Questions tagged [terry-pratchett]
For questions about Terry Pratchett, an English author famous for writing the Discworld series of books. He has also written a number of other science-fiction and fantasy works, and co-authored Good Omens with Neil Gaiman. Use this for questions about the author himself not for those on his works. For those use the specific work tag instead.
62
questions
3
votes
1
answer
181
views
Quote in which Rincewind talks about exams
In one of the Discworld books, there is a conversation in which Rincewind tries to justify his qualification as a wizard. He starts to say something like "I've passed dozens of exams" but ...
9
votes
1
answer
374
views
Early 90s book of interviews with scifi authors, includes Pratchett talking about translating jokes to different languages
I am looking for the name of a book I saw in my local bookshop in the early 90s. It was, I believe, a newly published paperback containing either interviews with or descriptions of interviews with ...
36
votes
1
answer
6k
views
Why would a ship-launching woman need to resemble a champagne bottle?
In "The Light Fantastic", rather early in the book, I was a bit surprised by the phrase
the object of desire did indeed look like a bottle of champagne
to justify claiming that the
...
15
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Quote from Discworld about Ankh-Morpork tolerance and greed
In one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, he writes something along these lines:
The residents of Ankh-Morpork are willing to welcome everyone. No matter what sex, what species, and what race: ...
18
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Faith cannot move mountains but can create someone who can (Discworld)
In one of the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett he wrote something along the lines of:
Faith cannot move mountains but can create someone who can
I think it is from "Reaper Man" but I ...
19
votes
1
answer
4k
views
Which Terry Pratchett book starts with "Zoom in"?
This is driving me crazy. I think it's one of the Bromeliad Trilogy, where the narration starts like.
Start with the earth. Find somewhere green. Zoom in, zoom in further. A tree. Zoom in even more. ...
27
votes
2
answers
13k
views
Which Terry Pratchett character said something like "It doesn't matter if you are right or wrong, so long as you are certain"?
Which Terry Pratchett character said something like "It doesn't matter if you are right or wrong, so long as you are certain"?
I'm almost certain this isn't a Discworld character; in fact, I ...
50
votes
1
answer
7k
views
What does Pratchett's "poets notwithstanding" joke mean?
In Terry Pratchett's Equal Rites, he writes the following passage:
Esk, in fact, moved through the fair more like an arsonist moves through a hayfield or a neutron bounces through a reactor, poets ...
11
votes
2
answers
847
views
Besides 'not sharing any DNA' why was The Watch TV series disowned by Rhianna Pratchett?
I'm aware of The Watch, which is extremely loosely based on the Ankh-Morpork City Watch from the Discworld series, but I've heard that Terry Pratchett's daughter has disowned it:
Rhianna Pratchett ...
8
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Was Terry Pratchett inspired by Hal Clement?
The science fiction author Hal Clement wrote several stories set in planets with interesting features, perhaps most famously Mesklin, a planet with a flattened shape and a very strong gravitational ...
7
votes
0
answers
476
views
Terry Pratchett book which had a preamble about a school principal who suspended a child
I am seeking a Terry Pratchett book with a preamble discussing a student who was suspended from school for bringing one of Terry Pratchett's books to the classroom; when the child came again with the ...
12
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Terry Pratchett book with a lawyer dragon and sheep
I was talking to someone today who mentioned starting a Terry Pratchett book a few years before.
They said that it was about a dragon who was a lawyer and involved sheep. They think that it is ...
28
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Does a transcript or recording of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's Good Omens interview from 1990 still exist?
In 1990, on their book tour for the original release of Good Omens, Pratchett and Gaiman gave an interview where the interviewer did not realize that Good Omens was a work of fiction, and thought that ...
11
votes
2
answers
802
views
What was the inspiration for the 'draco vulgaris'?
Is the draco vulgaris (first described in Guards! Guards! (1989) inspired by the pseudodragons found in Dungeons and Dragons?
I recently learned about them and find many similarities:
small winged ...
35
votes
1
answer
4k
views
What does this quote in Small Gods refer to?
In Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett, the following quote appears:
It was something he shared with tortoises. Watch any tortoise walking,
and periodically it will stop while it files away the ...