This article is about the novels. For the fictional world itself, see
Discworld (world). For the video game, see
Discworld (video game). For the magazine on the Apple Macintosh, see
Diskworld.
Discworld is a
comic fantasy[1]book series written by the English author
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.[2][3]
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",[4] later adding that "I have to shove them in the putative
YA books because my editor screams until I do".[5] 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 cliches 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 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, 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 [6] Eventually the two 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, and the Auditors of Reality, the closest thing Death has to a nemesis.
Death or Susan appears in five Discworld novels. He also appears in the short stories
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.
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.
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.
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 starred 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.[citation needed]
The Wizards of
Unseen University (UU) have a strong thread through many of the Discworld novels, although the only books that they star in 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
In later novels, Rincewind joins their group, while the Dean leaves to become the Archchancellor of Brazeneck College in the nearby city of Pseudopolis.
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
pictsie creatures 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 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:
The sixth YA book, Completed mid-2014 and published posthumously in 2015[24]
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[25]
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.
"Mapps"
Although Terry Pratchett said, "There are no maps. You can't map a sense of humour,"[29] 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).[30]
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:
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.[citation needed]
The Compleat Discworld Atlas (2015) A follow-up to The Compleat Ankh-Morpork, and the Discworld Emporium's final collaboration with Terry Pratchett.
ISBN978-0-85752-130-9.
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.
ISBN978-1-99980-810-5.
Mr Bunnsy Has an Adventure[34] (2023) - a tie-in with The Amazing Maurice, a facsimile of the book from the story based on the version seen in the film.
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.[36] 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.[36] Rhianna Pratchett said that she would be involved in spin-offs, adaptations and tie-ins, but there would be no more novels.[37] 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.
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.
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.[46]
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.
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.
Run Rincewind Run! (2007): A Snowgum Films original story created for Nullus Anxietas. 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.[51] It premiered at the
Flickerfest International Film Festival in January 2019.[52]
The Watch, a TV series inspired by[53] the
Ankh-Morpork City Watch, The Watch has been in development by Terry and then Rhianna Pratchett since 2011.[54][55] 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.[56][57] However, Rhianna Pratchett has since distanced herself from the adaptation.[58]
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![68][69]
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.[70][71]
Allen Stroud directed his adaptation of Reaper Man in 1996, first performed at the Winton Studio Theatre. He retains the script version.[72]
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.[73][74] It was revived in 2004 in a tour of England,[75] 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[76] and members of
Durham Student Theatre. Ooook! Productions also adapted and staged[77] Terry Pratchett's Night Watch (February 2012), Thief of Time (February 2013; adapted by Tim Foster[78]), Lords and Ladies (February 2014, adapted by Irana Brown[79]), Monstrous Regiment (2015),[80] and Soul Music (February 2016; adapted by Imogen Eddleston).[81]
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.[82]
Two point-and-click adventure games were created in the 1990s- Discworld[83] and Discworld II: Missing Presumed...!? (Mortality Bites in the US).[84] 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, MAC, 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, Playstation, and Sega Saturn. Eric Idle plays Rincewind. The game contains many beautifully hand-animated cutscenes.
Another game, Discworld Noir, was released in 1999, for PC and Playstation, exclusively in Europe. It is more of a detective story, following a completely new main character- a PI named Lewton.[85]
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.[86]
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.[87]
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.[88]
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.[89]
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.[90] with its constantly changing board.[91]
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
Dave Greenslade: Terry Pratchett's From the Discworld (1994; Virgin CDV 2738.7243 8 39512 2 2).[92]
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:
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.
Discworld: The Colour of Magic (Mobile phone, 2006)
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.[95]
^"Carnegie Medal Winners". The CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Children's Book Awards. Archived from
the original on 6 January 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
^Maloni, Kelly; Baker, Derek; Wice, Nathaniel (1994).
Net Games. Random House / Michael Wolff & Company, Inc. p.
107.
ISBN0-679-75592-6. DiscworldDiscworld—"the land of the midnight frog, the place to be if you are a frog in a person's clothing"—is the setting. Based on the Discworld series of books by Terry Pratchett, the MUD is as social and light-hearted as an LP gets, albeit with constant bar brawls and killing sprees. For the adventurous, there are close to 40 quests based on the Pratchett stories. Check out the infamous Mended Drum, a favorite hangout. [...] Difficulty: average [...] Server: LPMUD