# Sir Terry Pratchett, renowned fantasy author, dies aged 66



## CupofJoe (Mar 12, 2015)

Fantasy author Terry Pratchett has died aged 66 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease.

BBC News...

Don't know what to say...


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## Tom (Mar 12, 2015)

_What?_ 

I...I thought Discworld would go on forever....

Rest in peace, master of humorous fantasy. May the laughter and love of your readers follow you into the next life.


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## Ireth (Mar 12, 2015)

I... but... but... no... 

RIP, Sir Terry. Your fans will sorely miss you.


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## Aidan of the tavern (Mar 12, 2015)

Having only read two of his books I can't claim to have been as familiar with him as I would like, but I can tell he was a complete original.  His stories were written with a gentle, sly humour which helped make some pretty deep themes accessible and enjoyable, and in a profession with no job security or ladder to the top he was a real household name.  Don't know what to say, one of the giants has gone.


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## Philip Overby (Mar 12, 2015)

I'm the same as Aidan. I've only read some of his work, but I've always loved what he did with the fantasy genre. I feel like he inspired me several years ago to ramp up my "Don't Give a ****" meter to 11. Just to really go all out with my imagination and where I can take my own fantasy worlds. To be as funny or as weird as I can muster. He's definitely one of a kind though.

I remember mentioning the other day that I wanted to one day be known a sort of an "Evil Terry Pratchett" meaning I wanted to write dark comedy fantasy the same way he wrote comic fantasy. He's a legend and he'll be sorely missed. 

RIP.


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## CupofJoe (Mar 12, 2015)

From the BBC Obituary



> His death was announced on his Twitter account, on Thursday afternoon.
> 
> The first tweet was composed in capital letters - which was how the author portrayed the character of Death in his novels.
> "AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER," it stated.
> ...


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## Ireth (Mar 12, 2015)

That is the most fitting ending ever.


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## Tom (Mar 12, 2015)

I think I might cry.


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## Ireth (Mar 12, 2015)

I'm already crying. *hands over kleenex*


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## Tom (Mar 12, 2015)

Thank you. *sniffles* 

I...I just can't believe he's dead. He was one of the immortals of fantasy, one of those authors everyone grew up hearing about, a pillar of the genre. To me as a thirteen-year-old discovering fantasy, he seemed beyond death. Just...always there. Constant. Like he'd never go away.

Feels like the foundations have been shaken under me.


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## Ireth (Mar 12, 2015)

Amen, brother.


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## Mythopoet (Mar 12, 2015)

BBC News - Sir Terry Pratchett, renowned fantasy author, dies aged 66

This makes me very sad. I have read and loved almost every single Discworld book. (I wasn't going to get the latest one, because of the less than stellar reviews, but I think now I will.) It is one of those series that has had a profound effect on my sense of story. I always highly recommend it to all fantasy lovers. I can't quite say that Terry's death is a blow to the fantasy genre, because we have so many of his wonderful books to enjoy. Unlike most fantasy authors, all his books were standalones (though written in the same setting and with recurring characters) so he left nothing undone. A truly great legacy.


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## Ireth (Mar 12, 2015)

The obituary and those closing tweets inspired me to poetry. Short but sweet (I hope).

"We Must Walk Together"

The Discworld’s great Creator passed away,
Surrounded by his friends and family;
His brilliant mind was now at last set free
From that embuggerance* which had held sway.

His spirit stood, more weightless than a feather.
And as he gazed down at that empty shell,
Death turned to him with bony hand outheld:
AT LAST, SIR TERRY, WE MUST WALK TOGETHER.

Sir Terry took Death’s arm and walked beside
That gentle Reaper, through the doors at hand,
Across a plain of onyx-colored sand
That mimed the sky above in endless night. 

*Not sure if the term "embuggerance" suits the overall somber tone of the poem, but as that's what Sir Terry always called his battle with Alzheimer's, I felt it appropriate to include.


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## Tom (Mar 12, 2015)

Are you bound and determined to make me weep? I had a sense of closure, dammit, and now I just want to find a Discworld book and cry my eyes out!

_Farewell, fare-thee-well/'Tis time to say farewell..._

(Not sure if that's a real song, but my great-grandma used to sing it.)


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## Ireth (Mar 12, 2015)

Tom Nimenai said:


> Are you bound and determined to make me weep?



Yes. Share in my grief!



Tom Nimenai said:


> I had a sense of closure, dammit, and now I just want to find a Discworld book and cry my eyes out!



I'm considering reading the whole series from start to finish. I've missed a few of them, mostly the earlier ones that neither I nor my mom actually own.


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## Tom (Mar 12, 2015)

My local library only has a few of them, and I'm such a cheapskate that I don't really _own_ that many books. I need to find them somewhere...


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## Velka (Mar 12, 2015)

She heard him mutter, "Can you take away this grief?"
"I'm sorry," she replied. "Everyone asks me. And I would not do so even if I knew how. It belongs to you. Only time and tears take away grief; that is what they are for.” 
― Terry Pratchett, I Shall Wear Midnight


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## ArenRax (Mar 12, 2015)

I think I own one of his books and I had always planned on buying some his books, especially after I read up the plot in wikipedia. RIP O merry of jesters and O noble a writer.


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## Philip Overby (Mar 12, 2015)

Mythopoet said:


> BBC News - Sir Terry Pratchett, renowned fantasy author, dies aged 66
> 
> This makes me very sad. I have read and loved almost every single Discworld book. (I wasn't going to get the latest one, because of the less than stellar reviews, but I think now I will.) It is one of those series that has had a profound effect on my sense of story. I always highly recommend it to all fantasy lovers. I can't quite say that Terry's death is a blow to the fantasy genre, because we have so many of his wonderful books to enjoy. Unlike most fantasy authors, all his books were standalones (though written in the same setting and with recurring characters) so he left nothing undone. A truly great legacy.



Thanks for recommending them as I've been told to read them for years now. I think they're definitely unique in the fantasy genre for sure. 

(By the way, I merged your thread with this one, since it was the older one).


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## Velka (Mar 13, 2015)

Wonderful and moving piece on Terry Pratchett: How Terry Pratchett Taught Me To Be -Can't Talk


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## Addison (Mar 17, 2015)

R.I.P to one of the founding writers of today's fantasy. One of my mentors and inspiration in my writing career. You will be missed Sir Pratchett.


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## Ireth (Mar 17, 2015)

Apparently there's going to be one last Discworld book, coming this September. I'm really excited for it.


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## CupofJoe (Mar 17, 2015)

Ireth said:


> Apparently there's going to be one last Discworld book, coming this September. I'm really excited for it.


Me too... It's a Tiffany Aching story!!!!!!!!!


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## Ireth (Mar 17, 2015)

Yeeeessss.  All the more awesome because I thought ISWM would be the last Tiffany book.


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