UK fantasy author Terry Pratchett dies aged 66

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SOFTengCOMPelec

SOFTengCOMPelec

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May 9, 2013
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-31858156

R.I.P.

UK fantasy author Terry Pratchett dies aged 66 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease, his publisher says

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He seemed like a very nice person. I've never met him, but there was a very good, in depth documentary about him, on the UK TV, a number of years ago.

He had an amazing 9 somewhat large, monitor setup, which looked very impressive. His funny excuse if you asked him why he had so many monitors, was on the lines of "I wanted 16, but there was not enough room".

Sadly his Alzheimer's disease, was quite badly affecting him, which was the main theme of the TV programme (if I remember, correctly).

EDIT:
CORRECTION: It was six monitors, I must have remembered wrong, sorry!

ku-xlarge.jpg
 
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SlitheryDee

SlitheryDee

Lifer
Feb 2, 2005
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Didn't even know he had alzheimer's. This bums me out, but if he's like most alzheimer's patients his mind was probably gone long before his body died. It's doubly sad if you're familiar with his writing though. The discworld series was some of the best reading I've done. He was such a good storyteller and extremely funny too. RIP
 
M

mundane

Diamond Member
Jun 7, 2002
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I thought he was advocating for euthanasia before the disease stole too much from him.

He was a fantastic author, and there were a number of times while reading in bed I would insist my wife listen to excerpts. He had a amazingly clever way with language.
 
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Skyclad1uhm1

Lifer
Aug 10, 2001
11,383
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mundane said:
I thought he was advocating for euthanasia before the disease stole too much from him.

He was a fantastic author, and there were a number of times while reading in bed I would insist my wife listen to excerpts. He had a amazingly clever way with language.
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He wanted the option to be there if it came to that.
 
SMOGZINN

SMOGZINN

Lifer
Jun 17, 2005
14,359
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One of the many amazing things about him is that following being Knighted by the Queen of England he forged his own sword metal he collected from meteors.
 
mcurphy

mcurphy

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Feb 5, 2003
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I don't know a whole lot about him, but I did start reading "Good Omens", that he co-authored with Neil Gaiman, just a couple weeks ago. I'm only a few chapters in, but the book is good so far. I am hoping to read more of his works eventually!

R.I.P.
 
Uppsala9496

Uppsala9496

Diamond Member
Nov 2, 2001
5,272
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Sad news. One of my favorite authors. Always made for some light, entertaining reading that didn't take itself too seriously.
 
Aikouka

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
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It looks like everyone else had the same idea as me. "Hey, I've never heard of this author. Let's check out his book." The first book in the Discworld series was in stock on Amazon when I looked about an hour ago with no inventory warning. I looked again, and it was out of stock. I ended up picking up a new, third-party, prime-shipped copy of the 2000 printing for cheaper.
 
M

maddogchen

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2004
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i don't think i've read his books but i went to a bookstore just now and saw that he had many books in the sci-fi section....so I'm shocked that i haven't read one of them or don't remember reading one!
 
Puppies04

Puppies04

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2011
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I've read pretty much everything he has written, most more than once. A very talented and humble man, he will be missed.
 
WelshBloke

WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
32,876
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I'm surprised that you guys haven't heard of him.
He's fantastic. My Facebook feed has collapsed into a state of mourning like I've never seen before. :(
 
kage69

kage69

Lifer
Jul 17, 2003
30,931
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:'(

Damn, feel like my day is officially ruined now.


When I was 12 my sister and I were flying unaccompanied back to the States from 'over there,' and got stuck in Heathrow for pretty much a whole day. When you're unaccompanied, there's no voucher and shuttle to a hotel or far off lounge, you get to hang with the airline staff in the terminal. Mom had given us both a lot of foreign cash for the trip, so we found one of those little bus banks and turned it all into pounds sterling and went shopping. I bought 4 Pratchett books from WH Smiths and loved them so much I finished three before we finally got home. Ended up getting most of my friends in the States to check out the Discworld books, was easy as I had already turned them on to Monty Python and Black Adder.

Another great talent gone. So many mainstays of my youth are passing away, really starting to feel old. RIP Terry, and thank you.
 
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Aikouka

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
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WelshBloke said:
I'm surprised that you guys haven't heard of him.
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Well, I've heard his name mentioned and knew he was an author, but since I'm not an avid reader, I've never really heard people talk about his books. I did read a few pages on Amazon, and I'm a little wary that I may not like it. I tend to be a bit averse to books that with overly wordy language, and the beginning of the book felt like I needed to take some psychedelic drug to picture it. :p It also seemed to have an overabundance of proper nouns for things that may not end up being relevant. I don't care what some giant turtle is called! Just call him the big turtle. :p
 
WelshBloke

WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
32,876
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Aikouka said:
Well, I've heard his name mentioned and knew he was an author, but since I'm not an avid reader, I've never really heard people talk about his books. I did read a few pages on Amazon, and I'm a little wary that I may not like it. I tend to be a bit averse to books that with overly wordy language, and the beginning of the book felt like I needed to take some psychedelic drug to picture it. It also seemed to have an overabundance of proper nouns for things that may not end up being relevant. I don't care what some giant turtle is called! Just call him the big turtle.
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The discworld series is huge and he definitely takes a few books to find his comfortable area.

Its worth sticking with the series (or jumping in, it doesn't really matter which order you read them in).

Here's a few quotes...

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/mar/12/terry-pratchett-in-quotes-15-of-the-best
 
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pontifex

pontifex

Lifer
Dec 5, 2000
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A friend introduced me to Discworld in HS and been a fan ever since.
Today is a sad day.
 
SlitheryDee

SlitheryDee

Lifer
Feb 2, 2005
17,252
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Aikouka said:
Well, I've heard his name mentioned and knew he was an author, but since I'm not an avid reader, I've never really heard people talk about his books. I did read a few pages on Amazon, and I'm a little wary that I may not like it. I tend to be a bit averse to books that with overly wordy language, and the beginning of the book felt like I needed to take some psychedelic drug to picture it. :p It also seemed to have an overabundance of proper nouns for things that may not end up being relevant. I don't care what some giant turtle is called! Just call him the big turtle. :p
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I don't think I would sweat the proper nouns very much. Often he'll give things highly specific names purely for the comedic effect. Each book is more or less self-contained. Characters will recur, and things that happened in one book will generally still have happened in the next, but past events won't figure strongly in the story. Each one can be enjoyed independently from the others. You don't need to track every detail in case it comes up later in another book or something like that.

Resist the urge to make reading a discworld book into a chore. I don't care what the turtle's name is any more than you do, but I like that he has one. It makes him the discworld turtle instead of just some generic turtle in my mind. Besides, what self respecting world that rides on the back of a turtle would neglect to give it a name? It only makes sense...
 
Belegost

Belegost

Golden Member
Feb 20, 2001
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SlitheryDee said:
I don't think I would sweat the proper nouns very much. Often he'll give things highly specific names purely for the comedic effect. Each book is more or less self-contained. Characters will recur, and things that happened in one book will generally still have happened in the next, but past events won't figure strongly in the story. Each one can be enjoyed independently from the others. You don't need to track every detail in case it comes up later in another book or something like that.

Resist the urge to make reading a discworld book into a chore. I don't care what the turtle's name is any more than you do, but I like that he has one. It makes him the discworld turtle instead of just some generic turtle in my mind. Besides, what self respecting world that rides on the back of a turtle would neglect to give it a name? It only makes sense...
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I would also recommend starting with Guards Guards! or Reaper Man, the intro sounds like the beginning of The Color of Magic. Like many other authors, the first few books were a little rougher, but by Guards Guards! Pratchett had really hit his stride. And the good part is that overall the stories in Discworld are fairly self-contained - so starting just about anywhere you will get a complete story, even if you're missing backstories and connecting elements.

Not to say that The Color of Magic is not a great book on it's own.
 
D

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
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I haven't read any of his Discworld novels but Good Omens was fun.

I also liked the movie/miniseries adaptations of The Hogfather, Going Postal and The Colour of Magic. Michelle Dockery as Susan = :wub:
 
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