Terry Pratchett

by Andrew M. Butler

Pocket Essentials is a dynamic series of books that are concise, lively, and easy to read. Packed with facts as well as expert opinions, each book has all the key information you need to know about such popular topics as film, television, cult fiction, history, and more. The success of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series has been so phenomenal that there have been radio serializations, TV adaptations, plays, audiobooks, pottery figures, calendars, diaries, an encyclopedia, computer games, a quizbook, a CD of music inspired by Discworld, fanclubs, and Discworld Conventions. This volume is a book-by-book analysis of the complete Discworld series and of the other novels by Pratchett. This book covers it all, from The Johnny Maxwell Trilogy and Good Omens to the Discworld sequence from The Colour of Magic to Thief of Time.

Genres: Fantasy, Humor, Science Fiction, Fiction

78 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2001

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid Discworld reference covering up to Thief of Time as well as Pratchett's non-Discworld books. The reviews are fair and I mostly agree with the book ratings.

What is handy about this guide is that it not only gives a brief synopsis of the story, it lists the characters (including cameos), location, and target of the book (since Pratchett usually has a primary target for his satire in each book).

[Ingvar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was really disappointed by this book. The author seemed more concerned about his own interpretation of Sir Pratchett's words, rather than Sir Pratchett's own interpretation of his own words. Which just seemed odd and, well, egotistical.

I was hoping for some more insight into either the books or into Sir Pratchetts minds. But I got neither. Instead I seemed to get some egocentric writers thoughts about what Sir Pratchett meant to have said.

[Tom Loock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just a few thoughts:
- Well worth using as a reference work.
- Pity, it only covers the Discworld-novels up to and incl. Thief of Time.
- It is ridiculous to accuse the author Andrew Butler of having and expressing an opinion; even more so as he tries first and foremost to provide information and only adds his personal thoughts.

PS: I can't think of any other book that has such a small typeface throughout. Is that 5 point?

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a good guide to Sir Terry's work up to, and including 'The Theif of Time'. The main characters and locations are listed along with a synopsis of the story and the subtext.

I was really disappointed with this book, I expected it to be about Terry Pratchett himself. Instead it is reviews of his Discworld and other writings. The reviews are purely subjective and include a marks out of 5 score. Because I have read all the books I learnt nothing from this book but glad to have it in my Pratchett collection