Discworld

Discworld is a series of fantasy books by the English author Terry Pratchett (1948-2015). There are 41 novels in total as well as short stories and guidebooks. All of them are set on the Discworld, which is a flat planet balanced on the back of four elephants who stand on the back of a giant turtle. Make believe creatures like dragons, dwarves and elves live on the Discworld.[1]

Discworld
AuthorTerry Pratchett
Cover artistJosh Kirby (1983–2001)
Paul Kidby (2001–2015)
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreFantasy
PublisherTransworld Publishers
Doubleday
Random House
Published1983–2015
Media typePrint: Hardback, paperback
No. of books41 novels

Storylines

The Discworld books follow lots of different characters and storylines. Sometimes, the same main characters are used in several books to create a story arc:

Rincewind

Rincewind was the first main character in Discworld books. He is a wizard who does not know any spells and tries to run away from everything. Even though he is a coward, he saves the world several times by accident.

Death

Death is seen in all the Discworld books except for The Wee Free Men and Snuff. He is a seven foot tall skeleton who appears when people die to take their souls to the afterlife. Even though he is seen as frightening, he is sometimes kind to people. He especially likes cats.

City Watch

The City Watch is a police force in one of the main cities on the Discworld. At the beginning of the series, there are only a few members of the City Watch and they are lazy and useless. Later in the series, they grow to have many members and stop crimes around the city.

Witches

The main witch in the series is Granny Weatherwax. She seems not to like most people but still helps to heal them when they are sick and deliver babies.

Novels

No. Title Published Subseries Notes
1 The Colour of Magic 1983 Rincewind 93rd in the Big Read.
2 The Light Fantastic 1986 Continues from The Colour of Magic
3 Equal Rites 1987 Witches
4 Mort Death 65th in the Big Read
5 Sourcery 1988 Rincewind
6 Wyrd Sisters Witches 135th in the Big Read
7 Pyramids 1989 Djelibeybi British Science Fiction Award winner, 1989[2]
8 Guards! Guards! City Watch 69th in the Big Read
9 Eric 1990 Rincewind Published in a larger format and fully illustrated by Josh Kirby
10 Moving Pictures Industrial Revolution
11 Reaper Man 1991 Death 126th in the Big Read
12 Witches Abroad Witches 197th in the Big Read
13 Small Gods 1992 Omnia 102nd in the Big Read
14 Lords and Ladies Witches
15 Men at Arms 1993 City Watch 148th in the Big Read
16 Soul Music 1994 Death 151st in the Big Read
17 Interesting Times Rincewind
18 Maskerade 1995 Witches
19 Feet of Clay 1996 City Watch
20 Hogfather Death 137th in the Big Read; British Fantasy Award nominee, 1997[3]
21 Jingo 1997 City Watch
22 The Last Continent 1998 Rincewind
23 Carpe Jugulum Witches
24 The Fifth Elephant 1999 City Watch 153rd in the Big Read; Locus Fantasy Award nominee, 2000[4]
25 The Truth 2000 Industrial Revolution 193rd in the Big Read
26 Thief of Time 2001 Death 152nd in the Big Read; Locus Award nominee, 2002[5]
27 The Last Hero Rincewind Published in a larger format and fully illustrated by Paul Kidby
28 The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents Überwald A YA (young adult or children's) Discworld book; winner of the 2001 Carnegie Medal
29 Night Watch 2002 City Watch Received the Prometheus Award in 2003; came 73rd in the Big Read; Locus Award nominee, 2003[6]
30 The Wee Free Men 2003 Tiffany Aching The second YA Discworld book; also published in larger format and fully illustrated by Stephen Player
31 Monstrous Regiment Industrial Revolution The title is a reference to The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstruous Regiment of Women;[7] 2004 nominee for Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel.[8]
32 A Hat Full of Sky 2004 Tiffany Aching The third YA Discworld book
33 Going Postal Moist von Lipwig Locus and Nebula Awards nominee, 2005[9]
34 Thud! 2005 City Watch Locus Award nominee, 2006[10]
35 Wintersmith 2006 Tiffany Aching The fourth YA book.
36 Making Money 2007 Moist von Lipwig Locus Award winner, Nebula nominee, 2008[11]
37 Unseen Academicals 2009 Rincewind Locus Award Nominee, 2010
38 I Shall Wear Midnight 2010 Tiffany Aching The fifth YA book, Andre Norton winner, 2010[12]
39 Snuff 2011 City Watch Third fastest selling book in first week of publication[13]
40 Raising Steam 2013 Moist von Lipwig
41 The Shepherd's Crown 2015 Tiffany Aching The sixth YA book, Completed mid-2014 and published posthumously in 2015[14]

Discworld Media

References

  1. Lloyd, David G. "A beginner's guide to Terry Pratchett's Discworld". The Conversation.
  2. "1989 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  3. "1997 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  4. "2000 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  5. "2002 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  6. "2003 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  7. "',Monstrous Regiment', annotations at". Lspace.org. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
  8. "2004 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  9. "2005 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  10. "2006 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  11. "2008 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
  12. "2010 Nebula Awards Winners", Locus Online, 21 May 2011, accessed 22 May 2011.
  13. "Snuff –third fastest selling novel since records began!". Terry Pratchett. 2011-10-30. Retrieved 2011-11-23.
  14. "Petition asks Death to bring Sir Terry Pratchett back - BBC Newsbeat". Bbc.co.uk. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2017-03-03.