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by Josh Kirby ]] ''Discworld'' is a Series of thirty-four fantasy novels and a number of shorter works by Terry Pratchett set on The Discworld , a flat world on the back of a giant turtle that adheres (loosely) to the conventions of classical and current Fantasy Literature . The books are comic and Satirical , and frequently parody ideas from Tolkien , Robert E. Howard and HP Lovecraft , as well as Myth , Folklore and Fairy Tales , often also using them to parallel current cultural, technological and scientific issues. Since the first novel, '' The Colour Of Magic '' ( 1983 ), the series has expanded, spawning related works including music inspired by the series, as well as cartoon and theatre adaptations. Newly released Discworld books regularly top '' The Sunday Times '' bestsellers list, with Pratchett being the UK 's best-selling author in the 1990s , mainly on the strength of the Discworld. He has since been overtaken by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling , but still holds the record for the most Shoplifted books. Discworld novels have also won awards such as the Prometheus Award and the Carnegie Medal . In the BBC 's Big Read , four Discworld books were in the top 100, and a total of fourteen in the top 200. PUBLISHED WORK The novels The world has been chronicled through at least 34 novels and several short stories so far. The novels up to and including'' The Truth '' had cover art done by Josh Kirby (who died in October 2001 ), but only in the original British editions. The American editions, published by HarperCollins, do not feature Kirby's cover art. Recent British editions of Pratchett's older novels no longer feature Kirby's art. Since the death of Kirby, the covers have been designed by artist Paul Kidby . Almost all of the Discworld novels have no chapter divisions. Instead, most of the time there are different storylines interwoven with one another. '' Going Postal '' did entirely the opposite, going so far as to include a prologue and epilogue along with brief teasers of what was to come in each chapter. The first Discworld novel, '' The Colour Of Magic '', was divided into "books", as was '' Pyramids ''. Many novels share the same lead characters and show their development over time. Some of the main characters of one book may also make a Cameo Appearance in another book where they are not the primary focus; for example, Samuel Vimes appears briefly in ''Going Postal''. The books take place roughly in Real Time , and the characters' ages change to reflect the passing of years. The novels can be grouped into several story arcs, with characters or themes in common:
This distinction is by no means clear-cut. Many stories (such as ''The Truth'' and ''Thief of Time'') nominally stand alone but nonetheless tie in heavily with main storylines. A number of characters, such as the Unseen University staff, the Monks of History, or the Elves, appear prominently in many different storylines without having titles of their own. As it is, many of these 'stand alone' stories deal with the development of the city of Ankh-Morpork into a technologically advanced Metropolis . For example, ''The Truth'' catalogues the rise of a Newspaper service for the city, and ''Going Postal'' similarly deals with the development of a post service and the rise of the Discworld's Telecommunications system called 'the clacks'. The Discworld novels are as follows: Short stories There are also four short stories by Pratchett based in the Discworld: '''', and the fourth in ''Legends'', edited by Robert Silverberg .
The Maps Furthermore, there are four Mapps:
The first two were drawn by Stephen Player, based on plans by Pratchett and Stephen Briggs , the third is a collaboration between Briggs and Kidby, and the last is by Paul Kidby . All also contain booklets written by Pratchett and Briggs. 'Science' books Pratchett has also collaborated with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen on three books using the Discworld to illuminate Popular Science topics through means of a completely fictional story. Each book could be seen as containing a short Discworld novel in its own right, with chapters switching between the story and notes on real science related to it. The books released are:
Associated publications Other Discworldesque publications include:
Quiz books Thus far, there are also two Discworld Quiz books compiled by David Langford :
Diaries Most years see the release of a Discworld Diary and '''Calendar''', both usually following a particular theme. The Diaries released so far are:
There were no diaries for 2004 - 2006, as Pratchett and Stephen Briggs were worried about running out of ideas. Having rested the concept, the ''Discworld Post Office Diary 2007'' has been announced. '' The Discworld Almanak - The Year Of The Prawn '' ( 2004 ) can also be listed with the diaries, as its format and general contents are very similar. STEALTH PHILOSOPHY Throughout many of his novels, Pratchett employs what has been dubbed "Stealth Philosophy". That is to say, he will subtly (or not-so-subtly) hide philosophical struggles, questions, and arguments within the texts of his books, without (often) overtly stating them. Pratchett is deeply concerned about the Philosophy Of Ethics , the Philosophy Of Religion , the Mind as well as topics related to Popular Science - lampooning the usual misunderstandings of things like Quantum Physics and Relativity . His Good Witch , Granny Weatherwax , takes the form of an archetypical evil crone: :Mrs Earwig would definitely have objected to the cottage. It was out of storybook. The walls leaned against one another for support, the thatched roof was slipping off like a bad wig, and the chimneys were corkscrewed. If you thought a gingerbread house would be too fattening, this was the next worst thing. "In a cottage deep in the forest lived the wicked old witch ..." :It was a cottage out of the nastier kind of fairy tale. :– ''A Hat Full of Sky'' His good public servant, Lord Havelock Vetinari , is an Assassin and a Tyrant . In general, he presents the notion that to be good quite often results in being perceived as bad or evil by the very people you're doing good for, and in many of his stories image is quite often eventually overcome, without fanfare, by substance. :Some people will do anything for the sheer fascination of doing it, said Death. Or for fame. Or because they shouldn't. :– ''Hogfather'' In the "elf" books as elsewhere, he presents the notion that our "world" is subjective, and is constructed internally. In particular, that it is constructed out of Stories . Related to this is the idea that most of our experience is filtered out before it reaches consciousness: You build little worlds, little stories, little shells around your mind and that keeps infinity at bay and allows you to wake up in the morning without screaming! :– ''A Hat Full of Sky'' :"All right," said Susan, "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need ... ''fantasies'' to make life bearable." :No. Humans need fantasy to be human. To be the place where the falling angel meets the rising ape. :"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers?" :Yes. As practice. You have to start out learning to believe the ''little'' lies. :"So we can believe the big ones?" :Yes. Justice. Mercy. Duty. That sort of thing. :"They're not the same at all!" :Take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder and sieve it through with the finest sieve and then ''show'' me one atom of justice. And yet you act as if there were some sort of rightness in the universe by which it may be judged. :"Yes. But people have ''got'' to believe that or what's the ''point''—" :My point exactly. :– ''Hogfather'' Also in the Elves books he presents elves as nasty, evil creatures, as they are in original English folk songs and stories e.g. Tam Lin , quite in contrast with how they were portrayed by Tolkien which is more commonly known these days. "Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder. Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies. ... Elves are terrific. They beget terror. The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake..." ''Lords and Ladies'' A large portion of ''Carpe Jugulum'' is about internal "struggles", and how pieces of our mind do not always agree with other pieces of our mind (and how some of us feel we have "Darker" selves within us, that we keep deep, deep down). Aside from the obviously "split" mind character (Perdita and Agnes), it is shown that even characters as decisive as Granny Weatherwax have inner "selves" that they struggle with. Villains One interesting element of Discworld, certainly one that distinguishes it from much other fantasy, is its relative lack of recurring or overarching villains. This is mainly a tribute to the complexity of Pratchett's characters; many of his potential villains, such Lord Vetinari and Lord Downey , are too multifaceted to be simplistically characterised as "evil", while other more standard villains, such as Lord Rust , are depicted merely as egocentric dullards. Principal villains in Discworld novels tend to die or be put similarly out of action by the story's end. The Lovecraftian creatures from the Dungeon Dimensions cannot be considered evil in any true sense, since they are utterly amoral and have no true motivations. There are however, two groups of villains that featured prominently in many of the stories and have, in their own ways, come to represent the force of evil in the Discworld. They are the Auditors Of Reality and the Elves . These two races are, in many respects, opposite ends of the same spectrum. The Auditors, cosmic bureaucrats who prefer a universe where electrons spin, rocks float in space and imagination is dead, represent the perils of handing yourself over to a completely materialist and deterministic vision of reality, devoid of the myths and stories that make us human. The Elves, innately psychopathic beings who seek to dominate us by usurpring our free will with glamour and false magic, represent the dangers of giving yourself over completely to stories and superstition. Together they appear to reflect the philosophy Pratchett expresses in '' Hogfather ''; that while the stories we weave may not be true, we still need them to continue our existence. ADAPTATIONS Stage adaptations Stage adaptations of eleven Discworld novels have been published, with proceeds from the rights going to charity. The adaptations are by Stephen Briggs (apart from one, ''Lords and Ladies'', by Irana Brown), and were first produced by the Studio Theatre Club in Abingdon , Oxfordshire . They include adaptations of ''The Truth'', ''Maskerade'', ''Mort'', ''Wyrd Sisters'', and ''Guards! Guards!''. Stage adaptions of Discworld novels have been performed on every continent in the world, including Antarctica . Movie adaptations There have been several aborted attempts at bringing stories from the Discworld to the silver screen, including a fan attempt of ''Maskerade'' that failed through lack of funds. Australia n group '' Snowgum Films '' have completed principal photography on the short story '' Troll Bridge ''. {Link without Title} . A fan movie adaptation of '' playing the role of Albert, to be filmed in 2006. Animated adaptations Animated adaptations of ''Soul Music'' and ''Wyrd Sisters'' were produced by Cosgrove-Hall Productions for Channel 4 in 1996 . These are available on DVD and VHS in the US from Acorn Media. The Soundtrack to ''Soul Music'' was also released on CD. Radio adaptations There have been several BBC radio adaptations of Discworld stories, including versions of '' Wyrd Sisters '', '' Guards! Guards! '' (narrated by Martin Jarvis ), ''The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents,'' ''Mort,'' and '' Small Gods ''. Audio book adaptations Most of Pratchett's novels have been released as Audio Books , both abridged (read by Tony Robinson ) and unabridged (read by Nigel Planer or Celia Imrie in the case of earlier works, or Stephen Briggs in the case of later ones). MUSIC
SPIN-OFF GAMES Role-playing games In addition Terry Pratchett co-authored with Phil Masters two Role-playing Game supplements for Discworld, utilising the GURPS system:
An unofficial online supplement to this is: Computer games Available computer games are:
Board games There is also a Discworld Board Game , Thud , created by puzzle compiler Trevor Truran . Card games There is an adaptation of the card game Cripple Mr Onion from the novel Witches Abroad . MERCHANDISE Various other types of related merchandise have been produced by Cottage Industries with an interest in the books, including Stephen Briggs , Bernard Pearson , Bonsai Trading and Clarecraft . MISCELLANEOUS Terry Pratchett first explores the idea of a disc-shaped world in the novel '' Strata '', however this flat world is a projected version of the Eurasian hemisphere of Earth, not the fantasy realm of the true discworld series. Characters in Discworld books have been named after real people. The first of these was Colette in ''Maskerade'', whose "fascinatin' earrings" are briefly commented on by Granny Weatherwax. This is a reference to Colette Reap, who wore " Anorankh " earrings – small figurines of an ankh wearing an anorak – to one of Pratchett's signings. But usually people appear in the books by bidding for the privilege in charity auctions. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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