Terry Pratchett's Discworld

It consists of (as the name suggests) a flat disc (complete with edge-of-the-world drop-off and consequent waterfall) resting on the backs of four huge elephants (Great T'phon, Tubul, Berilia, and Jerakeen) which are in turn standing on the back of an enormous turtle (Great A'Tuin) as it slowly swims through space.

The gender of the Turtle is something of a mystery to the inhabitants of the disc, being not able to peer underneath the turtle themselves. This leads to some great debate and argument as to what position the turtle would assume should there be another cosmic big bang.

Directions within the discworld are not given as north south east and west, but rather as directions relating to the disc itself, eg hubward (towards the centre), rimward (away from the centre) and to a lesser extent, turnwise and widdershins (relation to the direction of the disc's spin). It relies on magic.

The most famous city on the Disc is Ankh-Morpork, site of the Unseen University and setting of many Discworld novels.

At the hub of the disc are some incredibly high mountains, the largest of which is Cori Celeste, upon the peak of which rests "Dunmanifestin", home of the Discworld's gods.

Chief among the Gods, by reason of having more worshippers than any of the others, is Blind Io. He is a thunder god: in fact, he is every thunder god worshipped on the disc, appearing under different guises and answering different names in various places, so as to ensure the largest possible number of worshippers. (He nevertheless comes by his position of leadership relatively fairly, since all his rivals use similar dodges.)

The world has been chronicled through at least 30 novels so far and several short stories. The novels prior to The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents (and almost all Pratchett books to date) had cover art done by Josh Kirby (who died in October 2001), but only in the original British editions. The American editions, published by HarperCollins, do not feature Kirby's cover art.

Almost all of the Discworld novels are notable for having no chapter divisions. Instead most of the time there are different storylines interwoven with each other. The biggest advantage of not having chapters is: you can stop reading on nearly every page... if you are able to. Or you can just go through it non-stop, as some do.

The novels can be grouped into five categories:

• The Rincewind stories - These stories centre around a wizard (of sorts) called Rincewind. The 'of sorts' is because Rincewind is a complete failure at magic, but through a series of events is recognised as a wizard. The other wizards at the Unseen University are sometimes seen in these stories.
• The Witches stories - These stories centre around the witches of Lancre, particularly Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Magrat Garlick, and later Agnes Nitt.
• The Death stories - These stories centre around Death in his usual personification of a skeleton in black robes with a scythe. Death's companions are his granddaughter Susan, his butler Albert and the Death of Rats, the rat equivalent of the human Death. In later novels Susan takes centre stage, although Death is still a key player.
• The City Watch stories - These stories centre around Ankh-Morpork's equivalent of a police force, the City Watch. Samuel Vimes leads the city watch, and among his officers are Carrot Ironfoundersson, Angua, Fred Colon, Detritus and "Nobby" Nobbs.
• The Miscellaneous stories - where none of the above four applies, or the main characters from them only appear briefly, or at least not as the main characters of the story in question.

The Discworld novels are as follows:

Name	Group	ISBN	Notes	Motifs
The Colour of Magic	Rincewind	Paperback: ISBN 0552124753		Fantasy clichés; Role-playing games
The Light Fantastic	Rincewind	Paperback: ISBN 0552128481		Fantasy clichés
Equal Rites	The Witches	Paperback: ISBN 0552131059		Fantasy clichés
Mort	Death	Paperback: ISBN 0552131067		Death; Death
Sourcery	Rincewind	Paperback: ISBN 0552131075		Fantasy Stories, Apocalypse
Wyrd Sisters	The Witches	Paperback: ISBN 0552134600		Shakespeare
Pyramids	Miscellaneous	Paperback: ISBN 0552134619		School stories; Egyptian mythology
Guards! Guards!	The City Watch	Paperback: ISBN 0552134627		Cop Novels, Fantasy Stories
Eric	Rincewind	Paperback: ISBN 0575600012	Originally published as a 'Discworld story': larger format and fully illustrated by Josh Kirby; more recently reissued as a normal paperback with no illustrations.	Faust, Dante's Inferno
Moving Pictures	Miscellaneous	Paperback: ISBN 0552134635		Hollywood, The Cthulhu Mythos
Reaper Man	Death	Paperback: ISBN 0552134643		Alien invasion SF
Witches Abroad	The Witches	Paperback: ISBN 0552134651		Fairy tales, Voodoo
Small Gods	Miscellaneous	Paperback: ISBN 0552138908		Religion, Philosophy
Lords and Ladies	The Witches	Paperback: ISBN 0552138916		Shakespeare, UFOs
Men at Arms	The City Watch			Cop novels
Soul Music	Death	Paperback: ISBN 0552140295		Rock music
Interesting Times	Rincewind	Paperback: ISBN 0552142352		The Orient
Maskerade	The Witches	Paperback: ISBN 0552142360		Opera; The Phantom of the Opera
Feet of Clay	The City Watch	Paperback: ISBN 0552142379		Cop Novels; Robots
Hogfather	Death	Paperback: ISBN 0552145424		Christmas; Children's stories
Jingo	The City Watch	Hardback: ISBN 0575065400		War, Diplomacy
The Last Continent	Rincewind	Hardback: ISBN 0385409893		Action/Adventure; Australia
Carpe Jugulum	The Witches	Hardback: ISBN 0385409923		Vampire novels
The Fifth Elephant	The City Watch	Hardback: ISBN 0385409958		Diplomacy
The Truth	Miscellaneous	Hardback: ISBN 0385601026		Watergate, Newspapers
Thief of Time	Death	Hardback: ISBN 0385601883		Wuxia and Martial arts films
The Last Hero	Miscellaneous		Published in a larger format, fully illustrated by Paul Kidby.	Legends
The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents	Miscellaneous		A children's Discworld book.	Beatrix Potter, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, The Rats of NIMH
Night Watch	The City Watch	Hardback: ISBN 0385602642		Cop Novels; Historical novels; time travel
The Wee Free Men	Tiffany Aching	Hardback: ISBN 0385605331	Another children's Discworld book.	Folklore, Mythic Scotland, as seen in Braveheart and Highlander
Monstrous Regiment	Miscellaneous			Folk song (especially Sweet Polly Oliver), Women who disgused themselves as men to join the army (eg Colonel Gauntlett Bligh Barker),The Napoleonic Wars, possibly as interpreted through Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe novels.
A Hat Full of Sky	Tiffany Aching			???

There are also three short stories by Pratchett based in the Discworld: Troll Bridge, Theatre of Cruelty, and The Sea and Little Fishes. The first two are available online. The third was published in Legends, edited by Robert Silverberg.

Thus far, there are also two Discworld Quizbooks:

• The Unseen University Challenge See University Challenge (TV)..
• The Wyrdest Link See The Weakest Link (TV)..

Furthermore, there are four Mapps:

• The Streets of Ankh-Morpork (1993)
• The Discworld Mapp (1995)
• A Tourist Guide to Lancre (1998)
• Death's Domain (1999)

Pratchett has also collaborated with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen on two books using the Discworld to illuminate popular science topics:

• The Science of Discworld
• The Science of Discworld 2: The Globe

Other Discworldesque publications include:

• Nanny Ogg's Cookbook
• The Discworld Portfolio

In addition Terry Pratchett co-authored with Phil Masters two role-playing game supplements for Discworld:

• GURPS Discworld
• GURPS Discworld Also

Available Discworld computer games are:

• Discworld 1
• Discworld 2: Missing Presumed...!?
• Discworld Noir
• Discworld MUD (see external link below)

Stage adaptations of nine Discworld novels have been published, with proceeds from the rights going to charity. The adaptations are by Stephen Briggs, and were first produced by the Studio Theatre Club in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. They include adaptations of The Truth, Maskerade, Mort, Wyrd Sisters, and Guards! Guards!.

Most years there is also a Discworld Diary and Calendar out, as well. The Diaries particularly are themed.

It is even possible to get a character in one of the future Discworld books named after yourself. Usually people appear in the books by bidding for the privilege in charity auctions.

Animated adaptations of Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters were produced by Cosgrove-Hall Productions for Channel 4 in 1996. These are available on DVD and VHS in the US from Acorn Media.

Related topics

• Discworld characters

External link

• The L-Space Web, possibly the definitive Discworld web site
• Discworld Monthly (free monthly newsletter about Terry Pratchett OBE and his Discworld and other novels.)
• Discworld.Com The official Discworld website. Still under construction.
• A 30kb .gif showing the interrelationships between the books and series within Discworld
• Discworld MUD Allows you to enter the Discworld and become a wizzard or assassin, or whatever you choose.
• Extra Publications A - fairly - complete list of all tomes not in the official series. (Mapps, Diaries, Cookbooks...)

Referenced By