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''; art by Josh Kirby ]] ''Discworld'' is a Comedic Fantasy Book Series by the British author Terry Pratchett set on The Discworld , a Flat World balanced on the backs of four elephants which are in turn standing on the back of a giant turtle, Great A'Tuin . The books frequently parody or at least borrow ideas from JRR Tolkien , Robert E Howard , HP Lovecraft and William Shakespeare , as well as Myth , Folklore , and Fairy Tales , often using them for satirical parallels with current cultural, technological, and scientific issues. Since the first novel '' The Colour Of Magic '' ( 1983 ) the series has expanded, spawning several related books and maps, four short stories, cartoon and theatre adaptations, and even music inspired by the series. The first live-action screen adaptation for television ('' Terry Pratchett's Hogfather '') was broadcast over Christmas 2006. Another one for the cinema ('' The Wee Free Men '') is currently in development. Newly released ''Discworld'' books regularly top '' The Sunday Times '' bestsellers list, making Pratchett the UK's best-selling author in the 1990s. He has since been overtaken by '' Harry Potter '' author JK Rowling , but still holds the record for the most Shoplifted books.1 ''Discworld'' novels have also won awards such as the Prometheus Award and the Carnegie Medal . In the BBC 's Big Read , five ''Discworld'' books were in the top 100, and a total of fifteen in the top 200. WRITINGS Pratchett has developed the Discworld in a series of novels, short stories, and other works. Novels As Of 2006 there have been 36 ''Discworld'' novels published (four of which are marketed as children's or "young adult" (YA) books). The original British editions of the first 26 novels, up to '' Thief Of Time '' (2001), had distinctive cover art by Josh Kirby ; the American editions by HarperCollins used their own cover art. Since Kirby's death in October 2001 the covers have been designed by Paul Kidby . Recent British editions of Pratchett's older novels no longer re-use Kirby's art. Very few of the ''Discworld'' novels have chapter divisions, interweaving storylines instead. Pratchett is often quoted that he "just never got into the habit of chapters",2 adding later "I have to shove them in the putative YA adult books because my editor screams until I do".3 However, the first ''Discworld'' novel, '' The Colour Of Magic '', was divided into "books", as is '' Pyramids ''. '' Going Postal '' does have chapters, including both a prologue and an epilogue along with brief teasers of what was to come in each chapter in the style of A. A. Milne 's '' Winnie-the-Pooh '' stories or, more topically, Jules Verne 's and Jerome K. Jerome's. Reading orders See Also: Discworld reading order showing the interrelationships between the books and series within ''Discworld'', with suggested starts The best introduction to the geography and structure of the world is ''The Colour of Magic'', although the style and contents differ somewhat from what later ''Discworld'' developed into. Character and plot development became foremost in ''Guards! Guards!'' Lists of Novels ;Possible future novels Pratchett has occasionally hinted at other possible future ''Discworld'' novels. These include
Short stories There are five short stories by Pratchett based in the Discworld:
The Mapps 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. Terry Pratchett also admitted: "There are no maps. You can't map a sense of humour." Science books Pratchett has also collaborated with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen on three books using the Discworld to illuminate Popular Science topics. Each book alternates chapters of a ''Discworld'' story and notes on real science related to it. The books are:
Quiz books Two ''Discworld'' Quiz books have been compiled by David Langford :
Diaries See Also: Discworld Diary Most years see the release of a Discworld Diary and '''Calendar''', both usually following a particular theme. The diaries feature a great deal of background information about their respective themes, far more than could reasonably be put into the novels. However, some of this occasionally finds its way into the series proper - the concept of female assassins and the character of Miss Alice Band were two notable ideas that first appeared in the Assassins' Guild Yearbook. '' The Discworld Almanak - The Year Of The Prawn '' can also be listed with the diaries, as its format and general contents are very similar. Other books Other Discworld publications include:
ADAPTATIONS ;Stage Stage adaptations of 15 ''Discworld'' novels have been published. The adaptations are by Stephen Briggs (apart from ''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 adaptations of ''Discworld'' novels have been performed on every continent in the world, including Antarctica . ;Film & Television Due in part to the complexity of the novels, ''Discworld'' has been difficult to adapt to film – Pratchett is fond of an anecdote of a producer attempting to pitch an adaptation of '' Mort '' in early 1990s but told to "lose the Death angle" by US backers.4 A list of completed adaptations include:
A list of adaptations in pre-production include:
There have also been several aborted attempts at bringing stories from the ''Discworld'' to the silver screen, such as a fan attempt of ''Maskerade'' that failed through lack of funds. ;Radio There have been several BBC radio adaptations of ''Discworld'' stories, including '' Wyrd Sisters '', '' Guards! Guards! '' (narrated by Martin Jarvis ), '' The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents '', '' Mort '' and '' Small Gods ''. ;Audio book Most of Pratchett's novels have been released as Audio Book s, both abridged (read by Tony Robinson ) and unabridged (earlier ones read by Nigel Planer or Celia Imrie , later ones by Stephen Briggs ). ;Comic books ''The Colour of Magic'', '' The Light Fantastic '', '' Mort '', and '' Guards! Guards! '' have been adapted into Graphic Novels . 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 . Music
Games Pratchett co-authored with Phil Masters two Role-playing Game supplements for ''Discworld'', utilising the GURPS system:
An unofficial online supplement to this is: Available computer games are:
The Board Game , Thud was created by puzzle compiler Trevor Truran . The card game Cripple Mr Onion is adapted from the novel Witches Abroad . STEALTH PHILOSOPHY Throughout many of his novels, Pratchett employs what has been dubbed "Stealth Philosophy": he will hide philosophical struggles, questions, and arguments within the texts, without (often) overtly stating them. Pratchett is 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 concepts like Quantum Physics (" It's Probably Quantum ") and Theory Of Relativity . "Villains" ''Discworld'' has a relative lack of recurring or overarching villains. Many of Pratchett's potential villains, such as Lord Vetinari and Lord Downey, are too complex or 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. Elves & auditors There are, however, two groups of villains that feature prominently in many of the stories and have, in their own ways, come to represent the force of ' 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 people by usurping their 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. However, it would be wrong to categorise the Auditors or Elves simply as 'evil'. While their actions cause misery, it is merely incidental. Elves do not understand the suffering they cause as they have no empathy, while the Auditors are simply a form of supernatural Bureaucrat who think humans cause too much inefficiency. Humans His Good Witch , Granny Weatherwax , takes the form of an archetypical evil crone:
His good public servant, Lord Havelock Vetinari , is an Assassin and a Tyrant , but acting in his city's best interests as a Benevolent Dictator nonetheless. It is the general consensus among fans that he is based on Machiavelli . In general, Pratchett 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 eventually overcome, without fanfare, by substance. :, said Death. : – ''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." : :"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers?" : :"So we can believe the big ones?" : :"They're not the same at all!" : :"Yes. But people have ''got'' to believe that or what's the ''point'' — " : : – ''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 marvellous. They cause marvels. :Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies. :Elves are glamorous. They project glamour. :Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment. :Elves are terrific. They beget terror. :The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake..." :Nobody said elves were ''nice''. :Elves are ''bad''. : – ''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" with whom they struggle. While central human villains do not recur from novel to novel the individuals often share certain personality traits. The most prominent of these traits is the lack of the aforementioned "internal struggle". They are villains not because their bad self has won the struggle, but because they never had a conception of good and bad in the first place. This results in a person who is completely dispassionate, Egocentric , and lacking most recognizeable human emotions. This is very similar to the character of the elves, but portrayed in a more negative light, since such characteristics are inherent in elves as a species, while the reason for a human to act in such a manner is less clear cut. These amoral human villains are often highly intelligent and develop schemes to shape society or the world to conform to their views of how things should work. While the description may not apply to every central villain, many of them could be described as Sociopaths . Examples include Vorbis (''Small Gods'') and Mr. Teatime (''Hogfather''). The concept of racial hatred is touched upon often when Trolls and Dwarves are present and forms a significant plot pillar in '' Thud! '', in which the most ardent proponents of racial hatred are the clear villains. The Problems of racial integration and multiculturalism and racial hatred is also a strong topic of "Jingo" echoing the gulf wars, and the long held divisions and superstitions between rival great powers such as Britain and France, Germany and Russia, USA and the USSR, Japan and China using the metaphor of "two big men in a small room". "Heroes" In several books, characters or narration bring up the question of precisely what constitutes a " Hero " and whether there's anything really "heroic" about gung-ho violence. This is generally the basis for Cohen The Barbarian and the actions of his Silver Horde, as shown in '' The Last Hero '', in which the Patrician points out that when people say that heroes defeat tyrants, steal things from the gods, seduce women and kill monsters, they are, in fact, saying, that heroes murder, steal, rape, and wipe out endangered species. Lord Vetinari also asks the question, "When a tyrant is defeated or a monster killed, who is the person defining the monstrousness of the monster, or the tyranny of the tyrant? The hero. In fact, when a hero kills someone, he is in fact saying that, if you have been killed by a hero, then you are a person who is suitable to be killed by a hero." Many Discworld stories feature Rincewind, a dour and ill-fated wizard who specializes in the art of the escape. Any 'heroic' actions on Rincewind's part are, for the most part, caused by accident or sheer bad luck, which often puts him straight back into the very situation he was running from in the first place. Rincewind is categorically not a 'hero' in the traditional sense, since he merely wants to be left alone. Many Discworld protagonists share this trait, such as Moving Pictures' Victor Tugelbend and The Truth's William de Worde. In particular, '' The Fifth Elephant '' raises the point of view that if someone can kill a villain and then joke about it, they are no less a murderer than the villain himself. This thought is had by Commander Vimes, who actually considers several possible "quips" after tricking the villain to his death, but declines to say them out loud, raising the prospect (dealt with at greater length in Night Watch , among many other books) that the most effective heroes are natural villains who choose to act in accordance with a particular system of ethics. Society Many concepts of government and types of social systems are mocked in ''Discworld'' books.
MISCELLANEOUS Pratchett first explored the idea of a disc-shaped world in the novel '' Strata '' (1981). Characters in ''Discworld'' books have been named after real people, notably Nanny Ogg, whose first name, Gytha, is a tribute to noted British fan and Filker Gytha North. Another is 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 REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS
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