Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett is by no means an ordinary author. Recognized by his trademark aussie hat and his smirking writing style, his particular method is unlike any other, possibly even deserving its own genre. In any case, the sheer volume of influential literature he has produced has cemented his reputation as one of the greatest authors of our time.

Pratchett was born on April 28, 1948, in Buckinghamshire, England. He was the only child of his parents, David and Eileen Pratchett. In his younger days, Pratchett showed more interest in astronomy than writing, but was not good enough at math to make it a career. However, he did very well in all his other subjects, earning five O-levels. He then began A-level classes in the subjects of art, history, and English. Pratchett’s first work, a short story entitled The Hades Business, was published when he was only fifteen. He then chose a career in journalism, and left school at seventeen to work for a small newspaper, the Bucks Free Press, writing short pieces for children. From these stories evolved the first novel he would publish, The Carpet People, which was printed in 1971. It received good reviews, but went largely unnoticed. In 1980, he became the press officer for the Central Electricity Generating Board, which at the time included three nuclear power plants. About his experiences there, Pratchett once said “[I’d] write a book about my experiences, if I thought anyone would believe it.” Two years later, in 1983, Pratchett published the first of his now famous Discworld Saga, The Color of Magic. Over the next five years, through 1990, Pratchett would publish fifteen books, including nine more installations in the Discworld canon. At this time, he has published over forty novels, and h...

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... called Shaking Hands with Death, but due to his rapidly intensifying disease, he could only give the introduction, as he had trouble reading what he had written. However, through various treatments, the progression of the disease has slowed considerably. He now writes by dictation or speech-recognition software. Pratchett was knighted by the Queen of England in 2009, for “services to literature,” as he has sold 55 million copies of his Discworld series alone.

Pratchett is a contemporary George Orwell, using the pen to point out the things that he believes are wrong with the world, but in a way that makes the reader wonder how they ever could have seen things any other way. His endearing wit is as important to embrace as the deep philosophical truths that he manages to bring to the surface of every novel. Pratchett really is “not just for an age, but for all time.”