Transcribed by Elaine Walker – This covers page 5 of Progress report 0 for Swancon 18. As usual, any typographical errors will be diligently reproduced. RIP Pterry.
Swancon 18’s Guest of Honour…
Have you invented a world lately?
Terry Pratchett has.
Terry Pratchett is one of the most prolific humorous fantasy writers around, even in a field of surprisingly large series. His work is of a consistently high quality, and he has even been known to delve into the realms of science fiction and, sometimes, cat stories.
The book that catapulted him into public acclaim was The Colour of Magic, which poked fun at many of the most popular fantasy series, and introduced the fabulous Discworld, a world populated by the most bizarre monsters, people, and other things.
His offbeat sense of humour has captured a varied readership who delight in crazy characters, like the failed wizard Rincewind, misunderstood Death (who really likes cats), the strangely reminiscent witch Granny Weatherwax, and of course, the more-than-faintly-threatening Luggage.
Terry Pratchett’s books are full of gently ironic humour, showing us distorted (and often hysterically funny) views of our own world … this has obviously touched a chord in many, judging from the diversity of his readership.
Apart from the Discworld, there have been at least two of his sf books generally available, The Dark Side of the Sun, and Strata. The book of thinly-disguised cat anecdotes, The Unadulterated Cat, has a very Pratchett theme: The Campaign for Real Cats. Back in fantasy, Good Omens was published quite recently, taking a good swipe at the horror genre epitomised by movies like The Exorcist. Recently he has released several books, ostensibly for children, which include Truckers and Nomes.
So … meet the man, meet the myth, and maybe even meet the luggage. All at Swancon 18.