So this is the first instalment of my favourite Authors; of how I first encountered their works, and what I enjoy so much about their writings. My first featured author is the Legendary Sir Terry Pratchett.
I wanted to write the little blurb at the front of each book as a first introduction to Terry, only I realised over the years, it has changed, some with little information and some with more. So I have come up with an amalgam to try and capture the essence of all. Forgive me if it doesn’t quite do him justice.
“Terry Pratchett was born in 1948 and he started work as a journalist one day in 1965. Three hours later, he saw his first corpse, work experience meaningsomething in those days. After doing just about every job it’s possible to do in provincial journalism, except of course covering Saturday afternoon football, he joined the Central Electricity Generating Board and became press officer for four nuclear power stations. He’d write a book about his experiences if he thought anyone would believe it.All this came to an end in 1987 when it became obvious that the Discworld series was much more enjoyable than real work. Since then the books have reached double figures and have a regular place in the bestseller lists. He also wrote books for younger readers. Occasionally he got accused of literature.
Terry was one of the most popular authors today. He was the acclaimed creator of the Discworld series, the first title of which, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983: the last, number 41, is The Shepherd’s Crown (2015). Worldwide sales of his books are now over 65 million, and they have been published in 37 languages, widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, as well as being awarded a knighthood for services to literature.
Terry was Britain’s bestselling “living” novelist. He lived behind a keyboard, until they had a falling out and then talked to it. Occasionally, it answered back. He lived in Wiltshire with his wife Lyn and daughter Rhianna and said he ‘didn’t need to get a life, because it felt as though he was trying to lead three already’, and that ‘writing is the most fun any one can have by themselves’.
He died in March 2015.”
I was first introduced to Terry Pratchett’s work by my sister about 20 years ago, and my first book, Mort. It was such an eye opener from all the previous literature I was exposed to, you could say it was the first more mature book i read. It was the first time I came across Death as a fully realised character and the first time i read the term Anthropomorphic Personification. The character of Death appealed to me as someone with human attributes and yet couldn’t quite grasp the full extent of humanity. I can guess that at the time, i was still young and trying to discover my own place within the world and it hit a resonance with me. From there I read the rest of the Death Trilogy from my sister’s collection and started to buy my own copies with my allowance. I was bitten by the bug and it has stayed with me ever since.
From Death to the Wizards, the Witches, the Guards, the sciences and then Moist, every new story was an adventure filled with double entendres, sarcasm, very English humour and the occasional long word. Not all books where enjoyed equally but each was appreciated for the skill of writing, fun and addition to the backstory and universe. I can remember reading the Fifth Elephant for the first time and not fully getting it and not being overly enthralled with the character of Sam Vimes. It was only later I realised it was the fifth book in the Guards series and upon buying Guards! Guards! and going back to the start did i realise i hadn’t given this character enough credit. His Grace, the Duke of Ankh-Morpork, Commander, Sir Samuel Vime, Blackboard Monitor is now one of my favourite characters along with Death, Rincewind, the wizards under Mustrum Ridcully, Granny Weatherwax, Susan StoHelit, and Lu-Tze (Sweeper). Vimes has a moral sense of right and wrong but also that fact that he at times has to contain the Beast which just shows how human and relatable his character really is. It's also great to see his character progression through the series from a drunk who doesn't really give a damn, to one of the most respected and feared characters upon the disc second only to Vetinari himself.
Of all of Pratchett’s living characters, only a couple are present from the very start to the very end of the Discworld series, Havelock Vetinari, Rincewind (presumably), and Esmerelda (Granny, Mistress, Esme) Weatherwax who very sadly passes in the last book. Looking at this I can’t help but see a connection between Terry and Esme, they both believed that the world runs on stories and both passed during the writing of his final book.
My love of this author has led me to obtaining all the audiobooks for the Discworld series and every night i listen to his word as i drift off to sleep. The TV adaptations of Going Postal, The Colour of Magic/The Light Fantastic are in my DVD collection along with The Hogfather which I watch every Christmas Eve. 
I even once had the great honour of meeting Sir Terry himself at a book signing and as we were the last ones in the line, we got to spend a little longer with him to chat and talk about our upcoming performance of Wyrd Sisters we were putting on with our theatre group. He was warm, and friendly and after correctly guess our roles bade us good luck and farewell.
In 2007 Terry announced to the world that he had been diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer’s Posterior Cortical Atrophy, a most terrible condition and especially so for someone who’s life’s work came from what he could create with his mind. Over the years between diagnosis and his death, Terry campaigned to raise awareness, donated a million dollars, presented lectures, an award winning documentary and continued to write many more books before his final goodbye. His death was first announced to the world, before all other media outlets, on Twitter by his friend Rob with the following 3 Tweets,
AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER.
Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night.
The End.
I definitely think Terry would have approved.
I think i love his works because of the fantasy locations, the magic, the fun and humour and mostly because his characters are “human”, with all the baggage that goes with it.
I think I’ll finish here, with just a few of my favourite quotes.
“Don’t let me detain you.”
“Build a man a fire and he’ll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he’ll be warm for the rest of his life.”
"Some humans would do anything to see if it was possible to do it. If you put a large switch in some cave somewhere, with a sign on it saying 'End-of-the-World Switch. PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH,' the paint wouldn't even have time to dry."”
"Getting an education was a bit like a communicable sexual disease. It made you unsuitable for a lot of jobs and then you had the urge to pass it on.”
"They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance."
"Real stupidity beats artificial intellegence every time."
"Just erotic. Nothing kinky. It's the difference between using a feather and using a chicken."
And last but not least,
“Discworld is a world and a mirror of worlds.
This is not a book about Australia. No, it’s about
somewhere entirely different which just happens
to be, here and there a bit . . . Australian.
Still . . . no worries, right?”
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