By Melinda Hodges
The world lost one of its most beloved writers recently. Sir Terry Pratchett passed away on March 12, 2015, after a long fight with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. He leaves us with a wealth of great writings, but he is best known for his Discworld series. This huge series (40 novels at the time of his death) takes place on a flat world that rests on four elephants, riding on top of a giant turtle through space.
There are many sub-series that focus on different characters and places throughout the Disc. One of his most popular characters is Death, who loves kittens and curry and is just trying to do his job. His granddaughter Susan appears in several of his later novels. The Wizards of Unseen University muddle through great magical affairs, often fighting Lovecraftian beings from the Dungeon Dimensions. The Witches are the Discworld’s wise women, midwives and judges who keep watch of the edges of today and tomorrow, good and evil, and life and death. The officers of the City Watch try to keep Ankh-Morpork, the largest city on the Disc, somewhat safe and orderly. Sir Pratchett uses these characters (and many, many others) in satirical situations and parodies, poking fun at typical fantasy tropes, fairy tales, Shakespearean plays, traditional police procedurals, and even the Santa Claus mythology.
