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Terry Pratchett biography

The English fantasy author, Terry D. J. (David John) Pratchett was born on the 28th April 1948 in the town of Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. His was educated at High Wycombe Technical High School.

He wrote is first story when he was thirteen years old (1961) and with the money that he made from selling this he was able to buy his first typewriter. In 1971, Pratchett had his first novel published; it was called The Carpet People.

The official Terry Pratchett web site (UK)
The official Terry Pratchett web site (US)

Terry Pratchett is best known for the fantasy novels that make up the Discworld series. This series now comprises of more than forty books and is a humorous and at times satirical work set on a disc-shaped world that is carried on the backs of four giant elephants. The first book of the Discworld series was entitled The Colour Of Magic and is reviewed here. The Colour Of Magic was published in 1983 but he continued to work until 1987 when he was able to become a full-time author.

Terry Pratchett was awarded the OBE (The Most Excellent Order Of The British Empire, Officer) in 1998 for his services to literature. Terry Pratchett has also received honorary doctorates from the Universities of Warwick, Portsmouth, Bath and Bristol. He has sold over 40 million books worldwide and these have been translated into thirty-three different languages. He is second only to J. K. Rowling in terms of book sales in the United Kingdom.

It is believed that 1% of all the books sold in England are penned by Pratchett. His books have been translated into 36 different languages and have sold over 60 million copies.

Sir Terry Pratchett was made a knight in the New Year Honours list (2008). He received the honour for services to literature.

Terry Pratchett books

Latest news: Terry Pratchett

Alex Bell interview (February 2010)
Alex Bell was born in 1986 in Hampshire. She studied Law on and off for six long years before the boredom became so overwhelming that she had to throw down the textbooks and run madly from the building. Since then she has never looked back. She has travelled widely, is a ferociously strict vegetari [...]

Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy to open this month
This month will see the launch of the new Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy, a project which will explore the importance of fairy takes in literary and culture. Professor Bill Gray, an English lecturer at the University of Chichester, is the brainchild behind the centre that will [...]

Fantasy news round-up – January/February 2010
Fantasy authors donate towards the Haiti appeal Harry Potter author JK Rowling donated a full UK edition set of her books, as well as a handwritten card, to Helping Haiti Heal. These rare items join more than 100 special gifts, including a signed book by author Neil Gaiman, five dedicated books [...]

Fantasy Book Review: Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett
There's a werewolf with the pre-lunar tension in Ankh-Morpork. And a dwarf with attitude and a golem who's begun to think for itself. But for Commander Vimes, Head of Ankh-Morpork City Watch, that's only the start...There's treason in the air. A crime has happened. He's not only got to find out whod [...]

Round-up: JA Rowling, Bath-time for Pullman and Le Guin not finished yet
A round-up of fantasy news around the world. A rare JK Rowling uncorrected proof sells for £1,600 An uncorrected proof edition of JK Rowling’s very first Harry Potter book has been sold for £1600 at auction. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, attributed to JA Rowling was bought by a co [...]

Twilight rules audio-book downloads at Christmas
A glance at the best-selling science fiction and fantasy downloads on Audible.co.uk shows that Stephenie Meyer's enormous popularity is also evident amongst those who like to listen to a good story. Twilight and New Moon list #1 and #2 respectively, with Eclipse and Breaking Dawn coming in at #4 and [...]

The fantasy genre’s strong showing amongst Amazon’s book and author’s of the decade
The final and penultimate books in JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series were the top-selling books of the last decade, according to list released by Amazon. Stephenie Meyer also showed well in the list with three of her vampire romance novels appearing in third, fourth and fifth position. Rowling was, [...]

Catch the stage adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s Maskerade this Christmas
Why not enjoy a night out at the theatre and watch an amateur production of Terry Pratchett’s Maskerade, adapted for the stage by Stephen Briggs. The Ankh-Morpork Opera house has always had a ghost, but it never used to kill people. Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg, the inquisitive, indomitable (and [...]

The 2 Steves: Steve Skidmore and Steve Barlow interview (November 2009)
Authors Steve Barlow and Steve Skidmore have always been experts in reaching out to children through their witty and accessible books, so it comes as no surprise that they are once more at the forefront of new developments in reading and literacy. With the anarchic Vernon Bright titles leading the [...]

Film adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens could still happen
Last week Joseph McCabe of FEARnet.com caught up with Terry Gilliam and the filmmaking Python told him that his long-in-development adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's dark fantasy novel Good Omens isn't dead in the water yet. Apparently, it's just resting. “It's still sitting out th [...]

Terry Pratchett interviews

Terry Pratchett is interviewed by January Magazine. He comes across as very humble and still very much enjoying writing the Discworld novels. Terry Pratchett interview >>

Book of the Month

Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill
Some doors are better left closed . . . In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in, no one comes out. And it’s been that way for fifty years. Until the night watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and investigates. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever.

Previous winners of Book of the Month

Latest interviews

Interviews plus question and answer sessions with authors, narrators and publishers.

Must-reads

The following reviews are of books that begin the very best fantasy series available.

Competition: Win a signed copy of Graham Hancock's Entangled

Graham Hancock is the author of The Sign and the Seal, Fingerprints of the Gods, Keeper of Genesis, Heaven's Mirror, Supernatural and other bestselling investigations of historical mysteries. His books have been translated into twenty-seven languages and have sold over five million copies worldwide. Written with the same page-turning appeal that has made his non-fiction so popular, Entangled is his first work of fiction. We have five signed copies of Entangled to give away as prizes. Email us the answer to the following question and the lucky winner, chosen at random, will receive a copy of the book, signed by the author.

Enter the competion now!

Special Feature: Fantasy Book Review talks to the Book View Cafe

Book View Cafe is a cooperative site created by a group of writers - including internationally renowned authors Katharine Kerr, Ursula Le Guin and Vonda N. McIntyre - who want to take advantage of the internet's possibilities for reaching a wider audience and to distribute their work directly to their readers. The Book View Cafe is a place where you can find free, original fiction plus the authors' best and out-of-print work for a fee. Fantasy Book Review spoke to Book View Cafe member, science fiction author and memoirist Chris Dolley in February 2010.

Fantasy Book Review talks to the Book View Cafe

Special Feature: Understanding the author of Alice in Wonderland

Lewis Carroll, the elusive author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, has been the subject of enduring fascination for the past hundred years. The destruction of many major documents about his personal life by his descendants has only magnified the mystery. Jenny Woolf's biography, published to coincide with the release of the new Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland film, lays waste to the myths and suspicions that have obscured Carroll's reputation by placing him firmly in the context of his own time.

Lewis Carroll on Fantasy Book Review