The Discworld Companion
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The Discworld Companion
''The Discworld Companion'' is an encyclopaedia of the Discworld fictional universe, created by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs. Four editions have been published, under varying titles. The ''Companion'' contains precise definitions of words, people, places and events that have appeared in at least one ''Discworld'' novel, map, diary or non-fiction book, or in one of the three short stories "Troll Bridge", "Theatre of Cruelty", and "The Sea and Little Fishes". Material is often quoted directly from these sources, but, in each successive edition, also includes information that had not yet been worked into the novels. For instance, William de Worde is mentioned in the first edition of the ''Companion'' six years before the publication of ''The Truth'', the novel in which he is introduced. At the end of each article is an abbreviation indicating the book(s) in which the word, person, event or place appears, though if there are too many, no abbreviation is used. The book include ...
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Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist, satirist, and author of fantasy novels, especially comical works. He is best known for his ''Discworld'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first novel, ''The Carpet People'', was published in 1971. The first ''Discworld'' novel, ''The Colour of Magic'', was published in 1983, after which Pratchett wrote an average of two books a year. The final ''Discworld'' novel, ''The Shepherd's Crown'', was published in August 2015, five months after his death. With more than 85 million books sold worldwide in 37 languages, Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours. In 2001 he won the annual Carnegie Medal for ''The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents'', the first ''Discworld'' book marketed for children. He received the ...
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Soul Music (novel)
''Soul Music'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the sixteenth book in the ''Discworld'' series, first published in 1994. Like many of Pratchett's novels it introduces an element of modern society into the magical and vaguely late medieval, early modern world of the Discworld, in this case Rock and Roll music and stardom, with near disastrous consequences. It also introduces Susan Sto Helit, daughter of Mort and Ysabell and granddaughter of Death. Plot summary A young harpist, Imp Y Celyn from Llamedos (spelled backwards, "sod 'em all", a tribute to Llareggub in Welsh poet Dylan Thomas' ''Under Milk Wood''), comes to Ankh-Morpork in hopes of becoming famous. Unable to afford the Musicians Guild fees, he and fellow unlicensed musicians Lias Bluestone (a troll percussionist) and Glod Glodsson (a dwarf hornblower) form "The Band with Rocks In", named after Lias' tuned rocks. When Imp's harp is destroyed, he acquires a guitar from a mysterious shop, unaware t ...
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Discworld Books
''Discworld'' is a comic fantasy"Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle, ed., ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. book series written by the English author Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat planet balanced on the backs of four elephants which in turn stand on the back of a giant turtle. The series began in 1983 with ''The Colour of Magic'' and continued until the final novel ''The Shepherd's Crown'', which was published in 2015, following Pratchett's death. The books frequently parody or take inspiration from classic works, usually fantasy or science fiction, as well as mythology, folklore and fairy tales, and often use them for satirical parallels with cultural, political and scientific issues. Forty-one ''Discworld'' novels were published. Apart from the first novel in the series, ''The Colour of Magic'', the original British editions of the first 26 novels, up to ''Thief of Time'' (2001), had cover art by Josh Kirby. After Ki ...
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Encyclopedias Of Fictional Worlds
An encyclopedia (American English) or encyclopædia (British English) is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge either general or special to a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries that are arranged alphabetically by article name or by thematic categories, or else are hyperlinked and searchable. Encyclopedia entries are longer and more detailed than those in most dictionaries. Generally speaking, encyclopedia articles focus on ''factual information'' concerning the subject named in the article's title; this is unlike dictionary entries, which focus on linguistic information about words, such as their etymology, meaning, pronunciation, use, and grammatical forms.Béjoint, Henri (2000)''Modern Lexicography'', pp. 30–31. Oxford University Press. Encyclopedias have existed for around 2,000 years and have evolved considerably during that time as regards language (written in a major international or a vernacu ...
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Orbit Books
Orbit Books is an international publisher that specialises in science fiction and fantasy books. It is a division of Lagardère Publishing. History It was founded in 1974 as part of the Macdonald Futura publishing company. In 1992, its parent company was bought by Little, Brown & Co., at that stage part of the Time Warner Book Group. In 1997, Orbit acquired the Legend imprint from Random House. In 2006, Orbit's parent company Little, Brown was sold by Time Warner to the French publishing group Hachette Livre. In summer 2006, it was announced that Orbit would expand internationally, with the establishment of Orbit imprints in the United States and Australia. Orbit Publishing Director Tim Holman relocated to New York to establish Orbit US as an imprint of Hachette Book Group USA. In June 2007, Orbit announced the appointment of Bernadette Foley as publisher for Orbit Australia, an imprint of Hachette Livre Australia. In 2009 Orbit expanded to France, used by the editor Calma ...
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St Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under six imprints. The imprints include St. Martin's Press (mainstream and bestseller books), St. Martin's Griffin (mainstream paperback books, including fiction and nonfiction), Minotaur (mystery, suspense, and thrillers), Castle Point Books (specialty nonfiction), St. Martin’s Essentials (lifestyle), and Wednesday Books (young adult fiction). St. Martin's Press's current editor in chief is George Witte. Jennifer Enderlin was named publisher in 2016. History Macmillan Publishers of the UK founded St. Martin's in 1952 and named it after St Martin's Lane in London, where Macmillan Publishers was headquartered. St. Martin's acquired Tor-Forge Books (science fiction, fantasy, and thrillers). In 1995, Macmillan was sold to Holtzbrinck Publ ...
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The Encyclopedia Of Fantasy
''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' is a 1997 reference work concerning fantasy fiction, edited by John Clute and John Grant. Other contributors include Mike Ashley, Neil Gaiman, Diana Wynne Jones, David Langford, Sam J. Lundwall, Michael Scott Rohan, Brian Stableford and Lisa Tuttle. The book was well-received on publication. During 1998, it received the Hugo Award, World Fantasy Award, and Locus Award. The industry publication ''Library Journal'' described ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' as "the first of its kind". Since November 2012, the full text of ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' is available on-line, as a companion to the on-line edition of ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction''. The editors of ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' have stated that there are not any plans to update ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'', at least for the foreseeable future, although some death dates post-1997 have been added. However, author and theme entries in ''The Encyclopedia of Science ...
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John Grant (author)
Paul le Page Barnett (22 November 1949 – 3 February 2020), known by the pen name of John Grant, was a Scottish writer and editor of science fiction, fantasy, and non-fiction. Biography Born Paul le Page Barnett in Aberdeen, Scotland, Grant has sometimes written under his own name (Paul Barnett), as Eve Devereux, and under various other pseudonyms; he has also ghostwritten a number of books. The author of some 70 books in all (excluding ghostwritten books), he has published several original novels as well as one novel in the Judge Dredd series and, with Joe Dever, 11 novels and a novella collection in the ''Legends of Lone Wolf (gamebooks), Lone Wolf'' series; edited several anthologies, beginning with ''Aries 1'' (1979) and most recently ''New Writings in the Fantastic'' (2007); and has written dozens of nonfiction works, including several relating to fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a ...
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John Clute
John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part of science fiction's history"Davis, MattheJohn Clute: Yakfests of the Empyrean, ''Strange Horizons,'' 18 September 2006. and "perhaps the foremost reader-critic of sf in our time, and one of the best the genre has ever known." He was one of eight people who founded the English magazine '' Interzone'' in 1982 (the others included Malcolm Edwards, Colin Greenland, Roz Kaveney, and David Pringle). Clute's articles on speculative fiction have appeared in various publications since the 1960s. He is a co-editor of ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (with Peter Nicholls) and of ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (with John Grant), as well as the author of ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Science Fiction,'' all of which won Hugo Awards for Be ...
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The Science Of Discworld
''The Science of Discworld'' is a 1999 book by novelist Terry Pratchett and popular science writers (and University of Warwick science researchers) Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen. Three sequels, '' The Science of Discworld II: The Globe'', '' The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch'', and '' The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day'', have been written by the same authors. Following publication of the first book in 1999 Terry Pratchett made both Jack Cohen and Professor Ian Stewart "Honorary Wizards of the Unseen University" at the same ceremony at which the University of Warwick gave Terry Pratchett an honorary degree. The book alternates between a typically absurd ''Discworld'' story and serious scientific exposition after each chapter. The cover of the book, designed by Paul Kidby, is a parody of the 1768 painting " An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump" by Joseph Wright of Derby. Plot summary The Discworld part of the book begins when a new experimental power sourc ...
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Snuff (Pratchett Novel)
''Snuff'' is the 39th novel in the ''Discworld'' series, written by Terry Pratchett. It was published on 11 October 2011 in the United States, and 13 October 2011 in the United Kingdom. The book is the third-fastest-selling novel in the United Kingdom since records began, having sold over 55,000 copies in the first three days. The book is the eighth City Watch story and is based largely around Commander Sir Sam Vimes. Pratchett emphasised that the word 'snuff' has "at least two meanings". Synopsis Commander Sam Vimes is forced by his wife, Lady Sybil, to take a holiday with their son, Young Sam, at her family's mansion Crundells. After a short time of enjoying his holiday, he discovers that the rural community has a dark past with the resident goblins, humanoid lifeforms that live in caves nearby. Vimes finds out that the son of Lord Rust has been enslaving goblins to force them to work on his tobacco plantations in Howondaland, allowing him to manufacture cigars cheaply that are ...
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Night Watch (Discworld)
''Night Watch'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the 29th book in his ''Discworld'' series, and the sixth starring the City Watch, published in 2002. The protagonist of the novel is Sir Samuel Vimes, commander of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. A five-part radio adaptation of the novel was broadcast on BBC Radio 4. ''Night Watch'' placed second in the annual Locus Poll for best fantasy novel. Plot summary On the morning of the 30th anniversary of the Glorious Revolution of the Twenty-Fifth of May (and as such the anniversary of the death of John Keel, Vimes' hero and former mentor), Sam Vimes — whose wife is in labour with their first child — is caught in a storm while pursuing Carcer, a notorious criminal who has murdered several watchmen, to the roof of the Unseen University's Library. He awakens to find that he has somehow been sent back in time. Vimes's first idea is to ask the wizards at the Unseen University to send him home, but before he can ac ...
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