Portal:Discworld
Template:/box-header Discworld is a comic fantasy book series by the British author Sir Terry Pratchett (1948 — 2015) set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which are in turn standing on the back of a giant turtle, the Great A'Tuin. The books frequently parody or at least borrow ideas from J. R. R. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft, and William Shakespeare, as well as myth, folklore and fairy tales, often using them for satirical parallels with current cultural, technological and scientific issues.
Since the first novel, The Colour of Magic (1983), the series has expanded, spawning several related books and maps, five short stories, cartoon and theatre adaptations and even music inspired by the series. The first live action screen adaptation for television (Hogfather) was broadcast over Christmas 2006. Another one for the cinema (The Wee Free Men) is currently in development.
Newly released Discworld books regularly top The Sunday Times bestsellers list, making Pratchett the UK's best-selling author in the 1990s. He has since been overtaken by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, but still holds the record for the most shoplifted books. Discworld novels have also won awards such as the Prometheus Award and the Carnegie Medal. In the BBC's Big Read, four Discworld books were in the top 100, and a total of fourteen in the top 200.
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found. Discworld's Death is a parody of several other personifications of death. Like most Grim Reapers, he is a black-robed skeleton carrying a scythe and, for royalty, a sword (It's the rules, he once told Mort). Unlike many of them, he has a personality beyond this.
Death is one of the most popular Discworld characters and makes an appearance in every Discworld book except The Wee Free Men. His steed is a great pale horse called Binky who is very much still alive. His hollow, peculiar voice is represented in the books by unquoted small caps; it is peculiar because since he is a tall skeleton, he has no vocal cords to speak with, and thus, speaks through other means. In The Colour of Magic (the first Discworld novel), and in Faust Eric, all direct written references to Death are proper nouns, thus, for example, "he" is written as "He". This is usually reserved for the Discworld gods and is not featured in any of the other novels.
Death is not invisible. Most people just refuse to acknowledge him for who he is, unless he insists. Under normal circumstances, only those of a magical disposition (e.g. witches and wizards), children and cats can see him, or allow themselves to see him. Death can of course ignore things like walls or magic spells that stand between him and his object: this is because he's much "realer" than they are. A castle might stand for centuries, but Death has existed for billions of years: to him, the walls of the castle are less substantial than a cobweb. However, he can only go where people can die, as shown in Hogfather.
| Read more... |
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found.
| Ankh-Morpork coat-of-arms |
Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which prominently features in the Discworld series. As cities go, it is on the far side of corrupt and polluted, and is subject to outbreaks of comedic violence and brou-ha-ha on a fairly regular basis. It is home to the Unseen University, a centre of magical learning.
Ankh-Morpork is also the mercantile capital of the Discworld, and the books give an excellent flavour of a "working" quasi-medieval city. Even when it is under attack from a dragon, the vegetable carts still have to come in.
In The Art of Discworld, Pratchett explains that the city is similar to Tallinn and central Prague, but adds that it has elements of 18th century London, 19th century Seattle and modern New York City. He also states that since the creation of The Streets of Ankh-Morpork, he has tried to ensure that the descriptions of character movements and locations in the books match the Ankh-Morpork map; this has allowed him, and fans of the series, to visualise the story more clearly. Ankh-Morpork is also referred to as "The Great [or Big] Wahoonie" on occasions, further increasing the bond with "The Big Apple", New York.
| Read more... |
| Showing 5 items out of 36 | More Discworld quotes  |
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found. Portal:Discworld/Book of the day/29
Steikhegel: God of Isolated Cow Byres Template:/box-footer
From the Discworld's craziest paragraphs:
- ...that the character of Death (right) shows up in almost every book?
- ...that The Luggage is made of sapient pearwood, an almost extinct tree whose wood is impervious to magic?
- ...that Special Sheep Liniment should on no account ever be given to sheep?
- ...that the significant owl hoots in the night, yet many grey lords go sadly to the masterless men?
- ...that cat singing consists of standing two inches in front of other cats and screaming at them until they give in?
- ...that the Gods lost the rules for Star-Crossed Lovers?
- ...that Fortinbras is the name of one of William Shakespeare's characters and his name translates as Stronginthearm?
- Add items to the Did you know.. section
- Add remaining book summaries via Portal:Discworld/Book of the day page
- Add more characters via Portal:Discworld/Character of the day page
- Add more articles via Portal:Discworld/Article of the day page
- What are portals?
- List of portals
- Featured portals
