'Sir Terry Pratchett's work is as relevant as ever eight years after his death'
Sir Terry Pratchett is having a pretty good 2023, especially for someone who died in 2015.
Not only did we get a second season of Good Omens, Prime Video’s extremely likable fantasy based on the 1990 cult classic he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman, but we’re also getting A Stroke of the Pen: The Lost Stories, from tales written in the 70s and 80s, and a spin-off book, Tiffany Aching’s Guide to Being A Witch, set on Discworld and co-written by his daughter, Rhianna.
On top of that, the much-missed author was the subject of a hit one-man show, The Magic of Terry Pratchett, at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, returning this month at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre before heading out on a UK tour in spring. And in the eight years since Sir Terry’s tragic, way-too-early death from Alzheimer’s disease at the age of just 66, the worlds he created have remained remarkably alive.
At this point, I should probably flag that I’m the one performing that one-man show. I wrote the first biography of Sir Terry – also called The Magic of Terry Pratchett, published in 2020. Since then I’ve been collaborating with Sir Terry’s estate on the show celebrating his life and work – it’s somewhere between a stand-up comedy special and a particularly lively lecture.
Sir Terry sadly passed away in 2015 (WireImage)
The first of his Discworld series came out 40 years ago next month (Corbis via Getty Images)Sir Terry began his Discworld series in 1983, 40 years ago this November. The 41 comic fantasy novels are about a flat world that goes through space on four giant elephants that stand atop a huge turtle but, trust me, that is the least interesting thing about them. Beginning with The Colour of Magic, the books explore the human condition in all of its dubious glory.
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On the surface they’re about wizards and witches, gods and monsters, talking animals and walking skeletons. But you don’t have to scratch far below that surface to see these stories are really about you and me, and our Darren and our John and our Rita, who won’t talk to our Sue after what she said at our Phil’s wedding. All human life is here.
His appeal has only grown. Partly that’s because of his sense of irrepressible social justice. Sir Terry called out to our better angels, challenging us to rethink the prejudices and inequalities we accept as everyday.
The Watch, the police force he created for Ankh-Morpork, was a study in diversity – with a vampire, werewolf, dwarf, troll, and Nobby Nobbs – and a slap in the face to the bigotry that often pervade such institutions. Classism. Snobbery. Injustice. Bullying. These things he could not abide. Pratchett was angry.
His rage at societal ills and the abuse of power is soaked with the ink on every page, giving his comedy an edge that those who never bothered to look past the cartoonish covers of the early books often missed (there’s probably a saying about that). And the man could turn a phrase like a potter turns clay.
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His 'lost stories' from the 70s and 80s, A Stroke of the Pen, was released on Tuesday (DAILY MIRROR)All of those books are wise and all of them are funny, the laughs were constant: Rincewind’s cowardice, the oddities of life as observed by the anthropomorphic Death, Granny Weatherwax’s tough love – his bitterest pills always came with a smart spoonful of sugar. And the books kept getting better. His work ethic meant he wrote at a prodigious rate and all that practice made perfect.
Between 1986 and 2016, there would be at least one new novel every year. Usually there were two. Twice he managed three. In 1990 he published five. All of them good. That’s a work rate that verges on the ridiculous.
When you consider he maintained this pace even after his diagnosis with a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2007, it’s mind-blowing. In total, he penned 59 novels* (one of them twice) not to mention the numerous side projects, spin-offs, short stories, essays and other gems he sprinkled along the way.
And we’re still hungry for more. His sales stand at 100 million, and they show no sign of slowing. It’s not surprising. Here was a man who understood the human condition, highlighted our foibles, celebrated our potential and, most of all, told cracking stories.
It’s not an exaggeration to say his works are a masterclass in how to be human. “A man is not dead while his name is still spoken,” Sir Terry once wrote. If that’s true, it’s just possible he might live for ever.
* Marc Burrows’ The Magic of Terry Pratchett, Bloomsbury Theatre, London, tomorrow (OCT 12) For tickets go to: ucl.ac.uk/event-ticketing/app/?ev=2232
The show will tour in 2024: marcburrows.co.uk/live-dates
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