#terry pratchett day

[terrypratchettestate]

Announcing the theme for Terry Pratchett Day 2024: START IN THE WRONG PLACE.

You'll hear people say time and time again that you can start anywhere with Terry Pratchett's work, but don't start in the right place*, so let's truly embrace the joy and chaos to be found in the many routes through Discworld and beyond.

We will be making Sunday 28th April, Sir Terry Pratchett's birthday, one brimming with bookish delight, celebrating the many ways we love and travel through his work, and we're inviting you to join us.

Follow along with The Terry Pratchett Estate to stay up to date. We will be sharing more ahead of the weekend on how to get involved.

*A lot of people say the right place is anything but the right place, which in turn, may make it an equally wrong place...

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

Neil Gaiman, co-author of Good Omens:

My first encounter with Terry Pratchett was The Colour of Magic, as read on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour. I was a young journalist and I reached out to his publisher for an interview, and thus became the first journalist to interview Terry Pratchett, in Bertorelli's Italian restaurant, in Gower Street. (We remembered it as a Chinese Restaurant in Goodge Street, demonstrating either the fallibility of memory or our fondness for Chinese food.) We became friends.

I was lucky enough to read Terry's books as he wrote them, to become one of his beta readers, and then to collaborate with him. Terry had a brilliant eye for the places where reality and narrative tradition intersect: he had a science fiction writer's mind, let loose on a fantasy world, and he loved to explain and show how things came to be. The last time we saw each other he told me I had to read a book about feeding Nelson's navy – and I still wonder, had he lived, about the Discworld novel he would have written, about ships, and naval battles and all, and the lessons he would have taught us. Because at his best, Terry was a teacher. The kind who makes you laugh while simultaneously realising that everything you have taken for granted so far is utterly wrong. I miss him.

[captainfantasticalright]

Today is Sir Terry Pratchett's birthday. So, why not celebrate with some of the easter eggs we have in Good Omens that are all about him.

Mind how you go.

[amycrochets]

In honour of Terry Pratchett Day, here is my crochet Discworld.

@terrypratchettestate

[betterthanapokeintheeye]

Happy Terry Pratchett Day!

Today we celebrate the life and works of Terry Pratchett who would have been 76 years old today

Having spent many times in his company over the years, we would like to hear your stories of "Time with Terry", be it at conventions, book signings or elsewhere !

Let us know your Time with Terry moment in the comments.

#terrypratchettday

[marie-m-art]

Did a sketchy portrait today in honour of Sir Terry Pratchett's birthday!

I'm going to just call this good enough and post before I start harshly critiquing it! I think it took about 50 minutes.

GNU Terry Pratchett

[hagstoned]

Been thinking a lot today about how well TP wrote female characters. And how grateful I am for that.

I wish I’d been able to read Tiffany when I was a teenage girl myself, she has a multi dimensionality that I felt was lacking in many of the characters in YA books I read back then (particularly in fantasy).

And seeing Magrat come into her power with such confidence when she becomes a mother is an experience I have heard so many mothers relate to and yet is so absent from literature.

I wish I had time to devote to all the women and how incredible they are but I’m leaving it here (if anyone wants to share their thoughts with me please do, I would love to hear them!)

[magpiesketchins]

As a little Terry Pratchett tribute today I wanted to draw the two fictional men that have inspired me to create more than anything has in a long time.

And also a little tribute to the community surrounding these books that makes me want to share my creations instead of hiding them away. It's meant more than you know.

[thestuffedalligator]

‘Then I will write another book,’ said Didactylos calmly. 'Think how it will look – Proud Didactylos swayed by the arguments of the Omnians. A full retraction. Hmm? In fact, with your permission, lord – I know you have much to do, looting and burning and so on – I will retire to my barrel right away and start work on it. A universe of spheres. Balls spinning through space. Hmm. Yes. With your permission, lord, I will write you more balls than you can imagine…’  The old philosopher turned and, very slowly, walked towards the exit.  Vorbis watched him go.  Bruth saw him half-raise his hand to signal the guards, and then lower it again.  Vorbis turned to the Tyrant.  'So much for your–’ he began.  'Coo-ee!’  The lantern sailed through the doorway and shattered against Vorbis’s skull.  'Nevertheless… the Turtle Moves!’

— Small Gods, Terry Pratchett

[me3dia]

Start Discworld Wherever

The first Discworld book I read was Small Gods. It was long enough ago that I've forgotten when, but I'm pretty sure I picked it up at an airport bookshop. I'm also a big Neil Gaiman fan, and American Gods is a novel that fits closely with my personal theism, so the idea that there could be many, many gods whose existence relies on believers spoke to me. And the clever writing, the quick pacing, the colorful characters! Loved it. But it's also a bit of a standalone in the series, so for whatever reason, I didn't pick any others up, and I even gave the book away.

The second Discworld book I read was Raising Steam. It was another airport purchase, soon after it was released. Again, the characters and fast-charging plot drew me in. This time, I understood it was part of a much larger series — but it was still a couple years before I read any others.

Next I ended up finding Wee Free Men in a used bookstore; first edition hardcover. A whole different cast of characters, but a wondrous world and story. And from there I began reading the whole series in chronological order, starting from The Color of Magic and working forward from there. At this point, I think I just have the Science of Discworld books and a couple of others left. I've also read some of Terry's work outside of Discworld — Nation is an amazing YA coming of age story, and the Long Earth series takes one of his short stories and builds a galaxy out of it.

It really doesn't matter where you start. Even if you don't know who the main characters are, you'll have a feel for them by the end of the book, and you'll learn more every time you visit Discworld.

[terrypratchettestate]

Celebrating Terry Pratchett Day.

On what would have been Terry's 76th birthday, we are filling today with Pratchett joy and invite you to join us.

We'd love to see your routes through Discworld on the #terry pratchett day tag - you can download images to share your favourite books and recommended place to start in Discworld via terrypratchett.com.

You can also find recipes from Nanny Ogg, templates to recreate your own favourite Discworld cover, and ways to get involved for all ages. Whether online or offline, we hope your day is full of Pratchett magic!

[carebearloveshp]

Happy Birthday Terry Pratchett!

Every year for Terry Pratchett’s birthday, I like to celebrate by reading one of his books and talking about him.

Terry Pratchett is one of my favorite authors. I first found out about his books in 2012 right after reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. I was looking for other books similar to it and Terry’s Discworld series was recommended along with Good Omens by both him and Neil Gaiman.

“No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away"- Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett

I read Good Omens in 2013 and fell in love with it instantly. At the time, I promised myself that I would read the Discworld series some day but put it off because of its size (it had 39 books at that point). I didn’t start the series until 2017 and finished the final novel, The Shepherd’s Crown in 2022. Over the years, it went from being one of my favorite series to my favorite series. I cannot recommend it enough. It's incredible.

Terry has been an inspiration of mine ever since I first picked up one of his Discworld books. I read the series mostly in publication order and I personally recommend doing so if you plan on reading the entire series. There are so many ways to get into it. The only book I read out of order was Hogfather because I wanted to read it at Christmastime that first year. It's one of my go-to rereads every year.

Even though I didn't find myself loving the first couple of books, they still had me wanting to read more from this brilliant man. Terry’s writing style is one of a kind and I will never be able to get enough of reading his work. I have read 60 of his books and I plan on reading every single piece of literature he has written. They are insightful, funny, and so damn clever.

Today, I am going to start The Science of the Discworld that Terry wrote with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen. It is the first book in a four-part series that has Discworld stories mixed with science. I’m interested in seeing what happens and how the wizards accidentally create the Roundworld. The Unseen University books are a mixed bag for me. Sometimes, I really love them and then other times I don’t. Though, I am looking forward to seeing what trouble those old fools cause. I cannot wait to get to the second book because it deals with Shakespeare.

Some of my favorites of his books are: Hogfather, Witches Abroad, Night Watch, Thief of Time, The Wee Free Men, Going Postal, Wyrd Sisters, and Good Omens.

Thank you for the words, Terry. I wish I could have met you. Your ripples will continue on for a very long time. Happy Birthday.

“People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it's the other way around.” Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett

@terrypratchettestate

[beatrixacs]

"The whole of life is just like watching a film. Only it's though you always get in ten minutes after the big picture has started, and no-one will tell you the plot, so you have to work it out all yourself from the clues."

@terrypratchettestate

[mariiatrushartist]

Creator of the flat "Earth" and the Apostle of the Cat God: the most interesting facts from the life of Terry Pratchett

Dreamed of becoming an astronomer

As a child, the boy was very interested in astronomy and stars in general. In adulthood, he not only did not lose interest in this topic, but also built an observatory in his garden.

The first story and a typewriter for earned money

Terry's first work was written when he was 13 years old, and a year later it was published in a school magazine called The Hades Business. On this story, the future writer earned £14 and used them to buy his first typewriter.

The first published novel

In 1971, when Terry was only 23 years old, the world saw his first novel The Carpet People. It is a comic fantasy novel about a tribe of tiny people living on the carpet. When the writer became more famous, he decided to rewrite it by adding an updated text, original black and white illustrations and an exclusive story written when he was 17 years old

From journalism to electricity production

After the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster in March 1979, Pratchett left journalism to become a press officer for four nuclear power plants at the Central Electricity Production Council.

He lost in popularity only J.K. Rowling

In 1996, the Times declared Pratchett a best-selling author in the UK. He sold 70 million books worldwide and was the second most read author in Britain, second only to the J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

The award he was most proud of

It may surprise you, but most of all Pratchett was proud of the Carnegie Medal, which was awarded to his children's book The Amazing Maurice and His Raised Rodents. He got it in 2002.

Illness

At the peak of popularity, Pratchett was diagnosed with a severe form of Alzheimer's disease, posterior cortical atrophy. He had gradual degeneration of the cortex, the outer layer of the brain, on the back of the head. The disease leads to difficulties in reading, estimating distance, using tools and spelling. However, the disease did not stop Pratchett's success: in addition to continuing to write, he also became a patron of Alzheimer's Research UK and actively supported fundraising efforts and advocated raising awareness of the disease.

Own sword

The writer has always had an eccentric personality and imagination. Now that he became a knight, Terry needed the right sword he made himself from meteoric iron. The writer found a field with iron deposits near his home in Wiltshire, he himself dug up ore – 81 kilograms. Then he smelted iron ore using a homemade clay and hay furnace. A local blacksmith killed Pratchett's handmade iron rods into a silver-trimmed sword.

The last book

Pratchett's Alzheimer's disease has progressed. However, despite brain atrophy, he still continued to produce books. A few months before his death in March 2015, he finished his last novel about Discworld. Many Pratchett fans keep the book unread on their shelves in his honour.

There were 10 unfinished novels on the hard drive of his computer at the time of his death, but we will never know what they are about. According to the writer's last desire, Pratchett's unfinished works were destroyed. The hard drive was not only broken with a steam roller, but also passed through the stone crusher.

[oracle-of-moon]

In celebration of the 76th anniversary of the one who gave the world so many wonderful stories and characters (but sadly is no longer among us), I'd like to share this process video of an art I did with love a few years ago, to show my appreciation for every moment of joy and reflection and laughs and cry he provided through the amazing Discworld! :D

GNU Terry Pratchett!

[girddlepatchilles]

Happy Terry Pratchett Day!

I'll always remember the first time I listened to Wyrd Sisters and fell in love with the Discworld books.

Please share your favourite books, characters and moments!

Favourite Books: Thief of Time, Thud!, Monstrous Regiment, Good Omens

Favourite Characters: Susan Sto Helit, Magrat, Death, Angua, Lobsang Ludd, Carrot, Cheery, Polly, Sam

Favourite Moments: The ending of Thief of Time, where Susan has the "perfect moment" with Lobsang. All the Sally/Angua moments in Thud!. When Colon talks about the meaning of the Glorious 25th in Night Watch. The Vimes Boots Economic Theory. WHERE'S MY COW!!!!. The Axe of My Father conversation between Rhys and Vimes. Rhys asking Cheery about her dressmaker. Girls Night in Thud!. The ending of Monstrous Regiment.