Discworld

About

Discworld refers to a collection of the 41 novels written by the late author Terry Pratchett, starting with The Colour of Magic (1983) and concluding with The Shepherd's Crown (2015). Although Terry Pratchett said he was happy for his daughter, Rhianna, to carry on the series, she has decided to only help with the creation of spin-offs, adaptations and tie-ins for the time being. Discworld also refers to the setting of the novels themselves. As the name suggests, the Discworld is a large disc that rests on the backs of four giant elephants (Berilia, Tubul, Great T'Phon, and Jerakeen) who stand on the back of the Star Turtle, Great A'tuin. Around the Discworld orbits a sun and a moon, which provides the day and night cycle for the denizens of the disc. The Discworld is permanently moving throughout the universe, with only possibly Great A'tuin knowing whether or not they are simply just wandering aimlessly through the cosmos.

History

Main Novel Series and Adaptations

The main series of novels started with the release of The Colour of Magic in 1983 and was almost followed by a new novel being released every year up until 2015, when the last novel in the main series, The Shepherds Crown, which was released posthumously. Along with the novels, six of them have also been transcribed as graphic novels. These being: The Colour of Magic (1992); The Light Fantastic (1993); Mort: The Big Comic (1994); Guards, Guards (2000); The Last Hero (2001) and Small Gods (2016).

TV Adaptations

Terry Pratchett's Hogfather was a two-part mini-series (shown below) released on Sky between December 17th and 18th, 2006. Hogfather won the Interactivity Award at the 2007 BAFTA TV Awards^[1] for its use of the interactive options available on digital television. It tells the story of Death and Albert taking on the role of the Hogfather, the Discworld's Santa analog, in order to save Hogswatch; as he has gone missing. Meanwhile, Susan Sto Helit, Death's granddaughter, is given the task of saving the Hogfather from the Auditors of Reality and the Assassin they have hired to kill him.

The next TV adaptation to be produced by Sky was Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic (seen below), which combined the stories of both of the first novels, The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, into a two-part mini-series that first aired on March 23rd and 24th 2008. The story is about the adventures of Rincewind, a wizard from Unseen University, and Two-Flower, the Disc's first ever tourist, as they travel across the Discworld. Meanwhile, at the Unseen University, Ymper Trymon, a power-hungry member of the senior faculty, has almost learned the Octavo, the eight most powerful spells in the world. Once he has learned the last one, he will then try and make a grab for the top job, regardless of the opinion of the wizard currently holding it is.

Terry Pratchett's Going Postal (shown below) was the last TV adaptation produced by Sky. Just like the other series produced by Sky, this was a two-part miniseries that originally aired May 30th and 31st, 2010. It tells the story of a condemned criminal, Moist Von Lipwig, being given a second chance by Havelock Vetinari, the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, who has given him the task of becoming the new Post Master of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office. This position puts him in direct competition with the Clacks, a series of semaphore towers that are used to send messages via light signals across the Disc, leading to an increasingly deadly rivalry between the two.

The latest official TV adaptation that is currently known about is The Watch, which is being created by BBC America.^[2] Not much is known so far, apart from the fact that it is a six-part mini-series that will be airing in late 2020; however, based on the inclusions of the characters Carcer Dun and John Keel, it can be presumed that it will have some basis with the story of Night Watch (2002).

Miscellaneous Works and Adaptations

As things stand, 18 of the 41 Discworld Novels have received stage adaptations. The most recent of these performances was a stage musical version of Witches Abroad (seen below), adapted by Amy Atha-Nicholls, which was performed at the 2016 International Discworld Convention.^[3] Terry Pratchett also worked with Jack Cohen, a British reproductive biologist, and Ian Stewart, a British mathematician, to create the Science of Discworld which combined a story of the Wizards of Unseen University accidentally creating our world and their interactions with it, with a scientific essay explaining the theories and scientific knowledge behind what was happening. The main themes throughout the series are the laws of physics, time travel and evolution.

There is a wide array of additional books that help flesh out the Discworld, which often expands on topics only alluded to in the main series. The most recent of these was The Discworld Atlas (2015) which goes into an in-depth look at every named country in the main series, providing information about their culture, history and geography.

Awards and Fandom

In the United Kingdom, there is a Biannual International Discworld Convention^[4] that is hosted in various cities across the UK; with the most recent one being held at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole August 7th-10th, 2020. It has been held since 1996 and Terry Pratchett made it a point to always visit the convention until his death in 2015.

Running in parallel with the International Convention in the UK is the Biannual North American Discworld Convention,^[5] which runs every odd year. It has been running since 2009, with the latest one being held in Los Angeles, California where it ran from July 12th-15th, 2019. Sir Terry attended the first three of these conventions, but with his death in 2015, the entire convention was canceled for that year before resuming again in 2017.

The program has several events that appear each time such as the Gala Dinner, Maskerade (spelled in this manner due to Pratchett's novel of the same name), Charity Auction, Guest of Honour Interview, and "Terry's Bedtime Stories." The conventions regularly feature large attendee-run groups that have been known variously as Guilds and Sects. There are also smaller events such as interviews, games and competitions, guest klatches, and other activities. These traits are shared by both the UK and North American conventions. Although the fanbase is primarily located within English speaking countries, due to the humor not translating particularly well, the series as a whole has gained worldwide appeal with 80 million books sold and they have also been translated into 37 different languages.

The Discworld series has won and been nominated for a wide variety of awards throughout its 33-year-old span. The most noteworthy being winning the Carnegie Medal^[6] in 2001 for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents (2001) and the Prometheus Award in 2003 for Night Watch (2002). The book Snuff (2011) still holds the record for being the third-fastest-selling hardback adult-readership novel since records began in the UK, selling 55,000 copies in the first three days.

Related Memes

Death

Death is one of the most popular characters in the Discworld series, known for his dry, sarcastic sense of humor and having a surprisingly level of emotional depth, despite being the literal anthropomorphic personification of death. ALWAYS SPEAKS IN SMALL CAPS. Often in conflict with the Auditors of Reality as they are constantly trying to come up with ways of wiping out, or incapacitating, all life on the Disc in order to make their jobs easier. Death is normally assisted in this task by the Death of Rats, his horse Binky, his manservant Albert and his granddaughter Susan Sto Helit.

Luggage

Luggage refers to a sentient, many-legged traveling trunk that accompanies the wizard Rincewind on his many adventures as a companion/battering ram/ laundromat. A running gag in the series is the luggage trampling over and/or through important characters, plot points, and, on one occasion, the entire space-time continuum.

Auditor Trap

Auditor Trap refers to the Auditors of Reality who are completely literal-minded and cannot comprehend anything that requires any imagination and can often be stopped in their tracks by trying to comprehend something that is obviously wrong. In Thief of Time (2001), a group of auditors is stopped in their tracks by a sign that is pointing right, but with the text "Please go left," which leaves them arguing amongst themselves as to what the sign actually means.

Sam Vimes

Sam Vimes, also known as Commander Vimes, is the commander of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch. Notorious in the setting for being as by-the-books as you can possibly be, he has gained a reputation similar to that of Judge Dredd, where the Law is the Law and he will hold anyone accountable to it, regardless of who they are. Even Lord Vetinari, the Patrician and Tyrant of Ankh-Morpork.

GNU Terry Pratchett

The GNU Terry Pratchett tag refers to the various fan tributes made in honor of Terry Pratchett when he passed away in 2015. Common themes for these tributes include Terry Pratchett being guided through the Endless Desert by Death, whilst Death praises Terry Pratchett for the good work he has done or reassuring him that everything will be ok.

Search Interest

External References