Terry Pratchett - Rest in Peace you wonderful man

[DanaC]

The first of the Discworld books - The Colour of Magic.

In the beginning there was…a turtle.



Somewhere on the frontier between thought and reality exists the Discworld, a parallel time and place which might sound and smell very much like our own, but which looks completely different. Particularly as it’s carried though space on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown). It plays by different rules.

But then, some things are the same everywhere. The Disc’s very existence is about to be threatened by a strange new blight: the world’s first tourist, upon whose survival rests the peace and prosperity of the land. Unfortunately, the person charged with maintaining that survival in the face of robbers, mercenaries and, well, Death, is a spectacularly inept wizard…

The thing is, with the Discworld, there are several separates strands or storylines. So, the first few books concern the inept wizard Rincewind, and then the series branches out elsewhere. But every so often there'll be another Rincewind / wizards tale. Similarly, there are several stories with Granny Weatherwax and the witches. Sometimes the link up. There are stories about the Ankh-Morpork Citywatch, and there are stories of Moist von Lipwig - the books move around. They generally can be taken out of order - some people will do all the Rincewinds together, and maybe go through and do all the Citywatch books - some people just read them in order of publication.

So there are actually a number of possible start points and, particlarly as the series developed, there are quite different tones depending on which you read. Some are very light and frothy, some are really quite dark. Some deal with things like religious fundamentalism (Small Gods) others deal with the coming of modernity, with Discworld versions of Hollywood (Moving Pictures) or war (The Fifth Elephant). Some are crime capers, others are about the coming of age (A Hatful of Stars).

It's difficult to say which is the best intro - or which will draw someone in.


Another brilliant intro to Pratchett is Good Omens, which he co-wrote with Neil gaiman. It is a brilliant little book. Very funny.

“Armageddon only happens once, you know. They don’t let you go around again until you get it right.”





According to the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch – the world’s only totally reliable guide to the future, written in 1655, before she exploded – the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just after tea…





People have been predicting the end of the world almost from its very beginning, so it’s only natural to be sceptical when a new date is set for Judgement Day. This time though, the armies of Good and Evil really do appear to be massing. The four Bikers of the Apocalypse are hitting the road. But both the angels and demons – well, one fast-living demon and a somewhat fussy angel – would quite like the Rapture not to happen.


And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist…