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The Colour Of Magic
''The Colour of Magic'' is a 1983 fantasy comedy novel by Terry Pratchett, and is the first book of the ''Discworld'' series. The first printing of the British edition consisted of only 506 copies. Pratchett has described it as "an attempt to do for the classical fantasy universe what ''Blazing Saddles'' did for Westerns." Plot summary Setting The story takes place on the Discworld, a planet-sized flat disc carried through space on the backs of four gargantuan elephants – Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon and Jerakeen – who themselves stand on the shell of Great A'Tuin, a gigantic star turtle. The surface of the disc contains oceans and continents, and with them, civilizations, cities, forests and mountains. Summary The story begins in Ankh-Morpork, the biggest city on the Discworld. The main character is an incompetent and cynical wizard named Rincewind, who is hired as a guide to naive Twoflower, an insurance clerk from the Agatean Empire who has come to visit Ankh-Morpor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pyramids (Discworld)
''Pyramids'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, published in 1989, the seventh book in his '' Discworld'' series.Fantastic FictioPyramids (Discworld, book 7) by Terry PratchettRetrieved 2009-05-9 It won the BSFA Award for Best Novel in 1989. Plot summary The main character of ''Pyramids'' is Teppic (short for Pteppicymon XXVIII), the crown prince of the tiny kingdom of Djelibeybi (a pun on the candy Jelly Baby, meaning "Child of the Djel"), the Discworld counterpart to Ancient Egypt. The kingdom, founded seven-thousand years ago and formerly a great empire which dominated the continent of Klatch, has been in debt and recession for generations due to the construction of pyramids for the burial of its pharaohs and now occupies an area two miles wide along the 150-mile-long River Djel. Young Teppic has been in training at the Assassins Guild in Ankh-Morpork Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which features prominently in Terry Pratchett's ''Discwor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragonflight
''Dragonflight'' is a science fiction novel by the American-Irish author Anne McCaffrey. It is the first book in the ''Dragonriders of Pern'' series. First published by Ballantine Books in July 1968, it was a fix-up of two novellas which between them had made McCaffrey the first woman writer to win a Hugo and a Nebula Award. In 1987, '' Locus'' ranked ''Dragonflight'' at number nine among the 33 "All-Time Best Fantasy Novels", based on a poll of subscribers. Origins Two components of ''Dragonflight'' were award-winning novellas published by '' Analog'' science fiction magazine. The first segment, "Weyr Search", illustrated by John Schoenherr, had been the cover story for the October 1967 issue. The second segment, "Dragonrider", appeared in two parts, beginning in December 1967, and was also a cover story illustrated by Schoenherr. "Weyr Search" features a young woman named Lessa being recruited to establish a telepathic bond with a queen dragon at its hatching, thus beco ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anne McCaffrey
Anne Inez McCaffrey (1 April 1926 – 21 November 2011) was an American-Irish writer known for the ''Dragonriders of Pern'' science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, ''Weyr Search'', 1968) and the first to win a Nebula Award (Best Novella, ''Dragonrider'', 1969). Her 1978 novel '' The White Dragon'' became one of the first science-fiction books to appear on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list. In 2005 the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named McCaffrey its 22nd Grand Master, an annual award to living writers of fantasy and science fiction. She was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame on 17 June 2006. She also received the Robert A. Heinlein Award for her work in 2007. Life and career Anne McCaffrey was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the second of three children of Anne Dorothy (née McElroy) and Col. George Herbert McCaffrey. She had two brothers: Hugh ("Mac", died 1988) and Kevin Rich ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lovecraftian
Lovecraftian horror, sometimes used interchangeably with "cosmic horror", is a subgenre of horror fiction and weird fiction that emphasizes the horror of the unknowable and incomprehensible more than gore or other elements of shock. It is named after American author H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937). His work emphasizes themes of cosmic dread, forbidden and dangerous knowledge, madness, non-human influences on humanity, religion and superstition, fate and inevitability, and the risks associated with scientific discoveries, which are now associated with Lovecraftian horror as a subgenre. The cosmic themes of Lovecraftian horror can also be found in other media, notably horror films, horror games, and comics. Origin American author H. P. Lovecraft refined this style of storytelling into his own mythos that involved a set of supernatural, pre-human, and extraterrestrial elements. His work was influenced by authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Algernon Blackwood, Ambrose Bierce, Art ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fritz Leiber
Fritz Reuter Leiber Jr. ( ; December 24, 1910 – September 5, 1992) was an American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction. He was also a poet, actor in theater and films, playwright, and chess expert. With writers such as Robert E. Howard and Michael Moorcock, Leiber is one of the fathers of sword and sorcery and coined the term. Life Fritz Leiber was born December 24, 1910, in Chicago, Illinois, to the actors Fritz Leiber and Virginia Bronson Leiber. For a time, he seemed inclined to follow in his parents' footsteps; the theater and actors feature in his fiction. He spent 1928 touring with his parents' Shakespeare company (Fritz Leiber & Co.) before entering the University of Chicago, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and received an undergraduate Ph.B. degree in psychology and physiology or biology with honors in 1932. From 1932 to 1933, he worked as a lay reader and studied as a candidate for the ministry, without taking a degree, at the General Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fafhrd And The Gray Mouser
Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are two sword-and-sorcery heroes appearing in stories written by American author Fritz Leiber. They are the protagonists of what are probably Leiber's best-known stories. One of his motives in writing them was to have a couple of fantasy heroes closer to true human nature than the likes of Howard's Conan the Barbarian or Burroughs's Tarzan. Fafhrd is a very tall (nearly ) and strong northern barbarian, skilled at both swordsmanship and singing. The Mouser is a small (not much more than ) mercurial thief, gifted and deadly at swordsmanship (often using a sword in one hand and a long dagger or in the other), as well as a former wizard's apprentice who retains some skill at magic. Fafhrd talks like a romantic, but his strength and practicality usually wins through, while the cynical-sounding Mouser is prone to showing strains of sentiment at unexpected times. Both are rogues, living in a decadent world where only the ruthless and cynical survive. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents
''The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents'' is a children's fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, published by Doubleday in 2001. It is the 28th novel in the ''Discworld'' series and the first written for children. The story is a new take on the German fairy tale about the Pied Piper of Hamelin and a parody of the folk tale genre. Pratchett won the annual Carnegie Medal from the British librarians, recognising the year's best children's book published in the U.K. It was his first major award. Series ''Discworld'' had been a comic fantasy series for adults, beginning with ''The Colour of Magic'' in 1983. ''Amazing Maurice'' was marketed as a children's book, to be followed in that respect by '' The Wee Free Men'' (2003, #30). It differs from earlier Discworld novels also by its division into chapters, though chapters become far more common in later books of the series. Contrary to the contrast between adult and child markets, reflected in catalogues, ''The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Shepherd's Crown
''The Shepherd's Crown'' is a comic fantasy novel, the last book written by Terry Pratchett before his death in March 2015. It is the 41st novel in the ''Discworld'' series, and the fifth based on the character Tiffany Aching. It was published in the United Kingdom on 27 August 2015 by Penguin Random House publishers, and in the United States on 1 September 2015. In early June 2015, Pratchett's daughter Rhianna Pratchett announced that ''The Shepherd's Crown'' would be the last ''Discworld'' novel, and that no further work, including unfinished work, would be published. Plot Tiffany Aching is busy running her steading and taking care of the people of the Chalk. Jeannie, the Kelda of the Nac Mac Feegle, is worried that she's overworked. When Granny Weatherwax, Tiffany's mentor, dies, she leaves everything to Tiffany, who becomes the first among equals of the witches. Geoffrey, the third son of Lord Swivel, is well educated, vegetarian and a pacifist. He is dissatisf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Shall Wear Midnight
''I Shall Wear Midnight'' is a comic fantasy novel by English writer Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld. It is the fourth novel within the ''Discworld'' series to be based on the character of Tiffany Aching. It was published on 2 September 2010 in the United Kingdom, and on 28 September in the United States, and won the 2010 Andre Norton Award. It centres on Tiffany Aching, who is now fifteen years old and getting on with the hard work of being a witch. The title is taken from a quotation in ''A Hat Full of Sky'': "When I'm old I shall wear midnight, she'd decided. But for now she'd had enough of darkness." In an interview at the ''Guardian'' Book Club, Pratchett remarked that the book is an urban fantasy. Plot Tiffany is working as the Chalk's only witch in a climate of growing suspicion and prejudice. When the local Baron (for whom she had been caring) dies of poor health, she is accused of murder. Tiffany travels to Ankh-Morpork to inform the Baron's heir, Roland, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wintersmith
''Wintersmith'' is a comic fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, set in the Discworld and written with younger readers in mind. It is labelled a "Story of Discworld" to indicate its status as children's or young adult fiction, unlike most of the books in the ''Discworld'' series. Published on 21 September 2006, it is the third novel in the series to feature the character of Tiffany Aching. It received recognition as a 2007 Best Book for Young Adults from the American Library Association. In 2013 folk-rock band Steeleye Span collaborated with Pratchett, a fan of the band, to produce a '' Wintersmith'' concept album, released in October 2013. Plot Tiffany Aching, now 13 years old, is training with the witch Miss Treason. But when she takes Tiffany to witness the secret "dark morris", the morris dance (performed wearing black clothes and octiron bells) that welcomes in the winter, Tiffany finds herself drawn into the dance and joins in, despite being warned earlier b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Hat Full Of Sky
''A Hat Full of Sky'' is a comic fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld and written with younger readers in mind. It is labelled a "Story of Discworld" to indicate its status as children's or young adult fiction, unlike most of the books in the ''Discworld'' series. First published in 2004, the book is set two years after ''The Wee Free Men'', and features an 11-year-old Tiffany Aching. The book is also a sequel to the ''Discworld'' short story "The Sea and Little Fishes", which introduced the Witch Trials and Mrs Earwig. It is followed by ''Wintersmith''. Plot summary ''A Hat Full of Sky'' by Terry Pratchett is a fantasy novel about a girl who is learning her place as a witch. Early in the novel, Tiffany Aching leaves her home in the chalk country (based on England's chalk country) to act as an apprentice and maid for the elderly witch Miss Level. Her former teacher, Miss Tick, who is also a witch, escorts her to the town of Twoshirts. Wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
