Talk:Terry Pratchett/Archive 1

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Unsorted

How about a name change to: Terry Pratchett's Discworld for that / page? --maveric149

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I think this is a good idea, although there are other entries about Discworld.Would these conflict? Kabads

"parodies everything under the sun" - is this appropriate, given the fantasy discworld? How should we approach this? - atorpen

I think there's too much on Discworld and not enough on the writer - more of a chronological approach through his career would be more appropriate. Discworld is another entry in itself. Kabads

1% of all the non-fiction books sold in Britain are written by Pratchett.

Surely this should be all the fiction books, right? -- Evercat 13:46 Apr 30, 2003 (UTC)

Oops! :) Arwel 18:47 Apr 30, 2003 (UTC)

On an ounce-of-truth per pound-of-paper basis, Pratchett is non-fiction. :) Tannin

Do we really need a section about Discworld with a list of novels? The same information appears under the Discworld article...--IYY 20:14, 20 May 2004 (UTC)

The rest is history...

There's no good reason to not including this history in the article ;-) --FvdP 18:22, 5 Feb 2004 (UTC)

I don't like how one paragrph describes events in 1965, then says "The rest is history...", and then jumps to 1981. Could we perhaps get some of that history in the article?

Acegikmo1 16:48, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Actually it says "It was during his time as a journalist..." i.e. anytime between 1965 and 1980. Checking through the COPAC library catalogue shows that The Carpet People was actually first published in 1971. -- Arwel 19:04, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Ah, that makes a bit more sense now. Thanks. Acegikmo1 19:07, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC)

I understand that Pratchett is marketed as a fantasy author but in my opinion he's no more of a fantasy author than is Jonathan Swift the author of Gulliver's Travels.--Kop 04:25, 28 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Pratchett identifies his own books as comic fantasy himself. Ausir 10:41, 28 Aug 2004 (UTC)

disc-shaped world rotates on the backs of four giant elephants

It does not actually rotate though, does it - a rather small and cold star rotates around it, just as Ptolemaeus envisioned...

According to Equal Rites the Disc rotates. For each rotation of the Disc there are two summers (where the sun rises and where it sets), two winters, etc. Two of the directions on the disk (can't remember their names at the moment) are named relative to the spin of the Disc (i.e. spinwards and counter-spinwards)--Misfit138 17:42, 19 Oct 2004 (UTC)

The directions are turnwise and widdershins I believe, but yes, the disc does indeed rotate.--RustedGod 13:20, 20 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Are "turnwise and widdershins" not simply the Discworlds North, South ect, how can the disc rotate? Do the elephants pass it about between them?

The elephants have specifically-designed back muscles (this is just speculation, but it does say somewhere that the point of the rotation is to balance the load on the elephants). Why would the directions be named turnwise and widdershins (or, in other words, "the direction it turns" and "the direction opposite to the one it turns") if there was no rotation? In any case, remember you're talking about a fantasy world set on the very edge of reality, created by an all-powerful being so forgetful he left his instruction manual behind, where magic works and gods bicker. Arguments from common sense don't hold as much ground on the Disc. (Oh, and please sign your posts on talk pages by typing four tildes: ~~~~). Confusing Manifestation 02:14, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

Minor point but North would be hubwards & south would be rimwards, turnwise & widdershins are equivelant of east and west. If you want to know more read the books, particularly The Discworld Mapp Nate1481 02:22, 7 December 2006 (UTC)

And here's a reference: "But this is the Discworld, which has not only the turtle but also the four giant elephants on which the wide, slowly turning wheel of the world revoles.* (* People wonder how this works, since a terrestrial elephant would be unlikely to bear a revolving load for any length of time without some serious friction burns. But you may as well ask why the axle of a planet doesn't squeak, or where love goes, or what sound yellow makes.)" (Interesting Times, Corgi edition, p14) Confusing Manifestation 14:02, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

Call me crazy, but I always imagined that the elephants just walked in a circle.--Sub Zenyth 02:47, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

In an early foot note in "the colour of magic" it mentions that the disc turns in order to distribute the weight evenly upon the backs of the four elephants, and later goes on to describe turnwise widdershins, e.t.c. Please could somebody look this up and confirm it, as I do not have a copy to hand but I clearly remember it. Oh and Personally I think that if in doubt refer to the "Discworld companion". although I don't have a copy of that to hand right now either, (even if I do own two.) DM --Danmas1986 06:28, 24 July 2007 (UTC)

Rhianna

His daughter Rhianna Pratchett is also a fantasy author.

I'm having trouble verifying this. What's she written? Evercat 01:27, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Dunno. I can't find any entries for her on COPAC, but I know she has written reviews which have been published in some newspapers. -- Arwel 01:50, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC)

The Rhianna Pratchett article didn't say anything besides that she was a fantasy writer, like her dad. No bibliography or references. I've speedied it, but feel free to recreate it if you find evidence that she indeed wrote something. [[User:MacGyverMagic|Mgm|^(talk)]] 08:46, Dec 2, 2004 (UTC)

A couple of references which might be useful: Beyond Divinity - Interview with the Mother of Chaos! ("Hallo, I have Rhianna Pratchett with me, the author of Child of the Chaos and one of the main writers in Larian Studios Beyond Divinity. [...] When/how did Larian ask you to help them out? It was about a year ago. I had just left my staff position on a UK PC games magazine...Where did you get the idea for the Child of Chaos Novella? Swen, Brothion and I decided on a very rough plot for the story that started with Damian entering the Academy. However, later on down the line the length of the novella was doubled, so I decided to start the story with Damian as a young child. The rest just popped into my head really, but I’ve always liked the way in which Greek mythology depicted the Gods and Goddesses as constant observers of mortals, so I decided to work that idea into the story."); The Daily Telefrag - Games News 21 April 2004 ('Beyond Divinity shipped - Beyond Divinity has been shipped by Larian Studios [...] Fans will also rejoice with 50-page novel Child of Chaos, included n the box, written by Rhianna Pratchett.') - it appears that this is the only writing Rhianna has done (apart from her PC Gaming journalism), and was only available with the 'Beyond Divinity' game Phantomsteve 19:11, 24 June 2005 (UTC)

Perhaps the line should be changed to His daughter Rhianna Pratchett has written a fantasy novella entitled Child of Chaos which was distributed with the PC game Beyond Divinity? Also the current line mentioned journalism... perhaps that should be amended to PC games journalist? Phantomsteve 19:17, 24 June 2005 (UTC)

Here [1] is an useful interview. nice lass, too. she is 27/28 now

Rhianna Pratchett has been working in the games industry for seven years because she’s had a long-standing love affair with videogames since she was tall enough to turn on a ZX81. After several years cutting her teeth on PC Zone magazine, Rhianna left the security of full-time employment to pursue a freelance writing career. She still writes for PC Zone magazine and can also be found from time to time in the pages of The Guardian, The Sunday Times and Hotdog, amongst others. For the last two year she has also been giving talks, consulting and working on scripts for computer games. Rhianna has worked as story editor and writer for the PC hardcore role-playing game Beyond Divinity, has recently been working on level dialogues for Pacman World 3 and is working on story and mission design for Firefly Studio’s next project. Rhianna lives in London where she accidentally collects cats and lives in fear that she will one day be crushed by her precarious mountains of books, DVDS and videogames.

See also [2], [3], [4], [5] 81.208.83.222 09:02, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

I think that Rhianna should definitely get her own article, or at least a stub. Right now Rhianna Pratchett redirects to the article about her father, and in my opinion that hardly makes sense. Yes, she does get mentioned in this article but otherwise it completely fails to offer any information about Rhianna. Either the redirect ought to be removed, or, a new page should be created. I know that Rhianna is currently working on Overlord (2007 video game) and Heavenly_Sword, both tripple-A titles, so not a small feat. I'd write an article about her but I'm a very, very, very poor writer. --ShadowCode 10:15, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

The Beauty of British Satire

There is as much Sophistication in Pratchett's Discworld Series as P.G. Woodhouse's Jeeves and Wooster, with the much of the Irreverant comedy of Monty Python...What a great mix. --Cbickford

Discworld wiki

This is not really ready for prime time yet, but I thought wiki editors who are interested in Terry Pratchett might want to give it a go. It's a MediaWiki engine and contains a wiki devoted to Terry Pratchett. There's a bare-bones bibliography list, some very brief biographical information, and quite a few linkbacks to Wikipedia. It could probably benefit from the attention of keen editors. --Tony Sidaway|Talk 7 July 2005 02:19 (UTC)

"Harry Potter Criticism"

I don't think Pratchett's comments are a criticism of JK Rowling and her work, but merely a criticism at how the media (namely the Times article) treats other fantasy writers. See for example Neil Gaiman's comments on his blog regarding this: [6]210.50.112.175 04:40, 1 August 2005 (UTC)

I have rewritten the current sentence in the article: "In July 31 2005 Pratchett criticised the status of Harry Potter author JK Rowling, claiming she is being elevated "at the expense of other writers".[1]" My goal is to more accurately frame the context of Pratchett's comment. However, I'd like to go one step further and question whether this needs to be part of an encyclopedia article about Terry Pratchett in any case. It seems to lack any but the most ephemeral relevance. Justin Bacon 03:05, 3 August 2005 (UTC)

new added picture

The newly added picture is pretty pathetic for a man who is only 57. He looks 70.--Kim Nevelsteen 11:24, 23 August 2005 (UTC)

Not suprising really, it was taken after he recently had fairly major, if routine, heart surgery

chrisboote 09:31, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Footnotes

The footnote numbering is thrown off by the presence of an external link, it appears, quite spoiling the joke. Anyone more skilled than I know how to fix that? --Darksasami 21:51, 1 September 2005 (UTC)

fixed. --None-of-the-Above 20:28, 9 September 2005 (UTC)

What earthly reason is there for a humorous footnote about a translation? Let Pterry write the jokes - this is an encyclopedia, last time I checked. I'm moving it to Good Omens. ::Didactylos 00:54, 4 January 2006 (UTC) Done. ::Didactylos 02:36, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

books

Have I missed something? I dont see his three books: Truckers, Diggers, and, Wings, here. (Books about gnomes, my favorite terry prattchetts.) Again, why arent they here or have I missed them out somewhere? Banes 18:20, 9 September 2005 (UTC)

They're under "Other non-Discworld books by Pratchett". I tried making "adaptations" a sub-section of the "Discworld" section, but I now see it contains non-discworld works, so I reverted it back. The structure of the article seems really messy, perhaps an editor familar with it could straighten it out. Shouldn't all his books be listed together, followed by an adaptations section? -- DrBob 18:34, 9 September 2005 (UTC)

Intro

I found the 'Pterry' reference in the first sentence a little odd, and distracting, so I've removed it for now..... Petesmiles 04:34, 14 October 2005 (UTC)

This nickname is often used on alt.fan.pratchett. Would it be a good idea to explain it here? I believe it refers to Pyramids, where Teppic is also called Pteppic. (mcv)

What's with the 'Now containing over forty books' line referring to number of books in the Discworld series? There's only 35 published listed on the discworld page, and 37 total. I don't think its proper to include books not yet even completed or published, and even then, it is still off by 4+ 199.181.134.212 00:23, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

37 novels, but not books, if you include (for instance) the diaries, the Mapps, the cookbooks and so on. Stephenb (Talk) 07:29, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Misquote

"I started work one morning and saw my first body three hours later, 'on-the-job training' meaning something in those days" - this is given as an unattributed quote, from context directly from Pterry. Unless anyone can provide a reference, it is actually a hacked version of a line from "about the author". From TCoM: "He started work as a journalist one day in 1965 and saw his first corpse three hours later, work experience meaning something in those days." If it can't be sourced, it can't stay. Anyone? ::Didactylos 00:51, 4 January 2006 (UTC) Done. ::Didactylos 02:36, 14 January 2006 (UTC)

He certainly used that line at a book signing and talk in Berlin, September 2000 at the Passionskirche, but he may of course have just quoted his dust jacket... chrisboote 09:28, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

Dust jacket bios like this are, most often, written by the author themselves...so it's a safe bet, but sadly, still unsourced. I think if it was refactored as not being a direct quote, we'd be alright. InkSplotch^(talk) 14:24, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

rm second picture

The two pictures are fairly similar, and thus redundant. Please leave a note on my talk page if you decide to revert. Cdcon 16:22, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Reverted changes

I reverted a change by Bbsrock which had removed Terry Pratchett's birthdate and birthplace information. Verifying through Google was pretty easy, not to mention I think I've some books around which would confirm it, so I've reverted and put the information back in.

Anyone who feels otherwise, I'm happy to discuss it here. InkSplotch^(talk) 01:28, 11 March 2006 (UTC)

The Big Bang Theory

I think it would be both humourous and educational to include Pratchett's version of the Big Bang theory in this article.

If you don't know what that is, it was explained in some extra features on a cartoon production of either Wyrd Sisters or Soul Music... Can't remember which one at moment.

The story goes that there are many other world turtles like Great A'Tuin all swimming through space. Every once in a while, they'll all come together somewhere and mate (hence, the Big Bang), making new 'planets'.

Now wouldn't that just be fun?

Not really. It's basically a joke that came from Colour of Magic/Light Fantastic, and as such it doesn't really belong in an article that's about PTerry himself. If, on the other hand, he had gone on record as officially saying he was a believer in the Turtle Procreation Theory of Universe Creation (and not in a joking way), that would definitely be good article fodder. Confusing Manifestation 03:51, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

Apropo of nothing, other than this section heading, in one of his works Mr. Pratchett pithily sums up the actual big bang theory by stating that the sum total of scientific knowlege concering the origin of the universe is contained in the following sentence: In the begining there was nothing, which blew up. --Casement 03:35, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

Good omens

The book Good omens apears twice, once under 'non-diskword' books, and once under books 'contributed to'.

I would place it in the non-diskworld group myself. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.234.147.166 (talk • contribs)

Good point - it's more than just a book with "Contributions" by Pratchett, so I have removed the double reference. Stephenb (Talk) 14:10, 22 June 2006 (UTC)

Side issue - signed copy with quote 'Burn this book!'

Clutter

This page looks more than a bit cluttered. I understand the necessities of length for such and important author but a numbe rof the topics hardly fit the scope of an article on Terry Pratchet and give the article a fansite feel. In my opinion these include: Fans, Internet, Orangutans, and Trademarks. Similarly the influences, and possibly the small section Internet can and should be rolled into another general section. Finally the links list seems to be creeping towards relatively absurd proportions, that might be tamed by removing some of the links that cover similar material but in varying degrees (particularly the number of links that mainly just contain a bibliography)--68.231.174.183 11:14, 7 July 2006 (UTC)

Citations

Can someone please help add citations to the article - requests are peppered throughout. I've added a few (someone ought to check them, as I'm no expert myself!) but I can't do them all. Stephenb (Talk) 12:15, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Some of these requests are redundant: the fact that "2005 Booksellers' Pocket Yearbook" isn't online doesn't make it any less a citation. -- Arwel (talk) 14:58, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

Best thing to do is list the ISBN of the book as part of the referance Nate1481 15:04, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

This is my first time trying to edit an article and I'm just learning so please be patient with me. I'm unsure why the reference to his 50 million books sold (first par) wasnt... referenced... I found a reference for it but I'm not sure how to put it in http://www.theage.com.au/news/books/meeting-mr-pratchett/2007/02/15/1171405371862.html?page=fullpage I will keep trying to teach myself how to do it but don't let me stop anyone else from doing this Douglike 22:05, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

removed all unsourced parts per WP:BLP and also WP:CITE for non-person related ones.

I have been through the article and removed anything that was requesting a citation. Due to the nature of the article, we cannot accept this sort of request on articles about living people. If you wish to re-add any of it, please provide a reference for it. Thanks, Localzuk^(talk) 13:46, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Will get back to you but think alot comes from a back of book interview will see if I can find which when I have time. Nate1481 23:35, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Terry Pratchett

I think that the Terry Pratchet article should have a list of all the books he's written not just the discworld books.82.12.132.195 21:08, 21 November 2006 (UTC)Fuzbuni

What seems to be missing? Notinasnaid 21:14, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Space Cadets

The following was in Pratchett's biography:

In 1997 Pratchett appeared on the science-fiction game show Space Cadets, hosted by Greg Proops:

When Proops asked the question: "Who is Britain's most shoplifted author?"

Pratchett immediately answered: "I am!"

"Correct!" confirmed Proops.

While amusing, this is hardly biographical information, and is definitly not a life-changing event on par with "He became an author" and "He became an Officer of the Order of the British Empire", the two entries between which it was located. This is amusing trivia at best. Not to mention that it is unsourced. I've removed it. -- Ritchy 05:23, 23 November 2006 (UTC)

Pterry

Could someone explain the origin and meaning of the nickname "Pterry" for Terry Pratchett? "Pterry" redirects to the Terry Pratchett page but isn't found in the article. joye 17:42, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

In the book Pyramids, a number of the characters (Pteppic, Ptracy etc), and other words (ptortoise) had names that began Pt (pronounced just as T). On the newsgroup alt.fan.pratchett, Terry was therefore referred to as Pterry. See also the alt.fan.pratchett FAQ. sjwk 00:17, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

The names were actually spelled with the T (Teppic, Traci, tortoise), but due to the Djelybabian's accent, they pronounced it with a silent P. (Pteppic, Ptraci, ptortoise.) This was explained by both Pteppic's training as an assassin and Ptraci's training as a handmaiden, as one should always seem a little bit exotic. --StarChaser Tyger 09:51, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

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