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Terry Pratchett’s Discworld  3

What can be said about Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series that hasn’t already been said? Not a lot, I imagine.

For those viewers who haven’t read or heard of this series, it’s a collection of stories that all take place on the aforementioned Discworld - a flat disc of a planet that rests on the back of four enormous elephants who in turn are stood on the back of a gigantic star turtle that is swimming through space. The place is full of magic and, as a result, is populated by wizards, witches, dwarves, trolls, vampires and sometimes the worst of the bunch: humans. The books can be placed firmly in the “Fantasy” and “Comedy” sections of the book shop.

“All dwarfs are by nature dutiful, serious, literate, obedient and thoughtful people whose only minor failing is a tendency, after one drink, to rush at enemies screaming ‘ARRRRRRGH!’ and axing their legs off at the knee.”

There are nearly 30 books in the series, most of which can be read as a seperate story, but some follow on from each other and it’s best to read them in order.

There are many re-occuring characters - such as the witches, the City Watch and the wizards - but the one character that appears in every single book is Death, the grim reaper. He also happens to be my favourite …

The first book I read from the series was Mort and this features Death in a major role, so I suppose this warmed me towards him. The book explains that when he speaks to people they don’t hear the words as such, they just arrive in their brain without passing through the ears - because of this, all Death’s spoken words are printed in capitals with no quote marks …

I USHERED SOULS INTO THE NEXT WORLD. I WAS THE GRAVE OF ALL HOPE. I WAS THE ULTIMATE REALITY. I WAS THE ASSASSIN AGAINST WHOM NO LOCK WOULD HOLD.
“Yes, point taken, but do you have any particular skills?”

Now I come think about it, my fondness for the character of Death is probably a big part of why I like Grim Fandango so much.

I’ve read virtually all of the books in the series (except the latest, no doubt) and have enjoyed most of them greatly. There are a few, however, that I really really enjoyed, namely: Mort, Reaper Man, Guards! Guards!, The Fifth Elephant and Night Watch. Those of you who know the series will recognise those as books that mainly feature Death and the City Watch.

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