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Hogfather
''Hogfather'' is the 20th '' Discworld'' novel by Terry Pratchett, and a 1997 British Fantasy Award nominee. It was first released in 1996 and published by Victor Gollancz. It came in 137th place in The Big Read, a BBC survey of the most loved British books of all time, making it one of fifteen books by Pratchett in the Top 200. The book focuses on the absence of the Hogfather, a mythical creature akin to Father Christmas, who grants children's wishes on Hogswatchnight (December 32) and brings them presents. While Death attempts to fill in for the Hogfather, his granddaughter Susan Sto Helit tries to find and rescue the Hogfather. Plot summary The Auditors of Reality, a group of 'celestial bureaucrats', attempt to eliminate the Hogfather, a jolly god-like creature who brings children presents on December 32nd, similar to the figures of Santa Claus and Father Christmas in the US and UK. Forbidden to interfere directly by "The Rules", they pay the Assassin's Guild to kill ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Death (Discworld)
Death is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series and a parody of several other Personifications of death, depictions of the Grim Reaper across Europe. He is a black-robed skeleton who usually carries a scythe and on occasion a sword for dispatching monarch, royalty. His jurisdiction is specifically the Discworld itself; he being only a minion of Azrael, the Death of all things across the Universes – in much the same way as #The Death of Rats, the Death of Rats is an infinitesimally small part of Death himself. Pratchett explores human existence through his depiction of death, which becomes more sympathetic throughout the series as it progresses. Death almost never ''homicide, kills'' anyone or anything, but — acting in the form of a psychopomp — he merely ensures that when lives come to an end, they move on to afterlife, where they believe they should go if they are sentient, which often involves a desert to be crossed. Works Death appears in ever ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Susan Sto Helit
Susan Sto Helit (also spelled Sto-Helit), once referred to as Susan Death, is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series of fantasy novels. She is the granddaughter of Death, the Disc's Grim Reaper, and has a number of his abilities. She appears in three ''Discworld'' novels: ''Soul Music'', ''Hogfather'', and ''Thief of Time''. Being both human and supernatural, Susan is frequently and reluctantly forced away from her attempts at normal life to do battle with malign supernatural forces or to take on her grandfather's job in his absence. Death tends to rely on her in his battles against the Auditors of Reality, particularly in situations where he has no power or influence. As the series progresses, she also begins to take on roles educating children, so that, as Pratchett mentions in ''The Art of Discworld'', she has "ended up, via that unconscious evolution that dogs characters, a kind of Goth Mary Poppins". Character Susan is the daughter of Ysabell, Dea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Pratchett's Hogfather
''Terry Pratchett's Hogfather'' is a 2006 two-part British Christmas-themed fantasy comedy television adaptation of ''Hogfather'' by Terry Pratchett, produced by The Mob, and first broadcast on Sky1, and in High Definition on Sky1 HD, over Christmas 2006. First aired in two 1.5-hour episodes on 17 and 18 December 2006 at 20:00 UTC, it was the first live-action film adaptation of a '' Discworld'' novel. In 2007, the two episodes were rerun on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day respectively on Sky One and Sky1 HD. ''Hogfather'' won the Best Visual Effects award at the 2007 British Academy Television Craft Awards. Plot The series closely follows the plot of the novel, in which the Hogfather, the Discworld equivalent of Father Christmas, has gone missing and Death is forced to take his place while Death's granddaughter Susan attempts to find out what happened. Main cast Pratchett himself has a cameo as a toymaker, in addition to his official script credit of 'Mucked Ab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unseen University
The Unseen University (UU) is a school of wizardry in Terry Pratchett's '' Discworld'' series of fantasy novels. Located in the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork, the UU is staffed by mostly indolent and inept old wizards. The university's name is a pun on the Invisible College, and many aspects of the university are references to Oxford and Cambridge University. The exploits of the head wizards of the Unseen University are one of the main plot threads in the long-running fantasy series, and have played a central role in 13 novels to date, as well as the four supplementary '' Science of Discworld'' novels and the short story, '' A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices''. Staff The staff usually come in a group in the books in which they appear, though Rincewind initially followed his own storyline, only being a part of the group in the ''Science of Discworld'' books and '' Unseen Academicals'', and the Librarian makes solo appearances in several books. Ridcully and Ponde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discworld Characters
This article contains brief biographies for prominent characters from Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' series. More central characters' biographies are also listed in articles relating to the organisations they belong to, main characters have their own articles. Characters are listed alphabetically by name. ''71-Hour'' Ahmed A Discworld (world)#Klatch, Klatchian warrior and bodyguard who accompanies his Prince, Khufurah, an Envoy (title), envoy on a diplomatic mission from Klatch to Ankh-Morpork in the Discworld#Bibliography, 21st ''Discworld'' novel, ''Jingo (novel), Jingo''. Ahmed belongs to a formidable but honourable warrior clan called the #D'regs, D'regs. Speaking purposefully with a heavy accent and chewing cloves he is suspected of killing the Watch's prime suspect in a botched assassination attempt on the prince; provoking Vimes and the Watch to pursue Ahmed back to Klatch. Ahmed got his nickname by killing a man guilty of poisoning a well, one hour before the cultural ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Discworld Characters
This article contains brief biographies for prominent characters from Terry Pratchett's '' Discworld'' series. More central characters' biographies are also listed in articles relating to the organisations they belong to, main characters have their own articles. Characters are listed alphabetically by name. ''71-Hour'' Ahmed A Klatchian warrior and bodyguard who accompanies his Prince, Khufurah, an envoy on a diplomatic mission from Klatch to Ankh-Morpork in the 21st ''Discworld'' novel, '' Jingo''. Ahmed belongs to a formidable but honourable warrior clan called the D'regs. Speaking purposefully with a heavy accent and chewing cloves he is suspected of killing the Watch's prime suspect in a botched assassination attempt on the prince; provoking Vimes and the Watch to pursue Ahmed back to Klatch. Ahmed got his nickname by killing a man guilty of poisoning a well, one hour before the cultural D'reg three days of unwavering hospitality allowed; a time during which even great ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discworld
''Discworld'' is a comic fantasy"Humorous Fantasy" in David Pringle, ed., ''The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' (pp.31-33). London, Carlton,2006. book series written by the English author Sir Terry Pratchett, set on the Discworld, a flat planet balanced on the backs of four elephants which in turn stand on the back of a giant turtle. The series began in 1983 with '' The Colour of Magic'' and continued until the final novel ''The Shepherd's Crown'', which was published in 2015, following Pratchett's death. The books frequently parody or take inspiration from classic works, usually fantasy or science fiction, as well as mythology, folklore and fairy tales, and often use them for satirical parallels with cultural, political and scientific issues. Forty-one ''Discworld'' novels were published. Apart from the first novel in the series, ''The Colour of Magic'', the original British editions of the first 26 novels, up to '' Thief of Time'' (2001), had cover art by Josh Kirby. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discworld (world)
The Discworld is the fictional world where English writer Sir Terry Pratchett's '' Discworld'' fantasy novels take place. It consists of an interstellar planet-sized disc, which sits on the backs of four huge elephants, themselves standing on the back of a world turtle, named Great A'Tuin, as it slowly swims through space. The ''Disc'' is the setting for all forty-one Discworld novels; it was influenced by world religions which feature human worlds resting on turtles, as a setting to reflect situations on Earth, in a humorous way. The Discworld is peopled mostly by the three main races of men, dwarfs and trolls. As the novels progress, other lesser known races are included, such as dragons, elves, goblins and pixies. Pratchett first explored the idea of a disc-shaped world in the novel ''Strata'' (1981). Great A'Tuin Great A'Tuin is the Giant Star Turtle (of the fictional species ''Chelys galactica'') who travels through the Discworld universe's space, carrying four giant el ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michelle Dockery
Michelle Suzanne Dockery (born 15 December 1981) is an English actress. She is best known for starring as List of Downton Abbey characters#Lady Mary Talbot, Lady Mary Crawley in the ITV (TV network), ITV television period drama series ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2015), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and three consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She reprised her role in the films ''Downton Abbey (film), Downton Abbey'' (2019), ''Downton Abbey: A New Era'' (2022), and the upcoming ''Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale'' (2025). After graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Dockery made her professional stage debut in ''His Dark Materials (play), His Dark Materials'' in 2004. For her role as Eliza Doolittle in a 2007 London revival of ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'', she was nominated for the Evening Standard Award. For her role in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ian Richardson
Ian William Richardson (7 April 19349 February 2007) was a Scottish actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Conservative politician Francis Urquhart in the BBC's '' House of Cards'' (1990–1995) television trilogy, as well as the pivotal spy Bill Haydon in '' Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' (1979). His other notable screen work included a portrayal of Sherlock Holmes in two films ( ''The Sign of Four'' and ''The Hound of the Baskervilles''), as well as significant roles in ''Brazil'', '' M. Butterfly'', and '' Dark City''. Richardson was also a leading stage actor, well known for his Shakespearean works as well as his portrayal of Jean-Paul Marat in the Broadway production of '' Marat/Sade''. Early life Richardson was born in Edinburgh, the only son and eldest of three children of John Richardson (1909–1990), a manager at the McVitie & Price factory (where he and his wife met, and, according to his son, where John invented the Jaffa cake), and Margaret ("Peggy") Po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
