Terry Pratchett

Where to begin an introduction to an author whose books have sold over sixty-five million copies worldwide, have been translated into over 36 languages and whose canon inspires the just-the-right-side-of-nerdy fandom usually reserved for certain Professors of Mathematics, jazz saxophonists and Steve Jobs? Sir Terence David John Pratchett, OBE (to give him his full title, which he almost certainly never uses) is the phenomenally successful fantasy author whose wit, imagination playfulness with language and propensity for plot parody (Shakespeare is a favourite target) first snuck onto the shelves of bookshops in 1971 and have since delighted an ever-widening audience – many of whom, incidentally, would never consider themselves ‘fantasy readers’.

Watch Sir Terry Pratchett on The Book Show:

Terry Pratchett was born in 1948 in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, and decided to become a journalist after his first short story was published in Science Fantasy magazine when he was fifteen years old. His first job was on the Bucks Free Press and he went on to work for various newspapers before becoming a publicity officer for the Central Electricity Generating Board in 1980. He became a full-time writer in 1987.

His first novel, The Carpet People (1971), a humorous fantasy, was followed by The Dark Side of the Sun (1976) and Strata (1981). 1983 saw the publication of The Colour of Magic, which became the first in a long series of Discworld novels. (Discworld, for the uninitiated, is a flat fantasy world which rests upon the back of four elephants, which are, in turn supported by a giant turtle hurtling through space, and which is populated, amongst others, by feisty witch-grannies, useless wizards, an orang-utan librarian and Death, who rides a horse called Binky.) At the last count, there were almost 40 novels in the Discworld series (there may even be 40 by the time you finish reading this, given Pratchett’s prolific writing rate) and its worldwide popularity has led to the production of much related merchandise, and a number of different adaptations, including radio, theatre, TV (most recently, of course, being Sky’s own two-part adaptation of Going Postal), film, graphic novels, role-playing games and computer games.

Four of the Discworld books (so far) are written for children. The first of these, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, won the Carnegie Medal. A non-Discworld book, Good Omens, his 1990 collaboration with Neil Gaiman, has been a longtime bestseller, and was reissued in hardcover by William Morrow in early 2006. Pratchett’s recent book, Making Money, was published in September 2007 and was an instant Times and New York Times bestseller, and in 2008, HarperCollins children’s section published his standalone non-Discworld young adult novel, Nation.

While Pratchett’s early novels were generally lighthearted, his later books reflect a more sombre mood. As contemporarywriters.com observes, Going Postal for example, which follows the con-artist Moist von Lipwig, who must resurrect the Discworld postal service or be hanged, not only parodies the rise of the internet, but also digs its claws into the corporate world; Thud! deals with racism and the irrational fear of outsiders, while Making Money, which sees the return of Moist von Lipwig, is an inspired examination of the strangeness of the economy, which achieves the near miracle of making the economy a fascinating subject. Never less than topical, and increasingly political, Pratchett’s skill is to wrap his sharp observations on human life within fiction which provides such consistent entertainment.’

Regarded as one of the most significant contemporary English-language satirists, Pratchett has won numerous literary awards, was awarded an OBE in 1998 for ‘services to literature’ and has received four honorary doctorates from the Universities of Warwick, Portsmouth, Bath, and Bristol. In 2009 he received a Knighthood.

In December 2007, Pratchett announced that he had been diagnosed with a very rare form of early-onset Alzheimer's disease. He subsequently filmed a two-part documentary on the subject for BBC 2 (Terry Pratchett: Living With Alzheimer's), and in November 2008, he met the Prime Minister Gordon Brown to ask for an increase in dementia research funding. In various Telegraph and Mail on Sunday articles published in mid- 2009, Pratchett stated that he wishes to commit 'assisted suicide' (although he dislikes that term) before his disease progresses to a critical point. He added; "I am enjoying my life to the full, and hope to continue for quite some time." But I also intend, before the endgame looms, to die sitting in a chair in my own garden with a glass of brandy in my hand and Thomas Tallis on the iPod, the latter because Thomas's music could lift even an atheist a little bit closer to Heaven, and perhaps a second brandy if there is time. Oh, and since this is England I had better add: 'If wet, in the library.'"

Going Postal
Moist von Lipwig is a con artist… … and a fraud and a man faced with a life choice: be hanged, or put Ankh-Morpork’s ailing postal service back on its feet. It’s a tough decision. But he’s got to see that the mail gets through, come rain, hail, sleet, dogs, the Post Office Workers’ Friendly and Benevolent Society, the evil chairman of the Grand Trunk Semaphore Company, and a midnight killer. Getting a date with Adora Bell Dearheart would be nice, too. Maybe it’ll take a criminal to succeed where honest men have failed, or maybe it’s a death sentence either way. Or perhaps there’s a shot at redemption in the mad world of the mail, waiting for a man who’s prepared to push the envelope…

Read more about Going Postal, including a free downloadable extract, at Lovereading.com.

Going Postal airs on Sky1 on Sunday 30th and Monday 31st May 2010.  Click here for the official site.