Author of the Month: Terry Pratchett
Terry Pratchett is a successful British fantasy-author whose Discworld series is well known throughout the world. Although this series now contains thirty-five novels (as of 2006), these are not the only books he has written. Other works include the Bromeliad and the Johnny Maxwell trilogy, as well as other novels, volumes and short stories.
He was born in 1948 in Beaconsfield, England, and credits High Wycombe Technical High School and Beaconsfield Public Library for his education. Pratchett, who was working as a journalist at the time, mentioned to a co-director of a small publishing company whom he interviewed that he had written a manuscript, which in 1971 was to be his first published novel, The Carpet People. Working as a journalist, and from 1980 as the Press Officer for the Central Electricity Generating Board, Pratchett wrote in his spare time and published several novels. The first Discworld novel, The Color of Magic, was published in 1983. In 1987 he began writing full time, and he has since then published about two novels a year.
In 1998 he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to literature. Pratchett himself commented upon this by saying: ‘I suspect the “services to literature” consisted of refraining from trying to write any.’ Furthermore, he has been awarded with several honorary Doctorates of Literature, and his The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents won him the 2001 Carnegie Medal, an annual award for outstanding books for children and young adults.
The Discworld series, however, is probably the most famous part of his works, which is why this article will focus mainly on this one. The Discworld derives its name from the fact that the world upon which the stories take place is a flat, circular Disc resting on the backs of four elephants, in turn standing on the back of the great turtle A’Tuin, who swims through space. If a Discworld ship appears to sail off the edge of the world, that is what actually happens to it. On the Disc there is a fantasy world with dwarfs, wizards, witches, trolls and dragons. None of these are quite of the conventional type, but outgrow their stereotype in some way or another, or reaffirm them to a point where they are rather parodies of the stereotypes than the stereotypes themselves.
‘The world rides through space on the back of a turtle. This is one of the great ancient world myths, found wherever men and turtles are gathered together; the four elephants were an Indo-European sophistication. The idea has been lying in the lumber room of legend for centuries. All I had to do was grab it and run away before the alarms went off.’ (www.terrypratchettbooks.com)
The Discworld books are humorous and satirical, and explore many different themes and poke fun at many aspects of our own society as well as merely parodying existing movies, books, plays and various parts of popular culture, though this is something that is usually true of all Pratchett’s books. Another trademark of his are the footnotes, which provide humorous details which would not really fit into the main story as such, or which describe the use of certain words or phrases. An example of this would be the following quote: ‘Goodie Whemper had, in fact, been a research witch.* [* Someone has to do it. It’s all very well calling for eye of newt, but do you mean Common, Spotted, or Great Crested? Which eye, anyway? Will tapioca do just as well?]’ (Wyrd Sisters)
There are several story arcs set in the Discworld, following the development of certain people (or groups of people). Some notable story arcs are the one concerning Rincewind, a wizzard (sic; it says so on his pointy hat) from the Unseen University whose skill in magic is pretty much nonexistent; the one concerning the Ankh-Morpork City Watch; the one concerning a group of witches in the kingdom of Lancre; and the one where Death, in the form of a black-robed skeleton with a scythe riding a white, multidimensional horse named Binky, is the main character. Death and many other characters often occur as side characters in many of the other books, even though those books are not part of ‘their’ story arc. A notable side character, who has never been a main character, is the Librarian of the Unseen University, the university at which wizards are educated. The Librarian was once a magician who was, due to a magical accident, transformed into an orangutan, and has firmly opposed being transformed back into a human, and is allowed to remain the librarian because ‘he’s the only one who knows where all the books are’ and also due to the fact that he could screw a man’s head off with his feet if he wanted to. The wizards themselves have grown so used to the situation, that ‘if someone ever reported that there was an orangutan in the Library, the wizards would probably go and ask the Librarian if he’d seen it.’ (Night Watch). Other books in the series are not part of any particular story arc, but some of these nevertheless depend heavily on other books.
The Librarian is not the only orangutan with which Pratchett is associated: he has also done work for the Orangutan Foundation, and fan events such as the Discworld Conventions have adopted the Orangutan Foundation as their nominated charity. Pratchett is also a Distinguished Supporter of the British Humanist Association.
‘There are no maps. You can’t map a sense of humor. Anyway, what is a fantasy map but a space beyond which There Be Dragons? On the Discworld we know There Be Dragons Everywhere. They might not all have scales and forked tongues, but they Be Here all right, grinning and jostling and trying to sell you souvenirs.’ (www.terrypratchettbooks.com)
So, is he a good writer then? Success need not necessarily mean that an author’s work is outstanding, but in the case of Terry Pratchett the latter is clearly the reason for the former. His style is quite distinct, and he is a very skilled writer. One of his trademarks is, as has been said, his humour and satire (personally, I do not think that I have read a single one of his books without laughing out loud at some point or other). However, there are several of his stories that are basically serious and solemn in tone, despite this style of writing, and Pratchett is skilled at blending both humour and seriousness.
Now, personally, I am biased: there are few writers whose books and writings I am this fond of. Others may feel that his personal style of fantasy has a negative aspect, for it is fairly distinct: there are certain ‘fantastical’ features about the Discworld which are far beyond what is seen in most other modern fantasy, while at the same time the characters are basically realistically portrayed, however absurd some of them and their actions may be. The most ‘serious’ or realistic characters actually behave rather rationally a great deal of the time, but with a world as weird as the Discworld, ‘rationally’ is very much a relative word. Although not all his writings are set in the Discworld, some of them even being set here on Earth, his style of fantasy is still distinct enough in these mentioned ways to be noticed. Other readers may miss the ‘stereotypical’ heroes and quests found in mainstream fantasy, or the high style of such writers as J.R.R. Tolkien. The satirical mirror that much of Pratchett’s works holds up to our own world may or may not be something that intrigues you. However, to me, and many other Pratchett fans, putting one of his books down once you have begun reading it is a difficult thing to do. If you try one of his books, however, and like it, you will have scores of books to add to your to-read list.
‘Books’ve got to have a name on ’em so’s everyone knows who’s guilty.’ (Maskerade)
