Discworld: Encyclopedia II - Discworld - Published work

Discworld - Published work

Discworld - The novels

The world has been chronicled through at least 35 novels (including at least 3 children's novels) and several short stories so far. The novels up to and including The Truth (and almost all Pratchett books to date) had cover art done by Josh Kirby (who died in October 2001), but only in the original British editions. The American editions, published by HarperCollins, do not feature Kirby's cover art. Recent British editions of Pratchett's older novels no longer feature Kirby's art. Since the death of Kirby, the covers have been designed by artist Paul Kidby.

Almost all of the Discworld novels are notable for having no chapter divisions. Instead, most of the time there are different storylines interwoven with each other. Going Postal did entirely the opposite even going so far as to include a prologue and epilogue along with brief teasers of what was to come in each chapter. The first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was divided into "books", as was Pyramids.

Many novels share the same lead characters and show their development over time. Some of the main characters of one book may also make a cameo appearance in another book where they are not the primary focus; for example Samuel Vimes appears briefly in Going Postal. The novels can be grouped into several story arcs, with characters or themes in common:

• The Rincewind stories - These stories centre on a "wizzard" (the label on his hat) of sorts called Rincewind. The "of sorts" is because Rincewind is a complete failure at magic, but through a series of events is recognised as a wizard (for want of any other suitable term). The other wizards at the Unseen University are sometimes seen in these stories.
• The Witches stories - These stories centre on the witches of Lancre, particularly Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Magrat Garlick, and later Agnes Nitt.
• The Death stories - These stories centre on Death in his usual personification as a skeleton in black robes with a scythe. Death's companions are his granddaughter Susan, his butler Albert and the Death of Rats, the rat equivalent of the human Death. In later novels Susan takes centre stage, although Death is still a key player. Death appears in all but one novel in the series, The Wee Free Men
• The City Watch stories - These stories centre on Ankh-Morpork's equivalent of a police force, the City Watch. Samuel Vimes leads the city watch, and among his officers are Carrot Ironfoundersson, Angua, Fred Colon, Detritus and "Nobby" Nobbs.
• The Tiffany Aching stories - These stories centre on the character of Tiffany Aching, a young girl who has the unusual allies of the Nac Mac Feegle. The stories are primarily written as children's books. They also tie in to the Witches stories, especially A Hat Full of Sky.
• The Miscellaneous stories - where none of the above five applies, or the main characters from them only appear briefly, or at least not as the main characters of the story in question. The best examples of these are possibly Small Gods and Pyramids.

This distinction is by no means clear-cut. Many stories (such as The Truth and Thief of Time) nominally stand alone but nonetheless tie in heavily with main storylines. A number of characters, such as the Unseen University staff, the Monks of History, or the Elves, appear prominently in many different storylines without having titles of their own. As it is, many of these 'stand alone' stories deal with the development of the city of Ankh-Morpork into a technologically advanced metropolis. For example, The Truth catalougues the rise of a newspaper service for the city, and Going Postal similarly deals with the development of a post service and the rise of the Discworlds unique telecommunications system called 'the clacks'.

The Discworld novels are as follows:

Discworld - Short stories

There are also four short stories by Pratchett based in the Discworld: Theatre of Cruelty, Death and What Comes Next, Troll Bridge and The Sea and Little Fishes. The first two are available online. The third was published in After The King: Stories in honour of J. R. R. Tolkien, and the fourth in Legends, edited by Robert Silverberg.

In addition, all of these stories, as well as such Discworld miscellany as the history of Thud and the Ankh-Morpork national anthem have been collected as part of a compilation of all Pratchett's shortwork, Once More* *With Footnotes.

Discworld - Quiz Books

Thus far, there are also two Discworld Quizbooks compiled by David Langford:

• The Unseen University Challenge, parodying the TV quiz show University Challenge
• The Wyrdest Link, parodying the TV quiz show The Weakest Link

Discworld - The Maps

Furthermore, there are four Maps:

• The Streets of Ankh-Morpork (1993)
• The Discworld Mapp (1995)
• A Tourist Guide to Lancre (1998)
• Death's Domain (1999)

The first two were drawn by Stephen Player, based on plans by Pratchett and Stephen Briggs, the third is a collaboration between Briggs and Kidby, and the last is by Paul Kidby. All also contain booklets written by Pratchett and Briggs.

Discworld - 'Science' books

Pratchett has also collaborated with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen on three books using the Discworld to illuminate popular science topics through means of a completely fictional story, with chapters switching between the story and notes on real science related to it:

• The Science of Discworld
• The Science of Discworld II: The Globe
• The Science of Discworld III: Darwin's Watch

These are, in some ways, really Discworld novels in their own right, just with facts crammed in now and again.

Discworld - Diaries

Most years see the release of a Discworld Diary and Calendar, both usually following a particular theme. The Diaries released so far are:

• Discworld's Unseen University Diary: 1998; the cover art features the character Death, possibly the character who appeared in the greatest number of Discworld novels.
• Discworld's Ankh-Morpork City Watch Diary 1999: 1999; the cover art features the character Commander Samuel Vimes of the Watch, His Grace the Duke of Ankh, in his beloved street uniform, in other words, battered Watchman armor.
• Discworld Assassins' Guild Yearbook and Diary 2000: 2000; the cover art features the character Lord Downey, the Assassins' Guild leader, with his specialty peppermint (rumored poisoned).
• Discworld Fools' Guild Yearbook and Diary 2001: 2001; the cover art features Dr Whiteface, the Fools' Guild leader, bursting through a paper hoop.
• Discworld Thieves' Guild Yearbook and Diary 2002: 2002; the cover art features a "photofit" of Mr Boggis, the Thieves' Guild leader.
• Discworld (Reformed) Vampyre's Diary 2003: 2003; the cover art features Mr John Not-A-Vampire-At-All Smith, head of the Ankh-Morpork Mission of the Black Ribboners with a cup of steaming brown liquid, likely coffee or hot cocoa.

There were no diaries for 2004 - 2006, as Pratchett and Stephen Briggs were worried about running out of ideas. Having rested the concept, the Discworld Post Office Diary 2007 has been announced.

Discworld - Associated publications

Other Discworldesque publications include:

• The Discworld Portfolio (a collection of Paul Kidby's artwork, with notes by Pratchett)
• The Discworld Companion (an encyclopedia of Discworld information, compiled by Pratchett and Briggs. An updated version was released in 2003, titled The New Discworld Companion.)
• Nanny Ogg's Cookbook (a collection of Discworldly recipes, combined with ettiquette, language of flowers etc., written by Pratchett with Stephen Briggs and Tina Hannan)
• The Art of Discworld (another collection of Paul Kidby's art)
• The Ankh-Morpork Almanack (an almanac for the Discworld year, in the style of the Diaries and the Cookbook, written by Pratchett with Bernard Pearson)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Published work", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki