world cities: for example, The Truth catalogues the rise of a newspaper service for the city, the Ankh-Morpork Times, and Going Postal similarly deals with the development of a postal service and the rise of the Discworld's telecommunications system, called "the clacks".
Adaptations
Stage
Stage adaptations of 15 Discworld novels have been published. The adaptations are by Stephen Briggs (apart from Lords and Ladies by Irana Brown), and were first produced by the Studio Theatre Club in Abingdon, Oxfordshire.
They include adaptations of The Truth, Maskerade, Mort, Wyrd Sisters and Guards! Guards!
Stage adaptations of Discworld novels have been performed on every continent in the world, including Antarctica.
Film & Television
Due in part to the complexity of the novels, Discworld has been difficult to adapt to film – Pratchett is fond of an anecdote of a producer attempting to pitch an adaptation of Mort in early 1990s but told to "lose the Death angle" by US backers.
A list of completed adaptations include:
- Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic (based on both The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic): David Jason played 'Rincewind'. This adaptation aired in the UK over Easter 2008 and also features Terry Pratchett in a brief cameo role as an Astrozoologist.
- Terry Pratchett's Hogfather: In the UK, Sky One commissioned a £6 million 'made for television' adaptation of Hogfather with David Jason playing the role of Albert, which premiered 17/18 December 2006.
- Lords and Ladies: A fan movie adaptation by Almost No Budget Films was completed in Germany.
- Run Rincewind Run!: A Snowgum Films original story created for Nullus Anxietas. Stars Troy Larkin as Rincewind, and features Terry Pratchett himself.
- Cosgrove Hall produced 6x30 minute adaptations of two books for Channel 4 in 1996. These were made available on DVD and VHS in the US from Acorn Media, though they are now out of print. Both series are available on a DVD boxset in Region 2
A list of adaptations in pre-production include:
Radio
There have been several BBC radio adaptations of Discworld stories, including Wyrd Sisters, Guards! Guards! (narrated by Martin Jarvis), The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, Mort and Small Gods. On 27 February 2008, BBC Radio 4 aired the first of a five-part, weekly adaptation of Night Watch.
Audio books
Most of Pratchett's novels have been released as audio books. For the unabridged recordings, books 1-23 in the above list, except for books 3, 6 and 9, are read by Nigel Planer. Books 3 and 6 are read by Celia Imrie. Book 9 and most of the books from 24 onward are read by Stephen Briggs. Abridged versions are read by Tony Robinson.
Comic books
The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Mort and Guards! Guards! have been adapted into graphic novels.
Merchandise
Various other types of related merchandise have been produced by cottage industries with an interest in the books, including Stephen Briggs, Bernard Pearson, Bonsai Trading and Clarecraft.
Music
- Dave Greenslade: Terry Pratchett's From the Discworld, 1994 (Virgin CDV 2738.7243 8 39512 2 2).
- Keith Hopwood: Soul Music - Terry Pratchett's Discworld, 1998 (Proper Music Distribution / Pluto Music TH 030746), soundtrack to the animated adaptation of Soul Music.
Games
Pratchett co-authored with Phil Masters two role-playing game supplements for Discworld, utilising the GURPS system:
- GURPS Discworld (republished as The Discworld Roleplaying Game)
- GURPS Discworld Also
Video games:
The board game, Thud was created by puzzle compiler Trevor Truran. The card game Cripple Mr Onion is adapted from the novels.
See also
External links
- , Terry Pratchett's official website
- (free monthly newsletter about Terry Pratchett OBE and his Discworld and other novels.)
- Home of the Annotated Pratchett File, which details the many references, allusions, parodies and in-jokes in the Discworld novels.
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- Book covers collection from all over the world.
- From Rim To Hub. Includes character lists, quotes, and frequently updated news.
- A searchable database of quotes from Terry Pratchett's novels.
- The shop for Discworld artificats including models, posters, stamps and jewellery
- The UK Discworld Convention
- The North American Discworld Convention
- The Australian Discworld Convention
- Skyone's The Colour of Magic Home Page.
- Paul Kidby's Discworld Art and other stuff.
Portals
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