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. After Kirby's death in 2001, the covers were designed by Paul Kidby. The American editions, published by HarperCollins, used their own cover art. Companion publications include eleven short stories (some only loosely related to the Discworld), four popular science books, and a number of supplementary books and reference guides. The series has been adapted for graphic novels, theatre, computer and board games, and television.

''Discworld'' books regularly topped ''Sunday Times'' best-sellers list, making Pratchett the UK's best-selling author in the 1990s. ''Discworld'' novels have also won awards such as the Prometheus Award and the Carnegie Medal. In the BBC's Big Read, four ''Discworld'' novels were in the top 100, and a total of fourteen in the top 200. More than 80 million ''Discworld'' books have been sold in 37 languages.

Composition

Very few of the ''Discworld'' novels have chapter divisions. Instead, they feature interweaving storylines. Pratchett was quoted as saying that he "just never got into the habit of chapters", later adding that "I have to shove them in the putative YA books because my editor screams until I do". However, the first ''Discworld'' novel '' The Colour of Magic'' was divided into "books", as is ''Pyramids''. Additionally, ''Going Postal'' and '' Making Money'' both have chapters, a prologue, an epilogue, and brief teasers of what is to come in each chapter, in the style of A. A. Milne, Jules Verne, and Jerome K. Jerome.

Themes and motifs

The ''Discworld'' novels contain common themes and motifs that run through the series. Many of the novels parody fantasy tropes and various subgenres of fantasy, like fairy tales (notably '' Witches Abroad'') or vampire tales ('' Carpe Jugulum''). Analogies of real-world issues, such as religion ('' Small Gods''), fundamentalism and inner city tension ('' Thud''), business and politics ('' Making Money''), racial prejudice and exploitation ('' Snuff'') recur, as do aspects of culture and entertainment such as opera ('' Maskerade''), rock music (''Soul Music''), cinema ('' Moving Pictures''), and football ('' Unseen Academicals''). Parodies of non-Discworld fiction also occur frequently, including Shakespeare, Beatrix Potter, and several movies. Major historical events, especially battles, are sometimes the basis for both trivial and key events ('' Jingo'', ''Eric'', and ''Pyramids''), as are trends in science, technology, pop culture and modern art ('' Moving Pictures'', '' Men at Arms'', '' Thud''). There are also humanist themes in many ''Discworld'' novels, and a focus on critical thinking skills in the Witches and Tiffany Aching series.

Storylines

The ''Discworld'' novels and stories are, in principle, stand-alone works. However, a number of novels and stories form novel sequences with distinct story arcs:

Rincewind

Rincewind was the first protagonist of ''Discworld''. He is a wizard with no skill, no wizardly qualifications, and no interest in heroics. He is extremely cowardly but is constantly thrust into dangerous adventures. He saves Discworld on several occasions, and has an instrumental role in the emergence of life on Roundworld ('' Science of Discworld'').

Other characters in the Rincewind story arc include Cohen the Barbarian, an aging hero of the old fantasy tradition, out of touch with the modern world and still fighting despite his advanced age; Twoflower, a naive tourist from the Agatean Empire (inspired by cultures of East Asia, particularly Japan and China); and The Luggage, a magical, semi-sentient and aggressive multi-legged travelling accessory. Rincewind appears in eight Discworld novels as well as the four '' Science of Discworld'' supplementary books.

Death

Death, a seven-foot skeleton in a black robe who rides a pale horse named Binky, appears in every novel except '' The Wee Free Men'' and '' Snuff'', although sometimes with only a few lines. His dialogue is always depicted in SMALL CAPS without quotation marks. Several characters have said that his voice seemed to reach their minds without making a sound.

Death guides souls from this world to the next. Over millennia he has developed a fascination with humanity to a point and feels protective of it. He adopted a human daughter and took on a human apprentice Eventually the daughter and apprentice had a daughter, Susan Sto Helit, a primary character in ''Soul Music, Hogfather'', and '' Thief of Time''.

Characters that often appear with Death include his butler Albert, his granddaughter Susan Sto Helit, the Death of Rats in charge of gathering the souls of rodents, Quoth the raven, and the Auditors of Reality, the closest thing Death has to a nemesis.

Five Discworld novels feature prominently either Death or Susan with Death appearing. He also appears in the short stories
*'' Death and What Comes Next''
*'' Theatre of Cruelty''
*'' Turntables of the Night''.

Witches

Witches in Pratchett's universe act as herbalists, nurses, adjudicators and wise women who can use magic but generally prefer not to, finding simple but cunningly applied psychology (called "headology") far more effective.

The principal witch, Granny Weatherwax, a taciturn, bitter old crone from the small mountain country of Lancre, largely despises people but acts as their healer and protector because no one else can do this as well as she can. Her closest friend is Nanny Ogg, a jolly, personable witch with the "common touch" who enjoys a smoke and a pint of beer, and often sings bawdy folk songs like the notorious "Hedgehog Song". The two take on apprentice witches: first Magrat Garlick, then Agnes Nitt, then Tiffany Aching, who become accomplished witches.

Other characters in the Witches series include:
*King Verence II of Lancre, a onetime Fool
* Jason Ogg, Nanny Ogg's eldest son, the local blacksmith
* Shawn Ogg, Nanny's youngest son who serves as his country's entire army and civil service
*Nanny's murderous cat Greebo.
The witches appear in many Discworld books, and are protagonists in seven. They also appeared in the short story " The Sea and Little Fishes". Their stories frequently draw on ancient European folklore and fairy tales, and parody famous works of literature, particularly by Shakespeare.

City Watch

The stories featuring the Ankh-Morpork City Watch are urban fantasy, and frequently depict a traditional, magically-run fantasy world coming into contact with modern technology. They revolve around the growth of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch from a hopeless gang of three to a fully-equipped and efficient police force. The stories are largely police procedurals, featuring crimes with heavy political or societal overtones.

The main character Sam Vimes is a haggard, cynical, working-class street copper. When introduced in '' Guards! Guards!'', he is the alcoholic captain of the three-person Night Watch, which also includes the lazy, cowardly, and none-too-bright sergeant Fred Colon and Corporal Nobby Nobbs, a petty thief in his own right. Then Carrot Ironfoundersson, a 6-foot-6-inch-tall (1.98 m) dwarf-by-adoption, joins the Watch.

Other main characters include
* Angua, a werewolf,
*Detritus, a troll,
*Reg Shoe, a zombie and Dead Rights campaigner,
*Cuddy, a Dwarf in '' Men at Arms'',
*Golem Constable Dorfl.
Cheery Littlebottom, the Watch's forensics expert and one of the first openly female dwarves, tried to rename herself "Cheri" without success. Constable Visit-the-infidel-with-explanatory-pamphlets appears in some novels, and Sam's wife, Lady Sybil Vimes (née Ramkin) is integral to certain storylines. Inspector A E Pessimal was recruited by Vimes as his adjutant after Havelock Vetinari, the Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, sent him as an auditor.

The City Watch feature in eight Discworld stories, and cameoed in a number of others, including '' Making Money'', the children's book '' Where's My Cow?,'' and the short story " Theatre of Cruelty".

Pratchett stated on numerous occasions that the presence of the City Watch makes Ankh-Morpork stories "problematic", as stories set in the city that do not directly involve Vimes and the Watch often require a Watch presence to maintain the story—at which point, it becomes a Watch story by default.

Wizards

The Wizards of Unseen University (UU) appear prominently throughout many ''Discworld'' novels; the books that centre around them exclusively are The Science of the Discworld series and the novels '' Unseen Academicals'' and '' The Last Continent''. In the early books, the faculty of UU changed frequently; promotion usually involved assassination. However, after the ascension of the bombastic Mustrum Ridcully to the position of Archchancellor, the hierarchy settled down and characters had the chance to develop. Earlier books featured the wizards in possible invasions of Discworld by creatures from the Dungeon Dimensions, Lovecraftian monsters that hungered for magic.

The wizards of UU employ the traditional "whizz-bang" type of magic seen in ''Dungeons & Dragons'' games, but also investigate the rules and structure of magic in terms highly reminiscent of particle physics. Prominent members include
* Ponder Stibbons, a geeky young wizard
* Hex, the Disc's first computer/semi-sentient thinking engine
* the Librarian, turned into an orangutan by magical accident, who refuses to be turned back
*the Dean
*the mentally unstable Bursar
*the Chair of Indefinite Studies
*the Lecturer in Recent Runes
* the Senior Wrangler.
In later novels, Rincewind joins their group, while the Dean leaves to become the Archchancellor of Brazeneck College in the nearby city of Pseudopolis.

The Wizards feature prominently in nine ''Discworld'' books and star in The ''Science of Discworld series'' and the short story " A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices".

Tiffany Aching

Tiffany Aching is a young apprentice witch in a series of Discworld books aimed at young adults. Her stories often parallel mythic heroes' quests, but also deal with Tiffany's difficulties as a young girl maturing into a responsible woman. She is aided in her task by the Nac Mac Feegle, a gang of blue-tattooed, 6-inch tall, hard-drinking, loud-mouthed picts, also called "The Wee Free Men", who serve as her guardians. She is the protagonist of five novels, '' The Wee Free Men'', '' A Hat Full of Sky'', '' Wintersmith'', '' I Shall Wear Midnight'', and ''The Shepherd's Crown''. Major characters in this series include Miss Tick, a travelling witch who discovers Tiffany; Nac Mac Feegle chieftain Rob Anybody; and the other young witches Annagramma Hawkin and Petulia Gristle. Both Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg also appear in her stories.

Moist von Lipwig

Moist von Lipwig is a professional criminal and con man to whom Havelock Vetinari gives a "second chance" after staging his execution, recognising the advantages his jack-of-all-trades abilities will give to the development of the city. After putting him in charge of the Ankh-Morpork Post Office in ''Going Postal'', with good results, Vetinari orders him to clear up the city's corrupt financial sector in '' Making Money''. In a third book, '' Raising Steam'', Vetinari directs Lipwig to oversee the development of a railway network for Dick Simnel's newly invented steam locomotive. Other characters in this series include Adora Belle Dearheart, Lipwig's acerbic, chain-smoking love interest; Gladys, a golem who develops a strange crush on Lipwig; Stanley Howler, an obsessive young man who was raised by peas and becomes the Discworld's first stamp collector; and the very old Junior Postman Groat, who never got promoted to Senior Postman because there was never a Postmaster alive long enough to promote him.

''Discworld'' cultures

Several other books can be grouped together as "Other cultures of Discworld" books. They may contain characters or locations from other arcs, typically not as protagonist or antagonist but as a supporting character or even a throwaway reference. These include ''Pyramids'' (Djelibeybi), '' Small Gods'' (Omnia), and ''Monstrous Regiment'' (Zlobenia and Borogravia).

Characters

Short descriptions of many of the notable characters:

* Ankh-Morpork City Watch members
* Assassins
* Death-associated characters
* Dwarfs
* Nac Mac Feegle (Pictsies) and Gnomes
* History Monks
* Rincewind-associated characters
* Witches
* Wizards
* Other Discworld characters

Bibliography

Novels

Short stories

Short stories by Pratchett based in the Discworld, including published miscellanea such as the fictional game origins of '' Thud'', were reprinted in Pratchett's collection '' A Blink of the Screen'' (2012), and elsewhere.

* " Troll Bridge" – in ''After The King: Stories in honour of J. R. R. Tolkien'' (1992); reprinted in ''The Mammoth Book of Comic Fantasy'' edited by Mike Ashley (1998); available online
* " Theatre of Cruelty" (1993); available online
* " The Sea and Little Fishes" – in '' Legends'' (1998), anthology of novellas taking place within popular fantasy cycles edited by Robert Silverberg
* " Death and What Comes Next" (2002); available online
* " A Collegiate Casting-Out of Devilish Devices" (2005) – first published in the 13 May 2005 issue of '' The Times Higher Education Supplement'' included in certain editions of ''Snuff''; available online

Seven of the short stories or short writings were also collected in a compilation of the majority of Pratchett's known short work named '' Once More* With Footnotes'' (2004).

Additionally, another short story " Turntables of the Night" (1989) is set in England but features Death as a character; it is available online and in both anthologies.

Five short stories republished in '' A Stroke of the Pen: The Lost Stories'' (2023) constitute the first known works by Pratchett that include early versions of places and characters that would later become parts of Discworld. Pratchett authored most of them under a pseudonym that remained unlinked to him for decades, until posthumously discovered in 2022.

"Mapps"

Although Terry Pratchett said, "There are no maps. You can't map a sense of humour," there are four "Mapps": '' The Streets of Ankh-Morpork'' (1993), '' The Discworld Mapp'' (1995), '' A Tourist Guide to Lancre'' (1998), and '' Death's Domain'' (1999). The first two were drawn by Stephen Player, based on plans by Pratchett and Stephen Briggs, the third is a collaboration between Briggs and Paul Kidby, and the last is by Kidby. All also contain booklets written by Pratchett and Briggs. Terry later collaborated with the Discworld Emporium to produce two much larger works, each with the associated map with the book in a folder, ''The Compleat Ankh-Morpork City Guide'' (2012) and ''The Compleat Discworld Atlas'' (2015).

Death's Domain

''Death's Domain'' is a book by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Briggs, and illustrated by Paul Kidby. It is the fourth in the Mapp series. It was first published in paperback by Corgi in 1999. It was the second in the series to be illustrated by Kidby. As with the other "mapps", the basic design and booklet were compiled by Pratchett and Briggs.

The Mapp shows the parasite universe of Death's Domain. The accompanying booklet provides various details of the Domain, both as portrayed in the Discworld books and newly revealed.

In ''Death's Domain'', the concept of steam locomotives on Discworld is introduced, which became the main theme of Pratchett's Discworld novel '' Raising Steam'' fourteen years later.

In the live-action adaptations of ''Hogfather'' and '' The Colour of Magic'', Dorney Court is the real-life location used for the exterior of ''Mon Repos'', Death's house.

Science books

Pratchett also collaborated with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen on four books, using the Discworld to illuminate popular science topics. Each book alternates chapters of a ''Discworld'' story and notes on real science related to it. The books are:
* '' The Science of Discworld'' (1999). .
* '' The Science of Discworld II: The Globe'' (2002). .
* '' The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch'' (2005). .
* '' The Science of Discworld IV: Judgement Day'' (2013). .

Quiz books

David Langford has compiled two ''Discworld'' quiz books:
* '' The Unseen University Challenge'' (1996), parodying the TV quiz show ''University Challenge.'' .
* ''The Wyrdest Link'' (2002), parodying the TV quiz show ''The Weakest Link.''

Diaries

Most years see the release of a Discworld Diary and Discworld Calendar, both usually following a particular theme.

The diaries feature background information about their themes. Some topics are later used in the series; the character of Miss Alice Band first appeared in the ''Assassins' Guild Yearbook'', for example.

'' The Discworld Almanak – The Year of The Prawn'' has a similar format and general contents to the diaries.

Other books

Other ''Discworld'' publications include:
* ''The Josh Kirby Discworld Portfolio'' (1993) A collection of Josh Kirby's artwork, published by Paper Tiger. .
* '' The Discworld Companion'' (1994) An encyclopedia of ''Discworld'' information, compiled by Pratchett and Briggs. .
**An updated version was released in 2003, titled ''The New Discworld Companion''. .
**A further updated version was released in 2012, titled ''Turtle Recall: The Discworld Companion . . . So Far''. .
**A new updated version was released in 2021, titled ''The Ultimate Discworld Companion''. .
* '' The Pratchett Portfolio'' (1996) A collection of Paul Kidby's artwork, with notes by Pratchett. .
* ''Nanny Ogg's Cookbook'' (1999) A collection of ''Discworld'' recipes, combined with etiquette, language of flowers etc., written by Pratchett with Stephen Briggs and Tina Hannan. Illustrated by Paul Kidby. .
* '' The Art of Discworld'' (2004) Another collection of Paul Kidby's art. .
* '' The Discworld Almanak'' (2004) An almanac for the ''Discworld'' year, in the style of the Diaries and the Cookbook, written by Pratchett with Bernard Pearson. .
* '' Where's My Cow?'' (2005) A ''Discworld'' picture book referenced in '' Thud!'' and '' Wintersmith'', written by Pratchett with illustrations by Melvyn Grant. .
* '' The Unseen University Cut Out Book'' (2006) Build your own Unseen University, written by Pratchett with Alan Batley and Bernard Pearson, published 1 October 2006.
* '' The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld'' (2007) A collection of quotations from the series.
* '' The Folklore of Discworld'' (2008) A collaboration with British folklorist Jacqueline Simpson, discussing the myths and folklore used in ''Discworld''.
* '' The World of Poo'' (2012) Another in-universe children's book (similar to ''Where's My Cow''), referenced in '' Snuff''.
* ''The Compleat Ankh-Morpork: City Guide'' (2012) The complete guide to the city of Ankh-Morpork.
* ''Mrs Bradshaw's Handbook'' (2014) A guide book to the new railway system on the Disc; a parody of Bradshaw's Guides, and mentioned in '' Raising Steam''. .
* ''The Compleat Discworld Atlas'' (2015) A follow-up to ''The Compleat Ankh-Morpork'', and the Discworld Emporium's final collaboration with Terry Pratchett. .
* ''The Ankh-Morpork Archives'' Vol. 1 (2019) and Vol. 2 (2020) - anthologies of material written for the Discworld Diaries.
* ''The Nac Mac Feegle's Big Wee Alphabet Book'' (2022) - a parody of children's alphabet books, using words from the Scots-like Feegle language. .
* ''Mr Bunnsy Has an Adventure'' (2023) - a tie-in with '' The Amazing Maurice'', a facsimile of the book from the story based on the version seen in the film.
* '' Tiffany Aching's Guide to Being a Witch'' (2023) - the first published Discworld work written by Rhianna Pratchett, announced in May 2023. Co-authored with Gabrielle Kent and illustrated by Paul Kidby.

Reading order

The books take place roughly in real time and the characters' ages change to reflect the passing of years. The meetings of various characters from different narrative threads (e.g., Ridcully and Granny Weatherwax in '' Lords and Ladies'', Rincewind and Carrot in '' The Last Hero'') indicate that all the main storylines take place around the same period (end of the Century of the Fruitbat, beginning of the Century of the Anchovy). The main exception is the stand-alone book '' Small Gods'', which appears to take place at some point earlier than most of the other stories, though even this contains cameo appearances by Death and the Librarian.

Some main characters may make cameo appearances in other books where they are not the primary focus; for example, City Watch members Carrot Ironfoundersson and Angua appear briefly in ''Going Postal'', '' Making Money'', and '' Unseen Academicals'' (placing those books after '' Guards! Guards!'' and '' Men at Arms''). A number of characters, such as members of staff of Unseen University and Lord Vetinari, appear prominently in many different storylines without having specific storylines of their own. The two most frequently recurring central protagonists, Rincewind and Sam Vimes, are very briefly in a room together in ''The Last Hero'', but they do not interact.

Continuation

After Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, he said that he would be happy for his daughter Rhianna to continue the series. Pratchett co-founded Narrativia in 2012 along with Rob Wilkins to serve as a production company for adaptations of his works, with Rhianna as a member of its writing team. Rhianna Pratchett said that she would be involved in spin-offs, adaptations and tie-ins, but there would be no more novels. The first such spin-off by Rhianna was the tie-in book '' Tiffany Aching's Guide to Being a Witch'', co-written with children's author Gabrielle Kent.

Adaptations

Audiobooks

Most of Pratchett's novels have been released as audio cassette and CD audiobooks.
* Unabridged recordings of books 1–23 in the above list, except for books 3, 6 and 9, are read by Nigel Planer. Books 3 and 6 are read by Celia Imrie. Book 9 and most of the books from 24 onward are read by Stephen Briggs.
*Abridged versions are read by Tony Robinson.
*Fantastic Audio also recorded two ''Discworld'' novels: ''Thief of Time'' and ''Night Watch''.
*Penguin have released a new line of Discworld audiobooks between 2022 and 2023. Voice talent includes Andy Serkis, Ariyon Bakare, Colin Morgan, Indira Varma, and Sian Clifford, as well as Peter Serafinowicz and Bill Nighy. Featuring theme music by composer James Hannigan.

Comics

'' The Colour of Magic'', '' The Light Fantastic'', '' Mort'', '' Guards! Guards!'', and '' Small Gods'' have been adapted into graphic novels. Adaptations of ''Thief of Time'', ''The Wee Free Men'', and ''Monstrous Regiment'' have been announced but not yet released.

Film and television

Due in part to the complexity of the novels, ''Discworld'' has been difficult to adapt to film – Pratchett was fond of an anecdote of a producer attempting to pitch an adaptation of '' Mort'' in the early 1990s but was told to "lose the Death angle" by US backers.

Cosgrove Hall series (1996-1997)

Cosgrove Hall produced several animated adaptations for Channel 4 from 1996 to 1997. All three star Christopher Lee as Death. These were made available on DVD and VHS in the US from Acorn Media.
* ''Welcome to the Discworld'' (1996) – an 8-minute animated television adaptation of a fragment of ''Reaper Man''.
* ''Soul Music'' (1997) – also featuring Neil Morrissey and Graham Crowden. The soundtrack to ''Soul Music'' was also released on CD, and an accompanying book with stills and script was released.
* '' Wyrd Sisters'' (1997) – starring Annette Crosbie, June Whitfield, Jane Horrocks and Les Dennis.

Sky TV movie trilogy (2006-2010)

Three television movies were commissioned by Sky One in the late 2000s, each of which were broadcast in two parts. Terry Pratchett cameos as a minor character in all three.
* '' Terry Pratchett's Hogfather'' (2006), an adaptation of ''Hogfather'' with Ian Richardson as Death, David Jason as Albert and Michelle Dockery as Susan Sto Helit. It was first broadcast in December 2006.
* '' Terry Pratchett's The Colour of Magic'' (2008), based on both '' The Colour of Magic'' and '' The Light Fantastic'', starring David Jason as Rincewind. Christopher Lee replaces the late Ian Richardson in the role of Death.
* ''Terry Pratchett's Going Postal'' (2010), an adaptation of ''Going Postal'' starring Richard Coyle, David Suchet, Charles Dance, Claire Foy, Steve Pemberton, Andrew Sachs and Tamsin Greig.

Full-length feature film

'' The Amazing Maurice'' is a UK-Germany co-production CGI-animated feature film, with a screenplay by Terry Rossio closely adapting the 28th ''Discworld'' stand-alone novel '' The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents'' of 2001. The film stars the voices of Hugh Laurie — as the eponymous lead character of the streetwise talking ginger tomcat Maurice, who befriends a group of talking rats and a pet human to run a money-spinning "Pied Piper" scam across ''Discworld'' — with Emilia Clarke, Himesh Patel, Gemma Arterton, Ariyon Bakare, David Tennant, Julie Atherton, Joe Sugg, Rob Brydon, Hugh Bonneville, David Thewlis, and Peter Serafinowicz cameoing as Death. The film's musical score was composed by Tom Howe with English singer-songwriter Gabrielle Aplin. It had its premiere at the Manchester Animation Festival on 13 November 2022 before going on to general release at the end of 2022.

The same film production companies are putting together a CGI-animated feature film sequel to this film due for release in 2027.

Other adaptations

* ''Run Rincewind Run!'' (2007): A Snowgum Films original story created as a short film for Nullus Anxietas, the Australian Discworld convention. Stars Troy Larkin as Rincewind, and features Terry Pratchett as himself.
* '' Troll Bridge'' (2019): A live-action / hand-animated short film by the Australian group Snowgum Films. It premiered at the Flickerfest International Film Festival in January 2019.
* '' The Watch'', a TV series inspired by the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, ''The Watch'' has been in development by Terry and then Rhianna Pratchett since 2011. It was greenlit as an eight-episode series by BBC America in October 2018, with Simon Allen as writer and Hilary Salmon, Ben Donald, Rob Wilkins and Phil Collinson as executive producers. However, Rhianna Pratchett has since distanced herself from the adaptation.

Fan works

* ''Mort'' (2001): A fan movie adaptation of the eponymous novel by Orange Cow Production, 26 minutes.
* ''Lords and Ladies'' (2005): A fan movie adaptation of '' Lords and Ladies'' by Almost No Budget Films was completed in Germany.

Radio

There have been several BBC Radio adaptations of Discworld stories, including:
* ''Eric'' (1990), a 4-part dramatised adaptation began airing on BBC Radio 4 on 6 March 2013.
* '' Guards! Guards!'', six 30-minutes episodes, first broadcast in 1992, narrated by Martin Jarvis
* '' Mort'', four 30-minutes episodes, first broadcast in 2004, starring Anton Lesser and Geoffrey Whitehead
* '' Night Watch'' five 30-minutes episodes, first broadcast in 2008, starring Ben Onwukwe and Philip Jackson
* '' Small Gods'', four 30-minutes episodes, first broadcast in 2006, starring Anton Lesser
* '' Wyrd Sisters'', four 30-minutes episodes, first broadcast in 1995, starring Sheila Hancock, Lynda Baron and Deborah Berlin

Stage

*Stephen Briggs published stage adaptations of 18 ''Discworld'' novels. Most of them were first produced by the Studio Theatre Club in Abingdon, Oxfordshire. They include adaptations of ''The Truth'', ''Maskerade'', ''Mort'', ''Wyrd Sisters'' and ''Guards! Guards!''
*Irana Brown directed her adaptation of ''Lords and Ladies'', first performed in 1995 at the Winton Studio Theatre. Her adaptation was published in 2001 by Samuel French, and is still being performed as of 2016.
* Allen Stroud directed his adaptation of ''Reaper Man'' in 1996, first performed at the Winton Studio Theatre. He retains the script version.
*A stage version of ''Eric'', adapted by Scott Harrison and Lee Harris, was produced and performed by The Dreaming Theatre Company in July 2003 inside Clifford's Tower, the 700-year-old castle keep in York. It was revived in 2004 in a tour of England, along with Robert Rankin's '' The Antipope''.
*''Small Gods'' was adapted for the stage by Ben Saunders and was performed in February 2011 at the Assembly Rooms Theatre, Durham by Ooook! Productions and members of Durham Student Theatre. Ooook! Productions also adapted and staged Terry Pratchett's ''Night Watch'' (February 2012), ''Thief of Time'' (February 2013; adapted by Tim Foster), ''Lords and Ladies'' (February 2014, adapted by Irana Brown), ''Monstrous Regiment'' (2015), and ''Soul Music'' (February 2016; adapted by Imogen Eddleston).
*A stage version of ''Monstrous Regiment'' was produced by Lifeline Theatre in Chicago, Illinois in June, July, and August 2014 with an adaptation written by one of Lifeline's ensemble members, Chris Hainsworth.
*A stage musical version of ''Witches Abroad'', adapted by Amy Atha-Nicholls, was performed at the 2016 International Discworld Convention.

Video games

* Two point-and-click adventure games were created in the 1990s- '' Discworld'' and '' Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!?'' (''Mortality Bites'' in the US/North America).
** The first follows Rincewind as he is asked to look into the sudden and mysterious appearance of a dragon in Ankh-Morpork, while the second has him investigating the mysterious disappearance of Death. ''Discworld'' released in 1995 for PC (MS-DOS), Macintosh, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn, being one of the first games for the original Playstation, it came in a longbox case, rather than a CD Jewel case.
** The direct sequel, ''Discworld II'', released the following year for PC (MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows), Playstation, and Sega Saturn. Eric Idle plays Rincewind. The game contains many hand-animated cutscenes.
* Another game, ''Discworld Noir'', was released in 1999, for PC (Microsoft Windows) and Playstation, exclusively in Europe. It is more of a detective story, following a novel main character - a PI named Lewton.

Other video games are:

* '' The Colour of Magic'' (ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64)
* '' Discworld MUD'' (online multiuser dungeon, 1991), based on the novels
* ''Discworld: The Colour of Magic'' (Mobile phone, 2006)

Merchandise

Various other types of related merchandise have been produced by cottage industries with an interest in the books, including Stephen Briggs, Bernard Pearson, Bonsai Trading, Paul Kidby and Clarecraft.

Cripple Mr. Onion was originally a fictional card game played by characters in the novels '' Wyrd Sisters'', '' Reaper Man'', '' Witches Abroad'', '' Men at Arms'', '' Wintersmith'' and '' Lords and Ladies''. A game called "Shibo Yangcong-San" (derived from Japanese 死亡 ''shibō'', "death;" Chinese 洋蔥 ''yángcōng'', "onion;" and the Japanese honorific さん ''-san'') appears in '' Interesting Times'' as a tile game played in the Agatean Empire. This was used by Dr Andrew Millard and Prof. Terry Tao as the basis for an actual card game.

Games

* '' Thud'', 2002, by Trevor Truran, publisher The Cunning Artificer. It resembles ancient Norse games such as Hnefatafl, and involves two unequal sides, Trolls and Dwarves with different moves and 'capture' abilities. The basic overall strategy is for the dwarfs to form a large group and for the trolls to try to stop them. A dwarf's strategy widely depends on how the trolls are advancing on the dwarf block. A good tactic therefore is to be prepared to sacrifice a few dwarfs to get in the way and slow down any trolls that are advancing into dangerous positions.
* ''Guards Guards'', 2011, by Backspindle Games (Designers: Leonard Boyd & David Brashaw), Published in conjunction with Z-Man Games. This is a 'quest' game where players have to manoeuvre their piece around the board collecting stolen spells to return to the Unseen University, while dealing with various Discworld characters.
* '' Ankh-Morpork'', 2011, by Martin Wallace, published by Treefrog Games. This is a game where each player has a secret victory condition, usually relating to owning buildings in, or controlling, various areas of the city of Ankh-Morpork. During the game, players play cards from their hand to place control elements in the city, remove other players' pieces, or otherwise manipulate the ownership of areas.
* ''The Witches'', 2013, by Martin Wallace, published by Treefrog Games. This is a game aimed at younger players. They must move around the town of Lancre and its surrounds, dealing with 'problems' ranging from a sick pig to an invasion by vampires. It is a semi-cooperative game, in that all players can lose if the game wins, but if they resolve all the problems, then one of them will win.
* ''Clacks'', 2014, by Backspindle Games (Designers: Leonard Boyd & David Brashaw), Published in conjunction with Z-Man Games. In this game players compete to send their 'message' on a clacks board while disrupting their opponents' messages. It resembles the game Amoeba. with its constantly changing board.
* There are several sets of fan-created rules for the card game "Cripple Mr Onion" which appears in the novels. One of them was published in '' Turtle Recall''.

Musical releases

* James Hannigan: ''Terry Pratchett's Discworld - Main Audiobook Theme'' (2024; released via digital music outlets including Spotify and Apple Music)
* Dave Greenslade: ''Terry Pratchett's From the Discworld'' (1994; Virgin CDV 2738.7243 8 39512 2 2).
* Keith Hopwood: ''Soul Music—Terry Pratchett's Discworld'', (1998; Proper Music Distribution / Pluto Music TH 030746), soundtrack to the animated adaptation of ''Soul Music''.
* Steeleye Span: '' Wintersmith'', (2013; Park Records), a collection of folk-rock songs based on the book Wintersmith and on other Tiffany Aching stories. There is a spoken contribution by Terry Pratchett.

Role-playing games

Pratchett co-authored with Phil Masters two role-playing game supplements for Discworld, utilising the third edition of the GURPS system:

* '' GURPS Discworld''
* '' GURPS Discworld Also''

A revised second edition, the ''Discworld Roleplaying Game'', was published in 2016. It combined the content of the previous two books with new material, and updated the rules to GURPS Fourth Edition.

Stamps

In August 2023, Royal Mail introduced a series of eight stamps based on Discworld characters, to mark the 40th anniversary of the first book's publication.

Twin cities

* Wincanton, in Somerset, UK is twinned with Ankh-Morpork, and the town is the first to name streets after their fictional equivalents.Town names streets after Terry Pratchett's Discworld books
– ''The Guardian'', 5 April 2009

Critical reception

On 5 November 2019, the BBC News listed ''The Discworld Series'' on its list of the 100 most influential novels.

See also

* Craig Shaw Gardner
* Douglas Adams
* ''Discworld'' characters
* International Discworld Convention
* Josh Kirby
* Robert Asprin
* Turtles all the way down

References

Literature

Books

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Chapters

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пересказ

Journal articles

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External links

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''Discworld'' and Pratchett Wiki (L-Space)

International ''Discworld'' Convention
United Kingdom

NADWCon
North American ''Discworld'' Convention

Nullus Anxietas
Australian ''Discworld'' Convention
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Discworld Monthly
' email newsletter and website

Discworld reading order
��guide to the different story arcs

A Discworld and Terry Pratchett bibliography
�� all Terry Pratchett's publications in all languages, a chronology, short stories, book reviews, etc.

Death's Domain
, In Discworld Wiki

Death's Domain (Discworld Mapp)
, In Discworld Wiki
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