The Discworld Almanak: The Year of the Prawn

Discworld Companion Books

by Terry Pratchett

The 2004 Annual which followed the series of Discworld Diaries - and broke new ground.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Comedy, Comic Fantasy, Humor, Reference, British Literature

128 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2004

About the author

Sir Terence David John Pratchett was an English author, humorist, and satirist, best known for the Discworld series of 41 comic fantasy novels published between 1983–2015, and for the apocalyptic comedy novel Good Omens (1990), which he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman.
Pratchett's first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971. The first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983, after which Pratchett wrote an average of two books a year. The final Discworld novel, The Shepherd's Crown, was published in August 2015, five months after his death.
With more than 100 million books sold worldwide in 43 languages, Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1998 and was knighted for services to literature in the 2009 New Year Honours. In 2001 he won the annual Carnegie Medal for The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, the first Discworld book marketed for children. He received the World Fantasy Award for Life Achievement in 2010.
In December 2007 Pratchett announced that he had been diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease. He later made a substantial public donation to the Alzheimer's Research Trust (now Alzheimer's Research UK, ARUK), filmed three television programmes chronicling his experiences with the condition for the BBC, and became a patron of ARUK. Pratchett died on 12 March 2015, at the age of 66.

Reviews

[[ J o ] · Rating 3 out of 5]

Akin to the Roundworld Almanacs, this book is a companion book to the Discworld series and is steeped in Discworld lore, focusing on one year in the life of. Unlike some of the other "companion" books in the Discworld series, this one doesn't really feature any little extra storylines but does include plenty of canon quotes from the series and some illustrations by the now official and very recognisable Discworld artist, Paul Kidby.

It's a fun little addition to the world of Discworld, but I don't think it contributes anything particular, unlike some of the other books like The Folklore of Discworld and Where's My Cow?.

[Tasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a huge fan of Pratchett but I just don’t enjoy these Almanak’s. They’re not as engaging as the books. The little nods throughout to characters and events are fun, that’s about it.

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a nerd, so I needed this ^^
If you're not a Discworld nerd, you probably won't have fun with it.
It's a bit fun, a bit interesting and it belongs to every collection about the Discworld.
I would have given it 2 stars ... but I'm an nerd (:

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This, as the name shows, is not a novel - there is no plot, no characters. It is an almanak for the Discworld, with tips on how to look after a farm, when to plant the potatoes, different types of mushrooms and cabbage, and schedules for markets and fairs. It is an excellent genre example - it contains all that an almanak should contain, properly embedded into the Discworld folklore. Some mushrooms are "very, very edible", others "just edible", and others still, "inedible and very deadly".
The green cabbage is red, the red cabbage is green. And all the rest of it.
It is a book that will be enjoyed by a die-hard Discworld fan but not something to be read by anyone who doesn't have a strong interest and at least moderate knowledge of the Discworld.

[Sandy Millin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was excited to discover a Terry Pratchett title which I hadn’t read before. There were lots of laugh-out-loud points in the book. There’s no storyline, and you need to understand at least some things about the Discworld for it to make much sense, but for a die-hard fan like me it was very enjoyable.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun edition for any Discworld collector, although no quite like the Discworld diaries - the compendium of information on planning the crops for the year ahead, as well as current constellations and common cabbage varieties! Full of Pratchett humour, definitely a must for any fan.

[Irene ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Where would we be without it!"

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the perfect little companion book for a lover of Discworld. You would need to have read the books to understand the references.
This is so funny, classic Pterry humour!

[G.R.S. Hjelm · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one's fun and geeky! Mind you, the binding could have been better as mine's fallen apart. It will NOT serve double-duty, though. ;)

[Jemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amusing and random book about the Disc and it's rains of beadsteads and badd speling. :D

[Maryanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I shall definitely be using this every day LOL

[Justin Lynn]

Highly amusing, particulay the sections on astrology. Leaves the reader with an inexplicable craving for cabbage.

[Steph Hayward-bailey · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice accompaniment to the series but I did find it quite dull.