Most Popular Books by Terry Pratchett

''This didn''t feel like magic. It felt a lot older than that. It felt like music.'' Being sixteen is always difficult, but it''s even more so when there''s a Death in the family. Susan hasn''t exactly had a normal upbringing, with a skeletal grandfather who rides a white horse and wields a scythe. When Death decides he needs a well-earned break, he leaves Susan to take over the family business. The only problem is, everyone mistakes her for the Tooth Fairy . . . Well, not the only problem. There''s a new, addictive music in Discworld. It''s lawless. It changes people. It''s got a beat and you can dance to it. It''s called Music With Rocks In. And it won''t fade away . . . ''Genius . . . deals with death with startling originality'' New York Times ''His spectacular inventiveness makes the Discworld series one of the perennial joys of modern fiction'' Mail on Sunday Soul Music is the third book in the Death series, but you can read the Discworld novels in any order.

As autumn fogs hold Ankh-Morpok in their grip, the City Watch must find a murderer who can''t be seen. The golems may know something, but they''ve all started to commit suicide. And on top of all this, the Watch have other problems to deal with, such as a werewolf suffering from Pre-Lunar Tension.

For more than two decades, Terry Pratchett has been regaling readers with tales of Discworld—a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants, which are standing on the back of a giant turtle, flying through space. It is a world populated by ineffectual wizards and sharp-as-tacks witches, by tired policemen and devious dictators, by reformed thieves and vampires who have sworn to drink no blood. It is a world that is vastly different from our own . . . except when it isn''t. Now, in The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld, various nuggets of Pratchett''s witty commentary and sagacious observations have been compiled by Pratchett expert Stephen Briggs, a man who, they say, knows even more about Discworld than Terry Pratchett. Within these pages, you''ll find musings on: Interior decorating: "It''s a fact known throughout the universes that no matter how carefully the colors are chosen, institutional decor ends up as either vomit green, unmentionable brown, nicotine yellow, or surgical appliance pink. By some little-understood process of sympathetic resonance, corridors painted in those colors always smell slightly of boiled cabbage—even if no cabbage is ever cooked in the vicinity." (Equal Rites) Travel: "Any seasoned traveler soon learns to avoid anything wished on them as a ''regional speciality,'' because all the term means is that the dish is so unpleasant the people living everywhere else will bite off their own legs rather than eat it. But hosts still press it upon distant guests anyway: ''Go on, have the dog''s head stuffed with macerated cabbage and pork noses—it''s a regional speciality.''" (The Last Continent) Young men: "And then there was the young male walk. At least women swung only their hips. Young men swung everything, from the shoulders down. You have to try to occupy a lot of space. It makes you look bigger, like a tomcat fluffing his tail. The boys tried to walk big in self-defense against all those other big boys out there. I''m bad, I''m fierce, I''m cool, I''d like a pint of shandy and me mam wants me home by nine." (Monstrous Regiment) Class: "''Old money'' meant that it had been made so long ago that the black deeds that had originally filled the coffers were now historically irrelevant. Funny, that; a brigand for a father was something you kept quiet about, but a slave-taking pirate for a great-great-great-grandfather was something to boast of over the port. Time turned the evil bastards into rogues, and rogue was a word with a twinkle in its eye and nothing to be ashamed of." (Making Money) . . . and more! Culled from all the Discworld novels, The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld confirms Pratchett''s place in the pantheon of great satirists and proves why the Chicago Tribune has praised his Discworld as "entertaining and gloriously funny . . . an accomplishment nothing short of magical."

The classic collaboration from the internationally bestselling authors Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, soon to be an original series starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant. ?Season 2 of Good Omens coming soon! “Good Omens . . . is something like what would have happened if Thomas Pynchon, Tom Robbins and Don DeLillo had collaborated. Lots of literary inventiveness in the plotting and chunks of very good writing and characterization. It’s a wow. It would make one hell of a movie. Or a heavenly one. Take your pick.” —Washington Post According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (the world''s only completely accurate book of prophecies, written in 1655, before she exploded), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner. So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, frogs are falling, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except a somewhat fussy angel and a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth''s mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming Rapture. And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist . . .

‘Persistently amusing, good-hearted and shrewd’ The Sunday Times The Discworld is very much like our own – if our own were to consist of a flat planet balanced on the back of four elephants which stand on the back of a giant turtle, that is . . . They say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it’s not half so bad as a lot of ignorance. The last thing the wizard Drum Billet did, before Death laid a bony hand on his shoulder, was to pass on his staff of power to the eighth son of an eighth son. Unfortunately for his colleagues in the chauvinistic (not to say misogynistic) world of magic, he failed to check that the baby in question was a son. Everybody knows that there''s no such thing as a female wizard. But now it''s gone and happened, there''s nothing much anyone can do about it. Let the battle of the sexes begin . . . ____________________ The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Equal Rites is the first book in the Witches series.

It''s a game of Trolls and Dwarfs where the player must take both sides to win ... It''s the noise a troll club makes when crushing in a dwarf skull, or when a dwarfish axe cleaves a trollish cranium ... It''s the unsettling sound of history about to repeat itself ... THUD! It''s the most extraordinary, outrageous, provocative, insightful, and keenly cutting flight of fancy yet from Discworld''s incomparable supreme creator ... Terry Pratchett Commander Sam Vimes of the Ankh-Morpork City Watch admits he may not be the sharpest knife in the cutlery drawer—he might not even be a spoon. But he''s dogged and honest and he''ll be damned if he lets anyone disturb his city''s always-tentative peace—and that includes a rabble-rousing dwarf from the sticks (or deep beneath them) who''s been stirring up big trouble on the eve of the anniversary of one of Discworld''s most infamous historical events. Centuries earlier, in a gods-forsaken hellhole called Koom Valley, a horde of trolls met a division of dwarfs in bloody combat. Though nobody''s quite sure why they fought or who actually won, hundreds of years on each species still bears the cultural scars, and one views the other with simmering animosity and distrust. Lately, an influential dwarf, Grag Hamcrusher, has been fomenting unrest among Ankh-Morpork''s more diminutive citizens with incendiary speeches. And it doesn''t help matters when the pint-size provocateur is discovered beaten to death ... with a troll club lying conveniently nearby. Vimes knows the well-being of his smoldering city depends on his ability to solve the Hamcrusher homicide without delay. (Vimes''s secondmost-pressing responsibility, in fact, next to being home every evening at six sharp to read Where''s My Cow? to Young Sam.) Whatever it takes to unstick this very sticky situation, Vimes will do it—even tolerate having a vampire in the Watch. But there''s more than one corpse waiting for him in the eerie, summoning darkness of the vast, labyrinthine mine network the dwarfs have been excavating in secret beneath Ankh-Morpork''s streets. A deadly puzzle is pulling Sam Vimes deep into the muck and mire of superstition, hatred, and fear—and perhaps all the way to Koom Valley itself.

Not just another science book and not just another Discworld novella, The Science of Discworld is a creative, mind-bending mash-up of fiction and fact, that offers a wizard’s-eye view of our world that will forever change how you look at the universe. Can Unseen University’s eccentric wizards and orangutan Librarian possibly shed any useful light on hard, rational Earthly science? In the course of an exciting experiment, the wizards of Discworld have accidentally created a new universe. Within this universe is a planet that they name Roundworld. Roundworld is, of course, Earth, and the universe is our own. As the wizards watch their creation grow, Terry Pratchett and acclaimed science writers Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen use Discworld to examine science from the outside. Interwoven with the Pratchett’s original story are entertaining, enlightening chapters which explain key scientific principles such as the Big Bang theory and the evolution of life on earth, as well as great moments in the history of science.

Sir Terry Pratchett, beloved and bestselling author of the Discworld fantasy series, explores the bonds between the living and the dead and proves that it''s never too late to have the time of your life—even if it is your afterlife! Johnny Maxwell''s new friends do not appreciate the term "ghosts," but they are, well, dead. The town council wants to sell the cemetery, and its inhabitants aren''t about to take that lying down! Johnny is the only one who can see them, and and the previously alive need his help to save their home and their history. Johnny didn''t mean to become the voice for the lifeless, but if he doesn''t speak up, who will? Read more of Johnny Maxwell''s adventures in Only You Can Save Mankind and Johnny and the Bomb!

Terry Pratchett takes Shakespeare''s Macbeth and then turns it up ''till the knob comes off. It''s all there - a wicked duke and duchess, the ghost of the murdered king, dim soldiers, strolling players, a land in peril. And who stands between the Kingdom and destruction? Three witches. Granny Weatherwax (intolerant, self-opinionated, powerful), Nanny Ogg (down-to-earth, vulgar) and Magrat Garlick (naive, fond of occult jewellery and bunnies). Stephen Briggs has been involved in amateur dramatics for over 25 years and he assures us that the play can be staged without needing the budget of Industrial Light and Magic. Not only that, but the cast should still be able to be in the pub by 10 o''clock! Oh, and a world of advice omitted from the play text- LEARN THE WORDS Havelock, Lord Vetinari

In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was: "Hey, you!" For Brutha the novice is the Chosen One. He wants peace and justice and brotherly love. He also wants the Inquisition to stop torturing him now, please...

From the pen of Sir Terry Pratchett, beloved and bestselling author of the Discworld fantasy series, comes time-travel adventure that mixes outrageous humor and nail-biting suspense! Twelve-year-old Johnny Maxwell has a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This has never been more true than when he finds himself in his hometown on May 21, 1941, over forty years before his birth! An accidental time traveler, Johnny knows his history. He knows England is at war, and he knows that on this day German bombs will fall on the town. It happened. It''s history. And as Johnny and his friends quickly discover, tampering with history can have unpredictable—and drastic—effects on the future. But letting history take its course means letting people die. What if Johnny warns someone and changes history? What will happen to the future? If Johnny uses his knowledge to save innocent lives by being in the right place at the right time, is he doing the right thing? Read more of Johnny Maxwell''s adventures in Only You Can Save Mankind and Johnny and the Dead!

Hogswatchnight is fast approaching, and the Hogfather (that jolly fat man who delivers presents to the kiddies) is missing. But it''s vital that all the presents are delivered, otherwise the sun won''t rise tomorrow. However, there is another supernatural entity who can be everywhere at once and, most importantly, knows where everybody lives. And Death reckons that with a false beard and a few cushions, it might just work. And while Death is busy working out the mysteries of climbing down chimneys and drinking sherry, it''s up to Susan to track down the real Hogfather. It''s a dark time of the year. There are monsters afoot. And some of them look just like us. HO HO HO. You''d better watch out . . . Terry Pratchett''s bestseller, adapted and directed by Vadim Jean, is a two-part live-action/CGI film starring David Jason, to be premiered on Sky One in December 2006.

Terry Pratchett''s incredible Discworld, floating through space on the backs of four elephants* standing on a giant turtle, supports some of the most popular characters ever imagined in the world of fantasy fiction. But the Discworld people are real, and here they are, warts (except, of course, in the case of Granny Weatherwax) and all, from Rincewind the incompetent wizard to Greebo, the rather too human cat. *once there were five, but that''s another story

Scarcely a year on from the events of Guards! Guards!, the Ankh-Morpork City Night Watch find their services are once more needed to tackle a threat to their city. A threat at least as deadly as a 60-foot dragon, but mechanical and heartless to boot. It kills without compunction. It is the first gun on the Discworld. The original Watch - Captain Vimes, Sergeant Colon, Corporal Carrot and Corporal Nobbs - are joined by some new recruits, selected to reflect the city''s ethnic make-up - Lance-Constable Cuddy (a dwarf), Detritus (a troll) and Angua (a w..., well, best to find out for yourself).

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