HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Terry Pratchett
OR:
Terry Pratchett on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

Sir Terence David John Pratchett (28 April 1948 – 12 March 2015) was an English humourist,
satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Under Contemporary, 1930-196 ...
, and author of
fantasy novels Fantasy literature is literature set in an imaginary universe, often but not always without any locations, events, or people from the real world. Magic, the supernatural and magical creatures are common in many of these imaginary worlds. Fa ...
, especially comical works. He is best known for his ''
Discworld ''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 ...
'' series of 41 novels. Pratchett's first novel, ''
The Carpet People ''The Carpet People'' is a comic fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett. First published in 1971, it was later re-written by the author when his work became more widespread and well-known. In the Author's Note of the revised edition, ...
'', was published in 1971. The first ''Discworld'' novel, ''
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 ...
'', was published in 1983, after which Pratchett wrote an average of two books a year. The final ''Discworld'' novel, ''
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 ...
'', 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 The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(OBE) in 1998 and was
knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...
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 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 ...
'', the first ''Discworld'' book marketed for children. He received the
World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
in 2010. In December 2007, Pratchett announced that he had been diagnosed with
early-onset Alzheimer's disease Early-onset Alzheimer's disease, also called younger-onset Alzheimer's, is Alzheimer's disease diagnosed before the age of 65. It is an uncommon form of Alzheimer's, accounting for only 5–10% of all Alzheimer's cases. About 60% have a positive ...
. He later made a substantial public donation to the Alzheimer's Research Trust (now Alzheimer's Research UK, ARUK), filmed a television programme chronicling his experiences with the condition for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, and became a patron for ARUK. Pratchett died on 12 March 2015, aged 66.


Biography


Early life

Pratchett was born on 28 April 1948 in
Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...
in
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
, England, the only child of David (1921–2006), a mechanic, and Eileen Pratchett (1922–2010), a secretary, of
Hay-on-Wye Hay-on-Wye ( cy, Y Gelli Gandryll), simply known locally as "Hay" ( cy, Y Gelli), is a market town and community in Powys, Wales; it was historically in the county of Brecknockshire. With over twenty bookshops, it is often described as "the to ...
.Bucks Free Press, p. 121 Sir Terry Pratchett Tribute. 20 March 2015. His maternal grandparents came from
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
. Pratchett attended Holtspur School, where he was bullied for his
speech impediments Speech disorders or speech impairments are a type of communication disorder in which normal speech is disrupted. This can mean stuttering, lisps, etc. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute. Speech skills are ...
. He was bothered by the head teacher, who, he said, thought "he could tell how successful you were going to be in later life by how well you could read or write at the age of six". Pratchett's family moved to Bridgwater,
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
, briefly in 1957. He passed his
eleven plus exam The eleven-plus (11+) is a standardized examination administered to some students in England and Northern Ireland in their last year of primary education, which governs admission to grammar schools and other secondary schools which use academi ...
in 1959, earning a place at High Wycombe Technical High School, where he was a key member of the debating society and wrote stories for the school magazine. Pratchett described himself as a "non-descript" student and, in his ''
Who's Who ''Who's Who'' (or ''Who is Who'') is the title of a number of reference publications, generally containing concise biography, biographical information on the prominent people of a country. The title has been adopted as an expression meaning a gr ...
'' entry, credited his education to the Beaconsfield Public Library. Pratchett's early interests included
astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
. He collected
Brooke Bond Brooke Bond is a brand of tea owned by Ekaterra, formerly an independent tea- trading and manufacturing company in the United Kingdom, known for its PG Tips brand and its Brooke Bond tea cards. History Brooke Bond & Company was founded by ...
tea cards about space, owned a telescope and wanted to be an astronomer, but lacked the necessary mathematical skills. He developed an interest in
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
and attended
science fiction convention Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expre ...
s from about 1963–1964, but stopped a few years later when he got his first job as a trainee journalist at the local paper. His early reading included the works of
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''
Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...
, and "every book you really ought to read", which he later regarded as "getting an education". Pratchett published his first short story, "Business Rivals", in the High Wycombe Technical School magazine in 1962. It is the tale of a man named Crucible who finds the Devil in his flat in a cloud of sulphurous smoke. "The Hades Business", which was published in the school magazine when he was 13, was published commercially when he was 15. Pratchett earned five
O-levels The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...
and started
A-level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...
courses in Art, English and History. His initial career choice was
journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...
and he left school at 17, in 1965, to start an apprenticeship with Arthur Church, the editor of the ''
Bucks Free Press The ''Bucks Free Press'' is a weekly local newspaper, published every Friday and covering the area surrounding High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. It was first published on 19 December 1856. It covers news for south Buckinghamshire - focus ...
''. In this position he wrote, among other things, over 80 stories for the ''Children's Circle'' section under the name Uncle Jim. Two of the stories contain characters found in his novel ''
The Carpet People ''The Carpet People'' is a comic fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett. First published in 1971, it was later re-written by the author when his work became more widespread and well-known. In the Author's Note of the revised edition, ...
'' (1971). While on day release from his apprenticeship, Pratchett finished his A-Level in English and took the
National Council for the Training of Journalists The National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) was founded in 1951 as organisation to oversee the training of journalists for the newspaper industry in the United Kingdom and is now playing a role in the wider media. It is a self-ap ...
proficiency course.


Career

In 1968, Pratchett interviewed Peter Bander van Duren, co-director of a small publishing company, Colin Smythe Ltd. Pratchett mentioned he had written a manuscript, ''
The Carpet People ''The Carpet People'' is a comic fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett. First published in 1971, it was later re-written by the author when his work became more widespread and well-known. In the Author's Note of the revised edition, ...
''. Colin Smythe Ltd published the book in 1971, with illustrations by Pratchett. It received strong, although few, reviews and was followed by the
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
novels ''
The Dark Side of the Sun ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' (10 May 1976) and ''
Strata In geology and related fields, a stratum ( : strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as ei ...
'' (15 June 1981). After various positions in journalism, in 1980 Pratchett became Press Officer for the
Central Electricity Generating Board The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s. It was established on 1 Janua ...
(CEGB) in an area that covered four
nuclear power station A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a generator that produces ele ...
s. He later joked that he had demonstrated "impeccable timing" by making this career change so soon after the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, US, and said he would "write a book about my experiences, if I thought anyone would believe it". The first ''Discworld'' novel, ''
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 ...
'', was published in
hardback A hardcover, hard cover, or hardback (also known as hardbound, and sometimes as case-bound) book is one bound with rigid protective covers (typically of binder's board or heavy paperboard covered with buckram or other cloth, heavy paper, or occa ...
by Colin Smythe Ltd in 1983. The paperback edition was published by Corgi, an
imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...
of Transworld, in 1985. Pratchett's popularity increased when the BBC's ''
Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by ...
'' broadcast ''The Colour of Magic'' as a serial in six parts, and later ''
Equal Rites ''Equal Rites'' is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett. Published in 1987, it is the third novel in the ''Discworld'' series and the first in which the main character is not Rincewind. The title is wordplay on the phrase " Equal Rights". Th ...
''. Subsequently, the hardback rights were taken by the publishing house
Victor Gollancz Ltd Victor Gollancz Ltd () was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century and continues to publish science fiction and fantasy titles as an imprint of Orion Publishing Group. Gollancz was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz, an ...
, which remained Pratchett's publisher until 1997, Colin Smythe having become Pratchett's
agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...
. Pratchett was the first fantasy author published by Gollancz. Pratchett gave up working for the CEGB to make his living through writing in 1987, after finishing the fourth ''Discworld'' novel, ''
Mort ''Mort'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett. Published in 1987, it is the fourth ''Discworld'' novel and the first to focus on the character Death, who only appeared as a side character in the previous novels. The title is the ...
''. His sales increased quickly and many of his books occupied top places on the best-seller list; he was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. According to ''The Times'', Pratchett was the top-selling and highest earning UK author in 1996. Some of his books have been published by Doubleday, another Transworld imprint. In the US, Pratchett is published by
HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...
. According to the ''Bookseller's Pocket Yearbook'' (2005), in 2003 Pratchett's UK sales amounted to 3.4% of the fiction market by hardback sales and 3.8% by value, putting him in second place behind
J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and Philanthropy, philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to ...
(6% and 5.6%, respectively), while in the paperback sales list Pratchett came 5th with 1.2% and 1.3% by value (behind
James Patterson James Brendan Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is an American author. Among his works are the '' Alex Cross'', '' Michael Bennett'', '' Women's Murder Club'', '' Maximum Ride'', '' Daniel X'', '' NYPD Red'', '' Witch & Wizard'', and ''Private'' ...
(1.9% and 1.7%),
Alexander McCall Smith Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE (born 24 August 1948), is a British writer. He was raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and formerly Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He became an expert on medical law and ...
,
John Grisham John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas) is an American novelist, lawyer and former member of the 7th district of the Mississippi House of Representatives, known for his popular legal thrillers. According to the Ame ...
, and
J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...
). He has UK sales of more than 2.5 million copies a year. His 2011 ''Discworld'' novel ''
Snuff Snuff may refer to: Tobacco * Snuff (tobacco), fine-ground tobacco, sniffed into the nose ** Moist snuff or dipping tobacco ** Creamy snuff, an Indian tobacco paste Media and entertainment * Snuff film, a type of film that shows a murder Literat ...
'' became the third-fastest-selling hardback adult-readership novel since records began in the UK, selling 55,000 copies in the first three days.


Alzheimer's disease

In August 2007, Pratchett was misdiagnosed as having had a minor
stroke A stroke is a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and hemorrhagic, due to bleeding. Both cause parts of the brain to stop functionin ...
a few years before, which doctors believed had damaged the right side of his brain. In December 2007, he announced that he had been newly diagnosed with
early-onset Alzheimer's disease Early-onset Alzheimer's disease, also called younger-onset Alzheimer's, is Alzheimer's disease diagnosed before the age of 65. It is an uncommon form of Alzheimer's, accounting for only 5–10% of all Alzheimer's cases. About 60% have a positive ...
, which had been responsible for the "stroke". He had a rare form of
posterior cortical atrophy Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), also called Benson's syndrome, is a rare form of dementia which is considered a visual variant or an atypical variant of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The disease causes atrophy of the posterior part of the cerebral ...
(PCA), a disease in which areas at the back of the brain begin to shrink and shrivel. Describing the diagnosis as an "embuggerance" in a radio interview, Pratchett appealed to people to "keep things cheerful" and proclaimed that "we are taking it fairly philosophically down here and possibly with a mild optimism." He stated he felt he had time for "at least a few more books yet", and added that while he understood the impulse to ask "is there anything I can do?", in this case he would only entertain such offers from "very high-end experts in brain chemistry." Discussing his diagnosis at the
Bath Literature Festival The Bath Literature Festival, held annually in Bath, Somerset, England, was an important date in the national literary calendar, playing host to an array of journalists, novelists, poets, politicians, actors, comedians, writers and biographers b ...
in early 2008, Pratchett revealed that by then he found it too difficult to write dedications when signing books. In his later years Pratchett wrote by dictating to his assistant, Rob Wilkins, or by using
speech recognition Speech recognition is an interdisciplinary subfield of computer science and computational linguistics that develops methodologies and technologies that enable the recognition and translation of spoken language into text by computers with the m ...
software. In March 2008, Pratchett announced he would donate US$1,000,000 (about £494,000) to the Alzheimer's Research Trust, and that he was shocked "to find out that funding for Alzheimer's research is just 3% of that to find cancer cures." He said: "I am, along with many others, scrabbling to stay ahead long enough to be there when the cure comes along." In April 2008, Pratchett worked with the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
to make a two-part documentary series about his illness, ''Terry Pratchett: Living With Alzheimer's''. The first part was broadcast on
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
on 4 February 2009, drawing 2.6 million viewers and a 10.4% audience share. The second, broadcast on 11 February 2009, drew 1.72 million viewers and a 6.8% audience share. The documentary won a
BAFTA award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...
in the Factual Series category. On 26 November 2008, Pratchett met the Prime Minister
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...
and asked for an increase in dementia research funding. Pratchett tested a prototype device to address his condition. The ability of the device to alter the course of the illness has been met with skepticism from Alzheimer's researchers. In an article published 2009, Pratchett stated that he wished to die by
assisted suicide Assisted suicide is suicide undertaken with the aid of another person. The term usually refers to physician-assisted suicide (PAS), which is suicide that is assisted by a physician or other healthcare provider. Once it is determined that the p ...
, a term he disliked, before his disease progressed to a critical point. He later said he felt "it should be possible for someone stricken with a serious and ultimately fatal illness to choose to die peacefully with medical help, rather than suffer". Pratchett was selected to give the 2010 BBC
Richard Dimbleby Lecture The ''Richard Dimbleby Lecture'' (also known as the ''Dimbleby Lecture'') is an annual television lecture founded in memory of Richard Dimbleby (1913—1965), the BBC broadcaster. It has been delivered by an influential business, scientific or ...
, ''Shaking Hands With Death'', broadcast on 1 February 2010. Pratchett introduced his lecture on the topic of assisted death, but the main text was read by his friend
Tony Robinson Sir Anthony Robinson (born 15 August 1946) is an English actor, author, broadcaster, comedian, presenter, and political activist. He played Baldrick in the BBC television series ''Blackadder'' and has presented several historical documentarie ...
because his condition made it difficult for him to read. In June 2011, Pratchett presented a BBC television documentary, '' Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die,'' about assisted suicide. It won the Best Documentary award at the
Scottish BAFTA BAFTA in Scotland is the Scottish branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Formed in 1986, the branch holds two annual awards ceremonies recognising the achievement by performers and production staff in Scottish film, televis ...
s in November 2011. In September 2012, Pratchett told an interviewer: "I have to tell you that I thought I'd be a lot worse than this by now, and so did my specialist." In the same interview, he said that the cognitive part of his mind was "untouched" and his symptoms were physical (normal for PCA). However, in July 2014, he cancelled his appearance at the biennial
International Discworld Convention The International Discworld Convention, also known as DWCon, is a biennial science fiction convention held in the United Kingdom on even-numbered years. DWCon was first held in 1996 by members of the Usenet newsgroup alt.fan.pratchett. The DWCon ...
, citing his condition and "other age-related ailments".


Death

Pratchett died at his home from complications of Alzheimer's disease on the morning of 12 March 2015. He was 66 years old. ''
The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'' reported an unidentified source as saying that despite his previous discussion of assisted suicide, his death had been natural. After Pratchett's death, his assistant, Rob Wilkins, wrote from the official Terry Pratchett
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
account: The use of
small capitals In typography, small caps (short for "small capitals") are characters typeset with glyphs that resemble uppercase letters (capitals) but reduced in height and weight close to the surrounding lowercase letters or text figures. This is technicall ...
is a reference to how the character of
Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
speaks in Pratchett's works. Public figures who paid tribute include British Prime Minister David Cameron, comedian
Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office'' (2001–2003), '' Extras'' (2005–2007), and '' An Idiot Abroad' ...
, and authors
Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...
,
Terry Brooks Terence Dean Brooks (born January 8, 1944) is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly epic fantasy, and has also written two film novelizations. He has written 23 ''New York Times'' bestsellers during his writing career, and ha ...
, Margaret Atwood,
George R. R. Martin George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...
, and
Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
. Pratchett was memorialised in graffiti in East London. The video game companies Frontier Developments and
Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...
added elements to their games named after him. Users of the social news site
Reddit Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...
organised a tribute by which an
HTTP header The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol in the Internet protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web, w ...
, "X-Clacks-Overhead: GNU Terry Pratchett", was added to web sites' responses, a reference to the ''Discworld'' novel ''
Going Postal ''Going Postal'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the 33rd book in his '' Discworld'' series, released in the United Kingdom on 25 September 2004. Unlike most of Pratchett's Discworld novels, ''Going Postal'' is divided in ...
'', in which "the clacks" (a semaphore system, used as ''Discworld'' equivalent to a
telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
) are programmed to repeat the name of its creator's deceased son; the sentiment in the novel is that no one is ever forgotten as long as their name is still spoken. A June 2015 web server survey reported that approximately 84,000 websites had been configured with the header. Pratchett's humanist funeral service was held on 25 March 2015.


Personal life

Pratchett married Lyn Purves at the Congregational Church,
Gerrards Cross Gerrards Cross is a town and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England, separated from the London Borough of Hillingdon at Harefield by Denham, south of Chalfont St Peter and north bordering villages of Fulmer, Hedgerley, Iver Heath and ...
, on 5 October 1968. They moved to
Rowberrow Rowberrow is a small village, within the parish of Shipham, near Churchill and Shipham in Somerset, England. Rowberrow is close to the Dolebury Warren Iron Age hill fort. It is the site of a Bronze Age barrow approximately in diameter, whic ...
,
Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...
, in 1970. Their daughter
Rhianna Pratchett Rhianna Pratchett (born 30 December 1976) is an English video game writer and journalist. She has worked on '' Heavenly Sword'' (2007), ''Overlord'' (2007), '' Mirror's Edge'' (2008) and ''Tomb Raider'' (2013) and its follow up, '' Rise of the ...
, also a writer, was born there in 1976. In 1993, the family moved to Broad Chalke, a village west of
Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...
,
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
. Pratchett was the patron of the Friends of High Wycombe Library. In 2013, he gave a talk at Beaconsfield Library, which he had visited as a child, and donated the income from the event to it. He also visited his former school to speak to the students. Pratchett often wore large, black hats, a style described as "more that of urban cowboy than city gent". Concern for the future of civilisation prompted him to install five kilowatts of
photovoltaic cells A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect, which is a physical and chemical phenomenon.
(for
solar energy Solar energy is radiant light and heat from the Sun that is harnessed using a range of technologies such as solar power to generate electricity, solar thermal energy (including solar water heating), and solar architecture. It is an essenti ...
) at his house.


Interests


Computing

Pratchett started to use computers for writing as soon as they were available to him. His first computer was a
Sinclair ZX81 The ZX81 is a home computer that was produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclair's ZX80 and designed to be a low-co ...
; the first computer he used properly for writing was an Amstrad CPC 464, later replaced by a PC. Pratchett was one of the first authors to routinely use the Internet to communicate with fans, and was a contributor to the
Usenet Usenet () is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979, and it was ...
newsgroup alt.fan.pratchett from 1992. However, he did not consider the Internet a hobby, just another "thing to use". He had many computers in his house, with a bank of six monitors to ease writing. When he travelled, he always took a portable computer with him to write. In a 1995 interview with
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
co-founder
Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...
, Pratchett expressed concern about the potential spread of
misinformation Misinformation is incorrect or misleading information. It differs from disinformation, which is ''deliberately'' deceptive. Rumors are information not attributed to any particular source, and so are unreliable and often unverified, but can turn ...
online. He felt that there was a "kind of parity of esteem of information" on the internet, and gave the example of
holocaust denial Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...
being presented on the same terms as
peer-reviewed Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...
research, with no easy way to gauge reliability. Gates disagreed, saying that online authorities would index and check facts and sources in a much more sophisticated way than in print. The interview was rediscovered in 2019, and seen by Pratchett's biographer as prescient of
fake news Fake news is false or misleading information presented as news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person or entity, or making money through advertising revenue.Schlesinger, Robert (April 14, 2017)"Fake news in reality ...
. Pratchett was a video game player, and collaborated in the creation of a number of game adaptations of his books. He favoured games that are "intelligent and have some depth", citing ''
Half-Life 2 ''Half-Life 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Valve Corporation, Valve. It was published by Valve through its distribution service Steam (service), Steam. Like the original ''Half-Life (video game), Half-Life'' (1998), ''Half- ...
'' (2004) and fan missions for ''
Thief Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
'' as examples. The red army in ''Interesting Times'' prompted comparisons to the 1991 puzzle game ''
Lemmings A lemming is a small rodent, usually found in or near the Arctic in tundra biomes. Lemmings form the subfamily Arvicolinae (also known as Microtinae) together with voles and muskrats, which form part of the superfamily Muroidea, which also include ...
''. When asked about this connection, Pratchett said: "Merely because the red army can fight, dig, march and climb and is controlled by little icons? Can't imagine how anyone thought that ... Not only did I wipe ''Lemmings'' from my hard disk, I overwrote it so I couldn't get it back." He described '' The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion'' (2006) as his favourite video game, and said he used many of its non-combat-oriented fan-made mods.


Natural history

Pratchett had a fascination with natural history that he referred to many times, and he owned a greenhouse full of
carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryot ...
s. He described them in the biographical notes on the dust jackets of some of his books, and elsewhere, as "not as interesting as people think". By ''Carpe Jugulum'' the account had become that "he used to grow carnivorous plants, but now they've taken over the greenhouse and he avoids going in." In 1995, a
fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
sea-turtle from the
Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...
epoch of
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
was named ''
Psephophorus terrypratchetti ''Psephophorus'' is an extinct genus of sea turtle that lived from the Oligocene to the Pliocene. Its remains have been found in Europe, Africa, North America, and New Zealand. It was first named by Hermann von Meyer in 1847, and contains seven s ...
'' in his honour by the palaeontologist Richard Köhler. In 2016, Pratchett fans petitioned the
International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC ) is an international federation of National Adhering Organizations working for the advancement of the chemical sciences, especially by developing nomenclature and terminology. It is ...
(IUPAC) to name
chemical element A chemical element is a species of atoms that have a given number of protons in their nuclei, including the pure substance consisting only of that species. Unlike chemical compounds, chemical elements cannot be broken down into simpler sub ...
117, temporarily called ''ununseptium'', as ''octarine'' with the proposed symbol Oc (pronounced "ook"). The final name chosen for element 117 was ''
tennessine Tennessine is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Ts and atomic number 117. It is the second-heaviest known element and the penultimate element of the 7th period of the periodic table. The discovery of tennessine was officially anno ...
'' with the symbol Ts. Pratchett was a trustee for
Orangutan Foundation Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genus ' ...
but was pessimistic about the future of orangutans. His activities included visiting
Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
with a
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
film crew to make an episode of "Jungle Quest" in 1995, seeing orangutans in their natural habitat. Following Pratchett's lead, fan events such as the Discworld Conventions have adopted Orangutan Foundation as their nominated charity, which has been acknowledged by the foundation. One of Pratchett's most popular fictional characters, the Librarian, is a wizard who was transformed into an orangutan in a magical accident and decides to remain in that condition as it is so convenient for his work.


Amateur astronomy

Pratchett had an observatory built in his back garden and was a keen astronomer from childhood. He made an appearance on the BBC programme ''
The Sky at Night ''The Sky at Night'' is a monthly documentary television programme on astronomy produced by the BBC. The show had the same permanent presenter, Sir Patrick Moore, from its first broadcast on 24 April 1957 until 7 January 2013. The latter date ...
''.


Terry Pratchett First Novel Award

Pratchett sponsored a
biennial Biennial means (an event) lasting for two years or occurring every two years. The related term biennium is used in reference to a period of two years. In particular, it can refer to: * Biennial plant, a plant which blooms in its second year and th ...
award for unpublished science fiction novelists, the
Terry Pratchett First Novel Award The Terry Pratchett First Novel Award is a biennial award for the best unpublished science fiction novel in the Commonwealth of Nations. It is named after British author Terry Pratchett. The book is chosen by a panel of judges previously inclu ...
. The prize is a publishing contract with his publishers Transworld. In 2011 the award was won jointly by David Logan for ''Half Sick of Shadows'' and Michael Logan for ''Apocalypse Cow''. In 2013 the award was won by Alexander Maskill for ''The Hive''.


Sir Terry Pratchett Memorial Scholarship

In 2015, Pratchett's estate announced an in-perpetuity endowment to the
University of South Australia The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...
. The Sir Terry Pratchett Memorial Scholarship supports a Masters scholarship at the university's Hawke Research Institute.


Views on religion

Pratchett, who was brought up in a
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
family, described himself as
atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
and a
humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...
. He was a Distinguished Supporter of Humanists UK (formerly known as the British Humanist Association) and an Honorary Associate of the
National Secular Society The National Secular Society (NSS) is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of it. It was ...
. Pratchett wrote that he read the
Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
as a child and "was horrified", but liked the
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
and thought that Jesus "had a lot of good things to say ... But I could never see the two testaments as one coherent narrative." He then read ''On'' ''the Origin of Species'', which "all made perfect sense ... Evolution was far more thrilling to me than the biblical account." He said he had never disliked religion and thought it had a purpose in
human evolution Human evolution is the evolutionary process within the history of primates that led to the emergence of ''Homo sapiens'' as a distinct species of the hominid family, which includes the great apes. This process involved the gradual development of ...
. In his novel ''Nation'', the protagonist says "It is better to build a seismograph than to worship the volcano", a statement Pratchett said he agreed with. Pratchett told the ''Times'' in 2008: "I believe in the same God that
Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
did ... And it is just possible that once you have got past all the gods that we have created with big beards and many human traits, just beyond all that on the other side of physics, there just may be the ordered structure from which everything flows." In an interview on '' Front Row,'' he described an experience hearing his deceased father's voice and feeling a sense of peace. Commentators took these statements to mean Pratchett had become religious; Pratchett responded in an article published in the ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'' in which he denied that he had found God, and clarified that he believed the voice had come from a memory of his father and sense of personal elation.


Awards and honours


Author

Pratchett received a
knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
for "services to literature" in the 2009 UK New Year Honours list. He was previously appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
, also for "services to literature", in 1998. He formally received the
accolade The accolade (also known as dubbing or adoubement) ( la, benedictio militis) was the central act in the rite of passage ceremonies conferring knighthood in the Middle Ages. From about 1852, the term ''accolade'' was used much more generally to ...
at Buckingham Palace on 18 February 2009. Pratchett commented in the ''
Ansible An ansible is a category of fictional devices or technology capable of near-instantaneous or faster-than-light communication. It can send and receive messages to and from a corresponding device over any distance or obstacle whatsoever with no d ...
'' science fiction/fan newsletter, "I suspect the 'services to literature' consisted of refraining from trying to write any," but added, "Still, I cannot help feeling mightily chuffed about it." On 31 December 2008, it was announced that Pratchett would be
knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...
ed (as a
Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised orders of chivalry; it is a part of the British honours system. Knights Bachelor are the ...
) in the Queen's 2009 New Year Honours. Afterwards he said, "You can't ask a fantasy writer not to want a knighthood. You know, for two pins I'd get myself a horse and a sword." Pratchett was the
British Book Awards The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by '' The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Nationa ...
' 'Fantasy and Science Fiction Author of the Year' for 1994. In 2003,
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
conducted
The Big Read The Big Read was a survey on books carried out by the BBC in the United Kingdom in 2003, where over three-quarters of a million votes were received from the British public to find the nation's best-loved novel of all time. The year-long survey wa ...
to identify the "Nation's Best-loved Novel" and finally published a ranked list of the "Top 200". Pratchett's highest-ranking novel was ''Mort'', number 65, but he and
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
were the only authors with five in the Top 100 (four of his were from the ''
Discworld ''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 ...
'' series). He also led all authors with fifteen novels in the Top 200. Pratchett received the NESFA
Skylark Award The Edward E. Smith Memorial Award for Imaginative Fiction, or Skylark, annually recognizes someone for lifetime contributions to science fiction, "both through work in the field and by exemplifying the personal qualities which made the late 'Doc' ...
in 2009 and the
World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
in 2010. In 2011 he won
Margaret A. Edwards Award The Margaret A. Edwards Award is an American Library Association (ALA) literary award that annually recognizes an author and "a specific body of his or her work, for significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature". It is named afte ...
from the
American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...
, a lifetime honour for "significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature". The librarians cited nine ''Discworld'' novels published from 1983 to 2004 and observed that "Pratchett's tales of Discworld have won over generations of teen readers with intelligence, heart, and undeniable wit. Comic adventures that fondly mock the fantasy genre, the Discworld novels expose the hypocrisies of contemporary society in an intricate, ever-expanding universe. With satisfyingly multilayered plots, Pratchett's humor honors the intelligence of the reader. Teens eagerly lose themselves in a universe with no maps." Pratchett was awarded ten
honorary doctorates An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...
:
University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...
in 1999, the
University of Portsmouth The University of Portsmouth is a public university in Portsmouth, England. It is one of only four universities in the South East England, South East of England rated as Gold in the Government's Teaching Excellence Framework. With approximately 28 ...
in 2001, the
University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...
in 2003, the
University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...
in 2004,
Buckinghamshire New University , mottoeng = By Art and Industry , established = 2007 – gained university status 1891 – Science and Art School , type = Public , staff = , chancellor = Jay Blades , vice_chancellor = Nick Braisby , st ...
in 2008, the
University of Dublin The University of Dublin ( ga, Ollscoil Átha Cliath), corporately designated the Chancellor, Doctors and Masters of the University of Dublin, is a university located in Dublin, Ireland. It is the degree-awarding body for Trinity College Dubl ...
in 2008,
Bradford University The University of Bradford is a public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be created in Britain, but ...
in 2009,
University of Winchester , mottoeng = Wisdom and Knowledge , established = 1840 - Winchester Diocesan Training School1847 - Winchester Training College1928 - King Alfred's College2005 - University of Winchester , type = Public research university ...
in 2009, The
Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
in 2013 for his contribution to Public Service and his last, from the
University of South Australia The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...
, in May 2014. Pratchett was made an adjunct Professor in the School of English at
Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...
in 2010, with a role in postgraduate education in creative writing and popular literature.


Books

Pratchett won the British Science Fiction Award in 1989 for his novel ''
Pyramids A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilate ...
'', and a
Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...
for Best Fantasy Novel in 2008 for ''
Making Money ''Making Money'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, part of his ''Discworld'' series, first published in the UK on 20 September 2007. It is the second novel featuring Moist von Lipwig, and involves the Ankh-Morpork mint and ...
''. He won the 2001 Carnegie Medal from the
British librarians British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
, which recognised ''
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 ...
'' as the year's best children's book published in the UK. '' Night Watch'' won the 2003
Prometheus Award The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society. American author and activist L. Neil Smith established the award in 1979, but it was not awarded regularly until the newl ...
for best libertarian novel. Four of the five ''Discworld'' novels that centre on the trainee witch
Tiffany Aching Tiffany Aching is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's satirical ''Discworld'' series of fantasy novels. Her name in Nac Mac Feegle is Tir-far-thóinn or "Land Under Wave". Tiffany is a trainee witches (Discworld), witch whose growth into ...
won the annual
Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book Winners of the Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book, awarded by the Locus magazine. Awards presented in a given year are for works published in the previous calendar year. The award for Best Young Adult Book was first presented in 2003, and is amo ...
in 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2016. In 2005, ''Going Postal'' was shortlisted for the
Hugo Award for Best Novel The Hugo Award for Best Novel is one of the Hugo Awards given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories published in, or translated to, English during the previous calendar year. The novel award is available for works of fiction of 40,00 ...
; however, Pratchett recused himself, stating that stress over the award would mar his enjoyment of
Worldcon Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ...
. ''
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 ...
'' won the 2010
Andre Norton Award The Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction (formerly the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy) is an annual award presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) to the ...
for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy presented by the
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, doing business as Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, commonly known as SFWA ( or ) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization of professional science fiction and fantasy writers. While ...
(SFWA) as a part of the
Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of profe ...
ceremony. In 2016, SFWA announced that Sir Terry would be the recipient of the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award, presented at the 2016 SFWA Nebula Conference.


Other

An asteroid ( 127005 Pratchett) is named after Pratchett. In 2013, Pratchett was named Humanist of the Year by the
British Humanist Association Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent "people who seek to live good lives without religious or superstitious b ...
for his campaign to fund research into Alzheimers, his contribution to the
right to die The right to die is a concept based on the opinion that human beings are entitled to end their life or undergo voluntary euthanasia. Possession of this right is often understood that a person with a terminal illness, incurable pain, or without t ...
public debate and his Humanist values.


Fanbase

Pratchett's ''Discworld'' novels have led to dedicated conventions, the first in Manchester in 1996, then worldwide, often with the author as guest of honour. Publication of a new novel was sometimes accompanied by an international book signing tour; queues were known to stretch outside the bookshop as the author continued to sign books well after the intended finishing time. His fans were not restricted by age or gender, and he received a large amount of fan mail from them. Pratchett enjoyed meeting fans and hearing what they think about his books, saying that since he was well paid for his novels, his fans were "everything" to him.


Writing

Pratchett said that to write, you must read extensively, both inside and outside your chosen genre and to the point of "overflow". He advised that writing is hard work, and that writers must "make grammar, punctuation and spelling a part of your life." However, Pratchett enjoyed writing, regarding its monetary rewards as "an unavoidable consequence" rather than the reason for writing.


Fantasy genre

Although during his early career he wrote for the sci-fi and horror genres, Pratchett later focused almost entirely on fantasy, and said: "It is easier to bend the universe around the story." In the acceptance speech for his Carnegie Medal, he said: "Fantasy isn't just about wizards and silly wands. It's about seeing the world from new directions", pointing to the ''
Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...
'' novels and ''
The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...
''. In the same speech, he acknowledged benefits of these works for the genre. Pratchett believed he owed "a debt to the science fiction/fantasy genre which he grew up out of" and disliked the term "
magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) Magical (foaled 18 May 2015) is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who excelled over middle distances and was rated in the top twenty racehorses in the world in 2018 and ...
" which, he said, is "like a polite way of saying you write fantasy and is more acceptable to certain people". He expressed annoyance that fantasy is "unregarded as a literary form", arguing that it "is the oldest form of fiction"; he said he was infuriated when novels containing science fiction or fantasy ideas were not regarded as part of those genres. He debated this issue with novelist A. S. Byatt and critic
Terry Eagleton Terence Francis Eagleton (born 22 February 1943) is an English literary theorist, critic, and public intellectual. He is currently Distinguished Professor of English Literature at Lancaster University. Eagleton has published over forty books, ...
, arguing that fantasy is fundamental to the way we understand the world and therefore an integral aspect of all fiction. On 31 July 2005, Pratchett criticised media coverage of the ''Harry Potter'' author
J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and Philanthropy, philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to ...
, commenting that certain members of the media seemed to think that "the continued elevation of J. K. Rowling can be achieved only at the expense of other writers". Pratchett later denied claims that this was a swipe at Rowling, and said that he was not making claims of plagiarism, but was pointing out the "shared heritage" of the fantasy genre. Pratchett also posted on the ''Harry Potter''
newsgroup A Usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from users in different locations using the Internet. They are discussion groups and are not devoted to publishing news. Newsgroups are technically distinct ...
about a media-covered exchange of views with her.


Style and themes

Pratchett is known for a distinctive writing style that included a number of characteristic hallmarks. One example is his use of
footnote A note is a string of text placed at the bottom of a page in a book or document or at the end of a chapter, volume, or the whole text. The note can provide an author's comments on the main text or citations of a reference work in support of th ...
s, which usually involve a comic departure from the narrative or a commentary on the narrative, and occasionally have footnotes of their own. Pratchett's earliest ''Discworld'' novels were written largely to parody classic sword-and-sorcery fiction (and occasionally science fiction); as the series progressed, Pratchett dispensed with parody almost entirely, and the ''Discworld'' series evolved into straightforward (though still comedic) satire. Pratchett had a tendency to avoid using chapters, arguing in a
Book Sense IndieBound is a marketing movement for independent bookstores launched in 2008 by the American Booksellers Association. With resources targeted for "indie" booksellers, it promotes fiscal localism. IndieBound's curated reading lists include the I ...
interview that "life does not happen in regular chapters, nor do movies, and
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
did not write in chapters", adding "I'm blessed if I know what function they serve in books for adults". However, there were exceptions; ''
Going Postal ''Going Postal'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the 33rd book in his '' Discworld'' series, released in the United Kingdom on 25 September 2004. Unlike most of Pratchett's Discworld novels, ''Going Postal'' is divided in ...
'' and ''
Making Money ''Making Money'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, part of his ''Discworld'' series, first published in the UK on 20 September 2007. It is the second novel featuring Moist von Lipwig, and involves the Ankh-Morpork mint and ...
'' and several of his books for younger readers are divided into chapters. Pratchett he said that he used chapters in the young adult novels because " iseditor screams until edoes", but otherwise felt that they were an unnecessary "stopping point" that got in the way of the narrative. Characters, place names, and titles in Pratchett's books often contain puns, allusions and cultural references. Some characters are parodies of well-known characters: for example, Pratchett's character
Cohen the Barbarian This article contains brief biographies for characters from Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series. This list consists of human characters. For biographies of noted members of the Discworld's "ethnic minorities" (dwarfs, trolls, undead, etc.), ...
, also called Ghengiz Cohen, is a parody of
Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...
and
Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...
, and his character Leonard of Quirm is a parody of
Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
. Another hallmark of his writing was the use of dialogue in small capitals without quotation marks, used to indicate the character of Death communicating
telepathic Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...
ally into a character's mind. Other characters or types of characters were given similarly distinctive ways of speaking, such as the auditors of reality not having quotation marks around the words they speak, Ankh-Morpork grocers never using punctuation correctly, and Golems capitalising each word in their speech. Also, common spelling mistakes were used to indicate a person's level of literacy. ''Discworld'' novels often included a modern innovation and its introduction to the world's
medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
setting, such as a public police force (''
Guards! Guards! ''Guards! Guards!'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the eighth in the '' Discworld'' series, first published in 1989. It is the first novel about the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. The first ''Discworld'' point-and-click adventu ...
''), guns (''
Men at Arms A man-at-arms was a soldier of the High Medieval to Renaissance periods who was typically well-versed in the use of arms and served as a fully-armoured heavy cavalryman. A man-at-arms could be a knight, or other nobleman, a member of a kni ...
''), submarines ('' Jingo''), cinema ('' Moving Pictures''), investigative journalism (''
The Truth The Truth may refer to: Film * ''The Truth'' (1920 film) starring Madge Kennedy * ''The Truth'' (1960 film) or ''La Vérité'', a French film by Henri-Georges Clouzot starring Brigitte Bardot * ''The Truth'' (1988 film), a Hong Kong trial crim ...
''), the postage stamp (''
Going Postal ''Going Postal'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, the 33rd book in his '' Discworld'' series, released in the United Kingdom on 25 September 2004. Unlike most of Pratchett's Discworld novels, ''Going Postal'' is divided in ...
''), modern banking (''
Making Money ''Making Money'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, part of his ''Discworld'' series, first published in the UK on 20 September 2007. It is the second novel featuring Moist von Lipwig, and involves the Ankh-Morpork mint and ...
''), and the steam engine (''
Raising Steam ''Raising Steam'' is the 40th ''Discworld'' novel, written by Terry Pratchett. It was the penultimate one, published before his death in 2015. Originally due to be published on 24 October 2013, it was pushed back to 7 November 2013 (and March 18, ...
''). The "clacks", the tower-to-tower semaphore system that sprang up in later novels, is a mechanical optical telegraph (as created by the Chappe brothers and employed during the
French revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
) before wired electric telegraph chains, with all the change and turmoil that such an advancement implies. The resulting social upheaval driven by these changes serves as the setting for the main story.


Influences

Pratchett made no secret of outside influences on his work: they were a major source of his humour. He imported numerous characters from classic literature, popular culture and ancient history, always adding an unexpected twist. Pratchett was a crime novel fan, which was reflected in frequent appearances of the
Ankh-Morpork City Watch The Ankh-Morpork City Watch is the police force of the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork in the ''Discworld'' series by the English writer Terry Pratchett. The Watch, its growth and development, and its inner workings are explored through a series ...
in the ''Discworld'' series. Pratchett was an
only child An only child is a person with no siblings, Birth, by birth or adoption. Children who have half-siblings, step-siblings, or have never met their siblings, either living at the same house or at a different house—especially those who were born con ...
, and his characters are often without siblings. Pratchett explained, "In fiction, only-children are the interesting ones". Pratchett's earliest inspirations were ''
The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and get ...
'' by
Kenneth Grahame Kenneth Grahame ( ; 8 March 1859 – 6 July 1932) was a British writer born in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is most famous for ''The Wind in the Willows'' (1908), a classic of children's literature, as well as ''The Reluctant Dragon (short story), T ...
, and the works of
H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''
Isaac Asimov yi, יצחק אזימאװ , birth_date = , birth_place = Petrovichi, Russian SFSR , spouse = , relatives = , children = 2 , death_date = , death_place = Manhattan, New York City, U.S. , nationality = Russian (1920–1922)Soviet (192 ...
and Arthur C. Clarke. His literary influences were
P.G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jee ...
,
Tom Sharpe Thomas Ridley Sharpe (30 March 1928 – 6 June 2013) was an English satirical novelist, best known for his '' Wilt'' series, as well as ''Porterhouse Blue'' and ''Blott on the Landscape,'' all three of which were adapted for television. Life ...
,
Jerome K. Jerome Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humourist, best known for the comic travelogue ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections '' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow'' (1886) an ...
,
Roy Lewis Roy Lewis (6 November 1913 – 9 October 1996) was an English writer and small press printer. Life and work Although born in Felixstowe, Lewis was brought up in Birmingham and educated at King Edward's School. After studying at Universit ...
,
Alan Coren Alan Coren (27 June 1938 – 18 October 2007) was an English humourist, writer and satirist who was a regular panellist on the BBC radio quiz ''The News Quiz'' and a team captain on BBC television's ''Call My Bluff''. Coren was also a journalis ...
, G. K. Chesterton, and
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
.


Publishing history

While Pratchett's UK publishing history remained quite stable, his relationships with international publishers were turbulent (especially in America). He changed German publishers after an advertisement for
Maggi Maggi ( or ) is an international brand of seasonings, instant soups, and noodles that originated in Switzerland in the late 19th century. The Maggi company was acquired by Nestlé in 1947. History Early history Julius Maggi (1846–1912) ...
soup appeared in the middle of the German-language version of ''Pyramids''.


Works


''Discworld''

Pratchett began writing the ''Discworld'' series in 1983 to "have fun with some of the cliches" and it is a
humorous Humour (Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in th ...
and often
satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...
sequence of stories set in the colourful fantasy Discworld universe. The series contains various story arcs (or sub-series), and a number of free-standing stories. All are set in an abundance of locations in the same detailed and unified world, such as the
Unseen University The Unseen University (UU) is a school of wizardry in Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series of Fantasy literature, fantasy novels. Located in the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork, the UU is staffed by a faculty composed of mostly indolent and ine ...
and 'The Drum/Broken Drum/Mended Drum'
public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
in the twin city Ankh-Morpork, or places in the various continents, regions and countries on the Disc. Characters and locations reappear throughout the series, variously taking major and minor roles. The Discworld is a large disc resting on the backs of four giant elephants, all supported by the giant turtle Great A'Tuin as it swims its way through space. The books are essentially in chronological order, and advancements can be seen in the development of the Discworld civilisations, such as the creation of paper money in Ankh-Morpork. Many of the novels in Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series
parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
real-world subjects such as
film making Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...
,
newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...
publishing,
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
music,
religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
,
philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
,
Ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cult ...
,
Egyptian history The history of Egypt has been long and wealthy, due to the flow of the Nile River with its fertile banks and delta, as well as the accomplishments of Egypt's native inhabitants and outside influence. Much of Egypt's ancient history was a myste ...
, the
Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
, university politics,
trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
s, and the financial world. Pratchett also included further parody as a feature within the stories, including such subjects as
Ingmar Bergman Ernst Ingmar Bergman (14 July 1918 – 30 July 2007) was a Swedish film director, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and playwright. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers of all time, his films are known ...
films, numerous fiction,
science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
, and
fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...
characters, and various bureaucratic and ruling systems.


''The Science of Discworld''

Pratchett wrote four ''Science of Discworld'' books in collaboration with Professor of mathematics Ian Stewart and reproductive biologist Jack Cohen, both of the
University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...
: ''
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 S ...
'' (1999), '' The Science of Discworld II: The Globe'' (2002), '' The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch'' (2005), and '' The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day'' (2013). All four books have chapters that alternate between fiction and non-fiction: the fictional chapters are set within the Discworld universe, where
characters Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
observe, and experiment on, a universe with the same physics as ours. The non-fiction chapters (written by Stewart and Cohen) explain the science behind the fictional events. In 1999, Pratchett appointed both Cohen and Stewart as "Honorary Wizards of the Unseen University" at the same ceremony at which the
University of Warwick The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...
awarded him an honorary degree.


''Folklore of Discworld''

Pratchett collaborated with the folklorist Dr
Jacqueline Simpson Jacqueline Simpson (born 1930) is a prolific, award-winning British researcher and author on folklore.The Folklore of Discworld'' (2008), a study of the relationship between many of the persons, places and events described in the ''Discworld'' books and their counterparts in myths, legends, fairy tales and folk customs on Earth.


Other writing

Pratchett's first two adult novels, ''
The Dark Side of the Sun ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
'' (1976) and ''
Strata In geology and related fields, a stratum ( : strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as ei ...
'' (1981), were both science fiction, the latter taking place partly on a disc-shaped world. Subsequent to these, Pratchett mostly concentrated on his ''Discworld'' series and novels for children, with two exceptions: ''
Good Omens ''Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch'' is a 1990 novel written as a collaboration between the English authors Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. The book is a comedy about the birth of the son of Satan and the c ...
'' (1990), a collaboration with
Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
(which was nominated for both Locus and World Fantasy Awards in 1991), a humorous story about the Apocalypse set on Earth, and ''
Nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...
'' (2008), a book for young adults. After writing ''Good Omens'', Pratchett brainstormed with
Larry Niven Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are ''Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, ''The Mote in God's Eye'' ...
on a story that would become the short novel "
Rainbow Mars ''Rainbow Mars'' is a 1999 science fiction short story collection by American writer Larry Niven. It contains six stories of Hanville Svetz, five previously published and the longest, "Rainbow Mars", written for the collection. The setting of th ...
". Niven eventually completed the story on his own, but states in the afterword that a number of Pratchett's ideas remained in the finished version. Pratchett also collaborated with British science fiction author Stephen Baxter on a parallel earth series. The first novel, entitled ''
The Long Earth ''The Long Earth'' is the first novel in a collaborative science fiction series by British authors Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. Plot summary The "Long Earth" is a (possibly infinite) series of parallel worlds that are similar to Earth, ...
'' was released on 21 June 2012. A second novel, '' The Long War'', was released on 18 June 2013. ''
The Long Mars ''The Long Mars'' is a science fiction novel by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. It is the third in a five-book series of the parallel-Earth sequence ''The Long Earth''. Originally entitled ''The Long Childhood'', it was changed to ''The L ...
'' was published in 2014. The fourth book in the series, ''
The Long Utopia ''The Long Utopia'' is a science fiction novel by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter published on 23 June 2015. It is the fourth in the five-book series of the sequence ''The Long Earth''. Plot ''The Long Utopia'' further follows the adventu ...
'', was published in June 2015, and the fifth, ''
The Long Cosmos ''The Long Cosmos'' is a science fiction novel by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter published on 30 June 2016. It is the final installment in the award-winning five-book parallel-Earth series ''The Long Earth''. It is the fifth book in the ...
'', in June 2016. In 2012, the first volume of Pratchett's collected short fiction was published under the title '' A Blink of the Screen''. In 2014, a similar collection was published of Pratchett's non-fiction, entitled ''
A Slip of the Keyboard ''A Slip of the Keyboard'' is the first non fiction anthology by Terry Pratchett. It was first published in 2014, with foreword by Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion ...
''. Pratchett wrote dialogue for a
mod Mod, MOD or mods may refer to: Places * Modesto City–County Airport, Stanislaus County, California, US Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Mods (band), a Norwegian rock band * M.O.D. (Method of Destruction), a band from New York City, US ...
for the game '' The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion'' (2006), which added a Nord companion named Vilja. He also worked on a similar mod for '' The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim'' (2011), which featured Vilja's great-great-granddaughter.


Children's literature

Pratchett's first children's novel was also his first published novel: ''
The Carpet People ''The Carpet People'' is a comic fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett. First published in 1971, it was later re-written by the author when his work became more widespread and well-known. In the Author's Note of the revised edition, ...
'' in 1971, which Pratchett substantially rewrote and re-released in 1992. The next, ''Truckers'' (1988), was the first in ''
The Nome Trilogy ''The Nome Trilogy'', also known as ''The Bromeliad Trilogy'' or just ''The Bromeliad'', is a trilogy of children's books by British writer Terry Pratchett, consisting of the books ''Truckers'' (1989), ''Diggers'' (1990) and ''Wings'' (1990) ...
'' of novels for young readers (also known as ''The Bromeliad Trilogy''), about small gnome-like creatures called "Nomes", and the trilogy continued in ''Diggers'' (1990) and ''Wings'' (1990). Subsequently, Pratchett wrote the '' Johnny Maxwell'' trilogy, about the adventures of a boy called Johnny Maxwell and his friends, comprising ''
Only You Can Save Mankind ''Only You Can Save Mankind'' (1992 in literature, 1992) is the debut novel, first novel in the Johnny Maxwell trilogy of children's books and fifth young adult fiction, young adult novel by Terry Pratchett, author of the ''Discworld'' sequence ...
'' (1992), ''
Johnny and the Dead ''Johnny and the Dead'' (1993) is the second novel by Terry Pratchett to feature the character Johnny Maxwell. The other novels in the ''Johnny Maxwell Trilogy'' are ''Only You Can Save Mankind'' (1992) and ''Johnny and the Bomb'' (1996). In th ...
'' (1993) and ''
Johnny and the Bomb ''Johnny and the Bomb'' is a 1996 novel by Terry Pratchett. It is the third novel to feature Johnny Maxwell and his friends, and deals with the rules and consequences of time travel. The first two novels in the ''Johnny Maxwell Trilogy'' are '' ...
'' (1996). ''
Nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...
'' (2008) marked his return to the non-''Discworld'' children's novel, and this was followed in 2012 by '' Dodger'', a children's novel set in Victorian London. On 21 November 2013 Doubleday Children's released Pratchett's ''Jack Dodger's Guide to London''. Pratchett also wrote a popular five-book children's series featuring trainee witch
Tiffany Aching Tiffany Aching is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's satirical ''Discworld'' series of fantasy novels. Her name in Nac Mac Feegle is Tir-far-thóinn or "Land Under Wave". Tiffany is a trainee witches (Discworld), witch whose growth into ...
and taking place in his ''Discworld'' universe, beginning with
The Wee Free Men ''The Wee Free Men'' is a 2003 comic fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett, which takes place in his Discworld setting. It is labelled a "Story of Discworld" to indicate its status as children's or young adult fiction, unlike most of ...
in 2003. In September 2014 a collection of children's stories, ''Dragons at Crumbling Castle'', written by Pratchett, and illustrated by Mark Beech, was published. This was followed by another collection, ''The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner'', also illustrated by Mark Beech, in 2016. A third volume, ''Father Christmas's Fake Beard'', was released in 2017. A fourth and final collection, ''The Time-travelling Caveman'', was released in September 2020.


Collaborations and contributions

* ''
The Unadulterated Cat ''The Unadulterated Cat'' by Terry Pratchett, illustrated by Gray Jolliffe, is a book written to promote what Pratchett terms the 'Real Cat', a cat who urinates in the flowerbeds, rips up the furniture, and eats frogs, mice and sundry other small ...
'' (1989) is a humorous book of cat anecdotes written by Pratchett and illustrated by
Gray Jolliffe Graham Jolliffe (born 1937, St Germans, Cornwall, UK) is a British illustrator and cartoonist. His work includes Chloe & Co in the ''Daily Mail'', and the ''Wicked Willie'' character that first appeared in the book, ''Man's Best Friend'' in 1 ...
. * ''Digital Dreams'', edited by David V Barrett (1990), contains the science fiction short story ''"#ifdefDEBUG + "world/enough" + "time"''. * ''More Tales from the Forbidden Planet'' (1990, edited by
Roz Kaveney Roz Kaveney (born 9 July 1949) is a British writer, critic, and poet, best known for her critical works about pop culture and for being a core member of the Midnight Rose collective. Kaveney's works include fiction and non-fiction, poetry, rev ...
) includes the short story "Hollywood Chickens" with an illustration by
Gilbert Shelton Gilbert Shelton (born May 31, 1940) is an American cartoonist and a key member of the underground comix movement. He is the creator of the iconic underground characters ''The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers'', '' Fat Freddy's Cat'', and ''Wonder W ...
. * ''
Good Omens ''Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch'' is a 1990 novel written as a collaboration between the English authors Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. The book is a comedy about the birth of the son of Satan and the c ...
'', written with
Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
(1990) * ''After the King: Stories In Honor of J.R.R. Tolkien'' edited by
Martin H. Greenberg Martin Harry Greenberg (March 1, 1941 – June 25, 2011) was an American academic and anthologist in many genres, including mysteries and horror, but especially in speculative fiction. In all, he compiled 1,298 anthologies and commissioned ov ...
(1992) contains "
Troll Bridge "Troll Bridge" is a Discworld short story, written by Terry Pratchett in 1991 for a collection entitled '' After The King: Stories in Honour of J.R.R. Tolkien''. Set following the events of ''The Light Fantastic'', the story stars Cohen the Barb ...
", a short story featuring
Cohen the Barbarian This article contains brief biographies for characters from Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series. This list consists of human characters. For biographies of noted members of the Discworld's "ethnic minorities" (dwarfs, trolls, undead, etc.), ...
. This story was also published in the compilation ''The Mammoth Book of Comic Fantasy'' (2001, edited by Mike Ashley). * ''Now We Are Sick'', written by
Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
and Stephen Jones (1994), includes the poem called "The Secret Book of the Dead" by Pratchett. * '' The Wizards of Odd'', a short-story compilation edited by Peter Haining (1996), includes a ''Discworld'' short story called "
Theatre of Cruelty The Theatre of Cruelty (french: Théâtre de la Cruauté, also french: Théâtre cruel) is a form of theatre generally associated with Antonin Artaud. Artaud, who was briefly a member of the surrealist movement, outlined his theories in '' The The ...
". * ''The Flying Sorcerers'', another short-story compilation edited by Peter Haining (1997), starts off with a Pratchett story called "Turntables of the Night", featuring
Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
(albeit not set on Discworld, but in our "reality"). * ''
Legends A legend is a historical narrative, a symbolic representation of folk belief. Legend(s) or The Legend(s) may also refer to: Narrative * Urban legend, a widely repeated story of dubious truth * A fictitious identity used in espionage Books, co ...
'', edited by
Robert Silverberg Robert Silverberg (born January 15, 1935) is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Gr ...
(1998), contains a ''Discworld'' short story called "
The Sea and Little Fishes "The Sea and Little Fishes" is a short story by Terry Pratchett, written in 1998. It is set in his ''Discworld'' universe, and features Lancre witches Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg. It was originally published in a sampler alongside a story call ...
". * ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'', edited by
David Pringle David Pringle (born 1 March 1950) is a Scottish science fiction editor and critic. Pringle served as the editor of '' Foundation'', an academic journal, from 1980 to 1986, during which time he became one of the prime movers of the collective whi ...
(1998), has a foreword by Pratchett. * ''
The Leaky Establishment ''The Leaky Establishment'' is a novel by David Langford, first published in June 1984 by Frederick Muller Ltd () and re-issued, with an introduction by Terry Pratchett, in 2001 by Big Engine, then July 2003 by Cosmos Books (). The book draws on ...
'', written by
David Langford David Rowland Langford (born 10 April 1953) is a British author, editor, and critic, largely active within the science fiction field. He publishes the science fiction fanzine and newsletter ''Ansible'', and holds the all-time record for most ...
(1984), has a foreword by Pratchett in later reissues (from 2001). * ''Meditations on
Middle-Earth Middle-earth is the fictional setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the ''Miðgarðr'' of Norse mythology and ''Middangeard'' in Old English works, including ''Beowulf''. Middle-earth is t ...
'', an anthology of essays on Middle Earth compiled by
Karen Haber Karen Haber (born January 9,"She came upon the story somehow, was startled and amused to find that she shared a birthday with its protagonist (...) Her name was Karen Haber (...) Today was her birthday, the seventh of January": introduction to "Ca ...
, contains Pratchett's essay "Cult Classic" (2002) * '' Once More* With Footnotes'', edited by Priscilla Olson and Sheila M. Perry (2004), is "an assortment of short stories, articles, introductions, and ephemera" by Pratchett which "have appeared in books, magazines, newspapers, anthologies, and program books, many of which are now hard to find". These include the short stories "The Sea and Little Fishies", "Troll Bridge", "The Hades Business", "Final Reward", "Hollywood Chickens", "Turntables of the Night", "Once and Future", and "#ifdef DEBUG + 'world/enough' + 'time'", as well as nonfiction articles. * ''The Writers' and Artists' Yearbook 2007'' includes an article by Pratchett about the process of writing fantasy. * The five-book " Long Earth" series written with Stephen Baxter, published between 2012 and 2016 beginning with ''
The Long Earth ''The Long Earth'' is the first novel in a collaborative science fiction series by British authors Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter. Plot summary The "Long Earth" is a (possibly infinite) series of parallel worlds that are similar to Earth, ...
''.


Unfinished texts

According to Pratchett's assistant Rob Wilkins, Pratchett left "an awful lot" of unfinished writing, "10 titles I know of and fragments from many other bits and pieces." Pratchett had mentioned two new texts, ''Scouting for Trolls'' and a ''Discworld'' novel centering on a new character. The notes left behind outline ideas about "how the old folk of the Twilight Canyons solve the mystery of a missing treasure and defeat the rise of a Dark Lord despite their failing memories", "the secret of the crystal cave and the carnivorous plants in the Dark Incontinent", about Constable Feeney of the Watch, first introduced in ''Snuff'', involving how he "solves a whodunnit among the congenitally decent and honest goblins", and on a second book about Amazing Maurice from ''The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents''. Pratchett's daughter, writer Rhianna Pratchett, is the custodian of the ''Discworld'' franchise. She has said she has no plans to publish her father's unfinished work or continue the ''Discworld'' series. Pratchett told Neil Gaiman that anything that he had been working on at the time of his death should be put in the middle of a road and then destroyed by a steamroller. On 25 August 2017, Wilkins fulfilled this wish by crushing Pratchett's hard drive under a steamroller at the
Great Dorset Steam Fair The Great Dorset Steam Fair (abbreviated GDSF, and since 2010 also known as The National Heritage Show) is an annual show featuring steam-powered vehicles and machinery. It now covers and runs for five days. This used to be from the Wednesday ...
.


Television

* ''Terry Pratchett: Living With Alzheimer's'' (2009) * '' Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die'' (2011) * ''Terry Pratchett: Facing Extinction'' (2013) * ''Terry Pratchett: Back In Black'' (2017)


Works about Pratchett

A collection of essays about his writings is compiled in the book ''Terry Pratchett: Guilty of Literature'', edited by
Andrew M. Butler Andrew M. Butler is a British academic who teaches film, media and cultural studies at Canterbury Christ Church University. He is a former editor of ''Vector'', the Critical Journal of the British Science Fiction Association and was membership sec ...
,
Edward James Edward Frank Willis James (16 August 1907 – 2 December 1984) was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement. Early life and marriage James was born on 16 August 1907, the only son of William James (who had inherite ...
and
Farah Mendlesohn Farah Jane Mendlesohn (born 27 July 1968) is a British academic historian, writer on speculative fiction, and active member of science fiction fandom. Mendlesohn is best-known for their 2008 book '' Rhetorics of Fantasy'', which classifies fanta ...
, published by Science Fiction Foundation in 2000 (). A second, expanded edition was published by Old Earth Books in 2004 (). Andrew M. Butler wrote the ''Pocket Essentials Guide to Terry Pratchett'' published in 2001 (). ''Writers Uncovered: Terry Pratchett'' is a biography for young readers by Vic Parker, published by
Heinemann Library Heinemann Library is an imprint of American book publishing company Capstone Publishers Capstone is a publisher of children’s books and digital products. Capstone focuses on the educational market. They also sell to the trade market and intern ...
in 2006 (). A
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typic ...
based on Pratchett's life. ''Terry Pratchett: Back In Black'' was broadcast in February 2017 and starred
Paul Kaye Paul Kaye (born 15 December 1964) is an English comedian and actor. He is known for his portrayals of shock interviewer Dennis Pennis on '' The Sunday Show'', New York lawyer Mike Strutter on MTV's '' Strutter'', Thoros of Myr in HBO's ''Game ...
as Pratchett.
Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...
was involved with the project which used Pratchett's own words. Terry's long term assistant Rob Wilkins stated that Terry was working on this documentary before he died, and according to the BBC, finishing it would "show the author was still having the last laugh". English author, critic and performer Marc Burrows wrote an unofficial biography of Pratchett, ''The Magic of Terry Pratchett'', published by Pen & Sword on 6 July 2020 (). Though it was not endorsed by the Pratchett estate, prior to its publication they did wish Burrows "all the best" regarding the book through the official Pratchett Twitter account. ''The Magic of Terry Pratchett'' met with generally favourable reviews, and won the 2021
Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...
for Non-Fiction. In 2022, Wilkins himself wrote ''Terry Pratchett: A Life with Footnotes'' which is subtitled ''The Official Biography''. The biography was well-received: in
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
, Tristram Fane Saunders wrote that "The joy of this biography by Wilkins is that it spins magic from mundanity in precisely the way Pratchett himself did."


Arms


References


External links

* * * * * *
Bookclub
BBC's
James Naughtie Alexander James Naughtie FRSE (surname pronounced ; born 9 August 1951) is a British radio and news presenter for the BBC. Between 1994 and 2015, he was one of the main presenters of Radio 4's the '' Today programme''. In his 21-plus years ...
and a group of readers talk to Terry Pratchett about his book ''Mort'' (audio)
Terry Pratchett Archive at Senate House Library, University of London

Terry Pratchett talking about The Long Earth with Stephen Baxter
, Royal Institution video, 21 June 2012
Terry Pratchett
Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usu ...
interview, 1997
12 October 2009 radio interview
discussing 'Unseen Academicals' and brain donation a
BBC Wiltshire

Out of the shadows
: Four videos in which Terry Pratchett reveals what it was like to be diagnosed with posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), a rare variant of Alzheimer's disease.
2 May 2007 Live Webchat
transcript at Douglas Adams Continuum *

at ''
The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...
''
On-line video interview for Czech TV (24. 4. 2011)
*
Discworld Monthly
' has been providing monthly Terry Pratchett news since May 1997
Interview with Terry Pratchett, 1994
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pratchett, Terry 1948 births 2015 deaths 20th-century English novelists 21st-century British novelists Absurdist fiction British Book Award winners Carnegie Medal in Literature winners Chess variant inventors Comedy fiction writers Deaths from Alzheimer's disease English atheists English children's writers English fantasy writers English humanists English male journalists English male novelists English male short story writers English people of Irish descent English science fiction writers English short story writers Euthanasia activists GURPS writers Knights Bachelor Margaret A. Edwards Award winners Neurological disease deaths in England Officers of the Order of the British Empire People associated with the Discworld series People educated at John Hampden Grammar School People from Beaconsfield People from Wiltshire Role-playing game designers Usenet people World Fantasy Award-winning writers British satirists British parodists Satirical novelists Parody novelists