RIP Pterry

Terry Pratchett enjoying a Guinness at honorary degree ceremony at Trinity College Dublin. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Terry Pratchett enjoying a Guinness at honorar... — Terry Pratchett enjoying a Guinness at honorary degree ceremony at Trinity College Dublin. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Like many others I am mourning the passing of a genius from the world. I have been a fan of Terry Pratchett all my adult life and as well as enjoying his works I thought he made a lot of sense when he spoke on other issues, most notably living with his illness and impending death.

I cannot think of another author that I have enjoyed so much that was so prolific. For a long period Terry was producing two novels a year, and they were all packed with humour, obscure references and wry observation of human nature. Although ostensibly set in a fantasy environment the books were all about people, they are just packed with social commentary, albeit hidden in an imaginary universe. His witches practised headology more than magic. The magic of the Unseen University mages bore an uncanny resemblence to high energy physics….

I’ve only started seriously writing recently, but I cite Terry Pratchett as an influence on me. I’d love to write something half as good as his work. I have a copy of almost everything that he has published. I say almost because I cannot be sure that I haven’t missed anything over the last few years when the publishers seem to have emptied the drawers. I also know that I don’t have the second and third in the long earth series. Those are waiting on the first to hit the top of the reading pile. I wasn’t certain about the co-authorship.

I have fond memories of participation in alt.fan.pratchett in the days when Pterry lurked and ocassionally posted. Although I retired rapidly to alt.books.pratchett when afp got rather busy. There are a lot of fans out there. Sadly the last time I looked it was all overgrown with spam. Usenet is a thing of the past, like the dialup modem.