Sir Terence David John “Terry” Pratchett, OBE (born 28 April 1948) is an English writer of fantasy novels, particularly comical works. He’s famous for the “Discworld” series of about 40 volumes. Pratchett’s first novel, “The Carpet People”, was printed in 1971, and since his first “Discworld” novel “(The Colour of Magic)” was printed in 1983, he’s composed two novels annually normally. Pratchett was the UK’s best selling writer of the 1990s, and has sold over 85million publications world-wide in 37 languages. He’s now the second most-read writer in Britain, and seventh most-read non-US author in America.
In December 2007, Pratchett declared he was suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Later he acquired a significant public contribution to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, and filmed a programme chronicling his experiences together with the disorder for the BBC.
Pratchett began to use computers for composing when they were accessible to him. His first computer was a Sinclair ZX81, the primary computer he used correctly for writing was an Amstrad CPC 464, after replaced with a PC. Pratchett was among the primary writers regularly to make use of the Web to talk to supporters, and is a contributor to the Usenet newsgroup alt.fan.pratchett since 1992. Yet, he will not look at the Internet a hobby, only another “thing to use”. When he travels, he consistently has a portable computer with him to compose. His experiments with computer upgrades are represented in Hex. Pratchett can also be an avid video game player, and collaborated in the creation of several game variations of his novels. He favours games which can be “intelligent and possess some depth”, mentioning Half-Life 2 and buff missions from Thief as examples.
Terence David John Pratchett , Sir Terry Pratchett , Sir Terence David John "Terry" Pratchett, OBE , Sir Terry Pratchett, OBE
Awards
Carnegie Medal, Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel, Andre Norton Award, Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature, Edward E. Smith Memorial Award, Prometheus Award for Best Novel, British Academy Television Award for Best Single Documentary, Goodreads Choice Awards Best Science Fiction, BSF...
Nominations
Michael L. Printz Award, Nebula Award for Best Novel, James Tiptree Jr. Award, Hugo Award for Best Related Work, Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, Goodreads Choice Awards Best Fantasy, World Fantasy Award—Novel, Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, Locus Award for Best Art Book, Goodreads Choice Awards B...
Movies
, Going Postal, The Colour of Magic, more
TV Shows
Terry Pratchett's Going Postal, The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett's Hogfather, Soul Music, Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett's Unseen Academicals, Mastermind (2003)
Star Sign
Taurus
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Trademark
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Black fedora hat
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Quote
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[on being asked how he felt about his fans being "mostly anoraks"] The anorak is a perfectly sensible item of clothing! [Is it fair to say you've made a lot of money?] Yes, that's a very good description of the amount of money.
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They don't teach you the facts of death, your Mum and Dad. They give you pets.
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It's amazing how much of fantasy is rearranging the furniture in Tolkein's attic.
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If you have enough book space, I don't want to talk to you.
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I don't think I've found God, but I may have seen where gods come from.
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I asked a teacher what the opposite of a miracle was and she, without thinking I assume, said it was an act of God. You shouldn't say something like that to the kind of kid who will grow up to be a writer; we have long memories.
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Evolution was far more thrilling to me than the biblical account. Who would not rather be a rising ape than a falling angel? To my juvenile eyes Darwin was proved true every day. It doesn't take much to make us flip back into monkeys again.
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As a fantasy writer I create fresh gods and philosophies almost with every new book ... But since contracting Alzheimer's disease I have spent my long winter walks trying to work out what it is that I really, if anything, believe.
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Everyone's heard of Erwin Schrodinger's famous thought experiment. You put a cat in a box with a bottle of poison, which many people would suggest is about as far as you need to go...
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Go on, prove me wrong. Destroy the fabric of the universe. See if I care.
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Over the centuries, mankind has tried many ways of combating the forces of evil... prayer, fasting, good works and so on. Up until Ultimate Doom (1993), no one seemed to have thought about the double-barrel shotgun. Eat leaden death, demon...
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You can't make people happy by law. If you said to a bunch of average people two hundred years ago "Would you be happy in a world where medical care is widely available, houses are clean, the world's music and sights and foods can be brought into your home at small cost, traveling even 100 miles is easy, childbirth is generally not fatal to mother or child, you don't have to die of dental abscesses and you don't have to do what the squire tells you" they'd think you were talking about the New Jerusalem and say "yes."
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There are those who say that sherry should not be drunk early in the morning. They are wrong.
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Speak softly and employ a huge man with a crowbar.
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The freedom to succeed goes hand in hand with the freedom to fail.
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They say that the prospect of being hanged in the morning concentrates a man's mind wonderfully; unfortunately what the mind inevitably concentrates on is that it is in a body that, in the morning, is going to be hanged.
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"Twinkle twinkle little star...." What power! What wondrous power! You can take a billion trillion tons of flaming matter, a furnace of unimaginable strength, and turn it into a little song for children! You build little worlds, little stories, little shells around your minds, and that keeps infinity at bay and allows you to wake up in the morning without screaming!
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I wouldn't pay more than a couple of quid to see me, and I'm me.
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Most gods throw dice, but Fate plays chess, and you don't find out til too late that he's been playing with two queens all along.
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Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can.
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In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded.
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The baby boomers are getting older and will stay older for longer. And they will run right into the dementia firing range. How will a society cope? Especially a society that can't so readily rely on those stable family relationships that traditionally provided one backbone of care?
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In ancient times cats were worshiped as gods. They have not forgotten this.
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[His response to J.K. Rowling saying she wasn't aware that her "Harry Potter" books were fantasy until they were finished]: "I would have thought that the wizards, witches, trolls, unicorns, and hidden worlds would have given her a clue?"
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[His response to a TIME magazine article crediting J.K. Rowling with reinventing the fantasy genre]: "Ever since "The Lord of the Rings" revitalized the genre, writers have played with it, reinvented it, subverted it and bent it to their times. It has also contained some of the very best, most accessible writing for children, by writers who seldom get the acknowledgment they deserve".
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Fact
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His play, "Monstrous Regiment," at the Lifeline Theatre Company in Chicago, Illinois was nominated for a 2015 Joseph Jefferson Non-Equity Award for Play Production.
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Frequently collaborated with fellow author Neil Gaiman.
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His first publication was 'The Hades Business', which appeared in Science Fantasy in 1963.
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Worked as a full-time journalist until 1980, then as a publicity officer for the Central Electricity Generating Board until 1987.
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He was present throughout the suicide of Peter Smedley in the Dignitas assisted suicide clinic in Forch, Switzerland whilst filming the BBC documentary "Choosing to Die" which he presented.
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Salisbury, Wiltshire, England [December 2008]
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Is a big fan of Blue Oyster Cult and included the Latin title of Their most famous song ''Don't Fear The Reaper'' in his stories.
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Knighted in the 2009 New Year's honours list.
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He was awarded Knight Bachelor of the Order of the British Empire in the 2009 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to Literature.
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Biography/bibliography in: "Contemporary Authors". New Revision Series, Volume 170, pages 324-332. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, Cengage Learning, 2008.
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He is paying for the Alzheimer's drug Aricept because the NHS says he is too young to get it for free.
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He donated £500,000 ($U1 million) to the research of Alzheimer's disease.
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In March 2008, he announced that he has Posterior Cortical Atrophy, a rare form of Alzheimer's disease.
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His earlier adult Discworld books do not often feature chapters, but those aimed at younger readers (the Tiffany Aching series, and The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents) do. He has begun to use chapters in his adult novels (ex: The Truth, Going Postal); this was done to disprove a critic that complained that Pratchett seemed unable to write in chapter format. Pratchett went so far as to use lengthy and descriptive chapter headings in the Victorian style, seemingly to drive the point home.
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His most popular books take place on the imaginary Discworld, a flat, circular world which is carried through space on the backs of four elephants which in turn stand on the back of the great space turtle, A'tuin.
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He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1998 Queen's Honours List for his services to literature.
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He is an occasional poster to the usenet groups alt.fan.pratchett and alt.books.pratchett
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He attends so many book signings many fans joke that unsigned books are more valuable than signed ones.
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Truckers
2022
books announced
Troll Bridge
Short original story post-production
Poslední odmena
2013
Short short story
Going Postal
2010
TV Mini-Series novel - 2 episodes
The Richard Dimbleby Lecture
2010
TV Series documentary 1 episode
Nation
2010
book
National Theatre Live: Nation
2010
novel
Maskerade
2009
TV Movie
The Color of Magic
TV Mini-Series novel "The Colour of Magic" - 1 episode novel "The Light Fantastic" - 1 episode
$40 Million
