Terry Pratchett: HisWorld - A Brief Guide to Discworld

by Stephen Briggs, Paul Kidby (Illustrator)

Launched to celebrate the new exhibition at Salisbury Museum, Terry Pratchett: HisWorld, this collectible book features an introduction by exhibition curator Richard Henry and a guide to some of the Discworld’s most memorable characters, all illustrated by Paul Kidby. Text is by Stephen Briggs.

Genres: Fantasy

60 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2017

About the author

Stephen Briggs is a British writer of subsidiary works and merchandise surrounding Terry Pratchett's comic fantasy Discworld. He is also a narrator of many Discworld audiobooks
who graduated from Curtin University with a double major in Theatre Arts and Creative Writing before attending WAPPA and studying Broadcasting. Midway through his time there he decided he didn't want to be a journo and moved to Sydney to join RMK Voice Productions. Stephen has voiced countless campaigns and appeared in numerous professional plays. He has written and directed six short films, one of which, Whatever it Takes, satirises the Voice Over business.

Please note that there is a separate Stephen^^Briggs whose area of expertise is psychotherapy.

Reviews

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

This concludes my reading of almost everything Pratchett. The end of ... well, not necessarily an era because, thankfully, I will be able to revisit the Discworld over and over and over again. But I still wanted to mark the occasion.

HisWorld was an exhibition in Sir Terry's memory a few years back that I unfortunately could not have gone to see even if I had been visiting London at the time. So it was nice to get a chance to see (more or less) what visitors saw through this book.

And let me tell you that this edition I have (slipcased) is utterly gorgeous. Let me take you through the journey of discovering this book in the order of how I looked at it:








Then comes the content, more of that later though.





I swear, it even feels gorgous.

And then there is the actual content.
The exhibition showed Sir Terry's study and home, the Shed of Doom that he had actually built, his desk and much more. One could see the replicas artists had created for him over the years in Discworld designs (often without commissions, just because they were fans). Practically, it was an exhibition about the man as much as about the world(s) he had created and how much he had meant to people from all around the world, right down to him being knighted by the Queen.





But this edition at least aldo featured essays by family members, colleagues, collaborators and other people with personal ties to Sir Terry and they were not just moving but also very interesting, shedding further light about the kind of man he had been.

I very much enjoyed this intimate look at Sir Terry's working process, his personal life (as much as we saw) and the influence he exudes until this very day.

[Ian Banks · Rating 5 out of 5]

An utter delight and joy and any other word I have overused on this site to describe books I have loved. While it is slight on details, it is heavy on the love and respect for Sir Terry. And filled with lovely pictures.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

A missed opportunity. It’s a beautifully produced book which accompanies the Salisbury Museum Exhibition On Pratchett. As such it’s going to be purchased by people who love or at least know about Discworld. They don’t need a description of the main characters in Discworld. What would have been nice would have been more about Terry Pratchett. There was lots of information in the exhibition, surely some of that could have been put in this book. I accept the book says its a guide to Discworld but it could have had Pratchett’s thoughts on Discworld or his inspiration or something. As I said at the start a wasted opportunity.

[Kara Bayliss · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not read ALL the discworld novels yet (Though as of writing this I am on the 29th out of 41) so there were two characters in here that I was not aware of ahead of time from books of his. That being said I love the introduction by Richard Henry and the art work of Paul Kidby. It's not a terribly long book, but it made me smile repeatedly thinking back to the stories I have read and remembering fun bits all over again. I am glad I have the copy I do and will treasure it.

[Kate Millin · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent, brief summary of key characters, including Terry, and the background to how the exhibition at Salisbury Museum came about. A quick read and an excellent accompaniment to the exhibits. Really pleased my daughter suggested we made the time to to go to it.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little summary of the major characters in Discworld. The introduction was nice telling a little bit about what Terry Pratchett was like.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a limited-edition, special-run publication for the Terry Pratchett exhibition at the Salisbury Museum. It contains nothing "new" for the Discworld fan in terms of story or character development, but it is a loving tribute to a wonderful man who brought joy and happiness and pleasure to so many. It may serve as an introduction to the Disc, as it gives a brief overview of many of the main characters and locales. 

[Tom Loock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little hardcover booklet, presumably made specifically for the "His World"-exhibition at Salisbury Museum and only available there.
I would assume it has been put together by Terry's friends at the Discworld Emporium, who also have some copies for sale as of January 2020.
Though obviously not an essential publication with only the most basic introduction to the likes of Granny Weatherwax, Vimes, Vetinari, Greebo etc. (for a total of 16), it is definitely a collectable (there was only one printing and it will not be reprinted) which found a home atop my large-size "His World"-companion.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 A little bit more editing would have helped to avoid a few setting and printing mistakes.