http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-31858156
Fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett has died aged 66, having had Alzheimer’s disease for eight years.
A great loss, his with and skewed view of life will be sorely missed.
Oh. Just oh.
I do find this sad. But not surprising.
I guess he now gets to walk the black sands for himself.
And I just noted it is Friday 13th. (Yes, I know it wasn’t in Britain, but it works for me)
Very sad news. A wonderful tribute posted on his Facebook page:
_______________________________________________________
“I would like my pudding now nurse. And then I think I’d like to… write… something… I don’t remember what.”
Standing in the corner, he waits. The sand slowly flows, but it nears its end. The old man still glows, as thousands of threads spread away from him.
SQUEAK.
I AGREE. IT IS A SHAME TO SEE HIM THIS WAY.
SQUEAK.
NO. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN…. BUT I CANNOT WAIT TO ASK HIM HOW IT ALL ENDS.
The old man looks up, through them at first… and then he sees them. For once, the smile on the hooded figure’s skull is genuine.
“I… I remember you. The anth… ant…”
ANTHROPOMORPHIC PERSONIFICATION.
“Yes, that. We knew each other?”
ONCE. AND WILL AGAIN, SIR.
He so rarely said it, and these feelings… remembering his young aprentice, and beloved daughter. The beautiful child they have.
“There… is a girl, yes?”
SHE IS SPEAKING TO THE AUDITORS, SIR. THEY ARE UNWILLING TO LISTEN.
“Well then. You know what they say, two things you cannot avoid. Taxes and…” He looks into the firey blue eyes, and becomes aware.
SQUEAK.
“Quite right. Is it time already? I have so much left to do.”
YOU HAVE GIVEN ALL YOU CAN SIR.
“No, not cancer. Alzheimers.”
I AM AWARE.
“So, where is the boy? I remember a boy.”
CARRIAGE ACCIDENT.
“Ahh. Never much trusted cars. Or horses.”
THEY GET YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO GO.
“Must I?”
SOON. BUT WE MAY SIT HERE AWHILE.
SQUEAK
DO YOU HAVE ANY BISCUITS?
“No. Shame really.”
YES.
“Is it truely turtles?”
ALL THE WAY DOWN. I HAVE SEEN THEM.
“Ahh. I would love to see it. Perhaps a small trip before?”
IT WOULD BE MY PLEASURE.
“The light is slower there… and there’s a monkey….”
ORANGUTAN. SAME PRINCIPLE.
“Yes… will they remember me?”
SQUEAK.
“What was that? I could not hear you.”
HE SAYS WE WILL, SIR.
“I never much liked the trouble people had with you. You seem like a nice fellow.”
I HAVE MY DAYS.
“Don’t we all?”
SOME LESS THAN OTHERS.
“Is it quick?”
YES. AND I BROUGHT THE SWORD. CEREMONY DICTATES IT.
“Ahh. How about a cup of tea?”
I WOULD ENJOY IT. DO YOU PLAY CHESS?
“No. how about checkers?”
And so they sat, two old friends regaling each other, though the old man could not remember all of the details, the cloaked man and his rat filled him in, when it was needed.
Never read any of his books but he seemed a nice chap.
Anyway I’d better strike a blow.
Cant stay chatting to all you people all day.
Peak Warming Man said:
Never read any of his books but he seemed a nice chap.
+1
Divine Angel said:
Peak Warming Man said:
Never read any of his books but he seemed a nice chap.
+1
Afraid I’ll have to put myself in the +1 group as well. At least I don’t remember reading any of his work yet I somehow seem to know about it.
roughbarked said:
At least I don’t remember reading any of his work yet I somehow seem to know about it.
buffy and PM2Ring often chat about Discworld.
Divine Angel said:
roughbarked said:At least I don’t remember reading any of his work yet I somehow seem to know about it.
buffy and PM2Ring often chat about Discworld.
My family have also done this.
I read one of his books and had one signed may years ago when he visited Perth… which I sent to Purple x
Mrrrnong
Cloudy and dry ( still ) in Perth
Enjoying the swimming and the bars
Off to interview the head of the Church of the Supernatural today :)
SWT
Sad, but he left lots of books for people to read :)
Bubblecar said:
Sad, but he left lots of books for people to read :)
Yes indeed :)
Bubblecar said:
Sad, but he left lots of books for people to read :)
Exactly! How can we miss him when he left such wonderful work? So…get down to your local book shop and buy his books!
There’s a petition over at change.org petitioning Death to return Sir Terry.
Carmen_Sandiego said:
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-31858156
Fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett has died aged 66, having had Alzheimer’s disease for eight years.A great loss, his with and skewed view of life will be sorely missed.
btm said:
There’s a petition over at change.org petitioning Death to return Sir Terry.
Tamb said:
Carmen_Sandiego said:http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-31858156
Fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett has died aged 66, having had Alzheimer’s disease for eight years.A great loss, his with and skewed view of life will be sorely missed.
I’ve read all his books & although I don’t like fantasy his work is very different to the usual genre.
A planet where magic works but science doesn’t suits me just fine.
Tamb said:
Carmen_Sandiego said:http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-31858156
Fantasy author Sir Terry Pratchett has died aged 66, having had Alzheimer’s disease for eight years.A great loss, his with and skewed view of life will be sorely missed.
I’ve read all his books & although I don’t like fantasy his work is very different to the usual genre.
A planet where magic works but science doesn’t suits me just fine.
On that world they’d have Science Happens car bumper stickers
I was given one of his books during the witch trials at the preschool…hahahaha….I liked it heaps, but he has been sitting on my list of “Must Read” for too long. There’s too many books on that list :/
kii said:
I was given one of his books during the witch trials at the preschool…hahahaha….I liked it heaps, but he has been sitting on my list of “Must Read” for too long. There’s too many books on that list :/
Terry Pratchett, A Hat Full of Sky said:
“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”
Local ABC radio news service could have done with some proofreading – several bulletins reported the death of Terry Pratchett, author of the best selling Disco World books….
Neophyte said:
Local ABC radio news service could have done with some proofreading – several bulletins reported the death of Terry Pratchett, author of the best selling Disco World books….
Neophyte said:
Local ABC radio news service could have done with some proofreading – several bulletins reported the death of Terry Pratchett, author of the best selling Disco World books….
Disco Stu says “that doesn’t jive!”
Ook. I will miss you, Pterry.
“No one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away – until the clock he wound up winds down, until the wine she made has finished its ferment, until the crop they planted is harvested. The span of someone’s life, they say, is only the core of their actual existence.” ― Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man
I heard the sad news on Friday morning, but I couldn’t afford to let myself grieve – I had to be in a joyful mood for my niece’s wedding. I’ve been away from home for a few days & without net access, and I’m just now catching up on all the touching tributes to Sir Terry.
From the official Terry Pratchett forum
MrsWizzard said
From the pit of my heart and with the most profound sincerity, thank you, Mr. Pratchett. Make sure you teach him how the little horses move before you go on.
From reddit
The Hour of the Dead was when men died. And when a man died, they sent him home by clacks. Moist’s mouth dropped open. ‘Huh?’
‘That’s what they call it,’ said Harry. ‘Not lit’rally, o’ course. But they send his name from one end of the Trunk to the other, ending up at the tower nearest his home.’
‘Yeah, but they say sometimes the person stays on in the towers, somehow,’ said Jim.’ “Living in the Overhead”, they call it.’
A lot of what travelled on the Grand Trunk was called the Overhead. It was instructions to towers, reports, messages about messages, even chatter between operators, although this was strictly forbidden these days. It was all in code. It was very rare you got Plain in the Overhead. But now . . . ‘There it goes again,’ she said. ‘It must be wrong. It’s got no origin code and no address. It’s Overhead, but it’s in Plain.’ On the other side of the tower, sitting in a seat facing the opposite direction because he was operating the up-line, was Roger, who was seventeen and already working for his tower-master certificate. His hand didn’t stop moving as he said: ‘What did it say?’
‘There was GNU, and I know that’s a code, and then just a name. It was John Dearheart. Was it a—’
‘You sent it on?’ said Grandad. Grandad had been hunched in the corner, repairing a shutter box in this cramped shed halfway up the tower. Grandad was the tower-master and had been everywhere and knew everything. Everyone called him Grandad. He was twenty-six. He was always doing something in the tower when she was working the line, even though there was always a boy in the other chair. She didn’t work out why until later. ‘Yes, because it was a G code,’ said Princess. ‘Then you did right. Don’t worry about it.’
‘Yes, but I’ve sent that name before. Several times. Upline and downline. Just a name, no message or anything!’ She had a sense that something was wrong, but she went on: ‘I know a U at the end means it has to be turned round at the end of the line, and an N means Not Logged.’ This was showing off, but she’d spent hours reading the cypher book. ‘So it’s just a name, going up and down all the time! Where’s the sense in that?’ Something was really wrong. Roger was still working his line, but he was staring ahead with a thunderous expression. Then Grandad said: ‘Very clever, Princess. You’re dead right.’
‘Hah!’ said Roger. ‘I’m sorry if I did something wrong,’ said the girl meekly. ‘I just thought it was strange. Who’s John Dearheart?’
‘He . . . fell off a tower,’ said Grandad. ‘Hah!’ said Roger, working his shutters as if he suddenly hated them. ‘He’s dead?’ said Princess. ‘Well, some people say—’ Roger began. ‘Roger!’ snapped Grandad. It sounded like a warning. ‘I know about Sending Home,’ said Princess. ‘And I know the souls of dead linesmen stay on the Trunk.’
‘Who told you that?’ said Grandad. Princess was bright enough to know that someone would get into trouble if she was too specific. ‘Oh, I just heard it,’ she said airily. ‘Somewhere.’
‘Someone was trying to scare you,’ said Grandad, looking at Roger’s reddening ears. It hadn’t sounded scary to Princess. If you had to be dead, it seemed a lot better to spend your time flying between the towers than lying underground. But she was bright enough, too, to know when to drop a subject. It was Grandad who spoke next, after a long pause broken only by the squeaking of the new shutter bars. When he did speak, it was as if something was on his mind. ‘We keep that name moving in the Overhead,’ he said, and it seemed to Princess that the wind in the shutter arrays above her blew more forlornly, and the everlasting clicking of the shutters grew more urgent. ‘He’d never have wanted to go home. He was a real linesman. His name is in the code, in the wind in the rigging and the shutters. Haven’t you ever heard the saying “A man’s not dead while his name is still spoken”?’
GNU Terry Pratchett
Sir Terry’s fans on reddit are keep Terry Pratchett’s name alive in the overhead of the Internet. See GNU Terry Pratchett and http://www.gnuterrypratchett.com/ for details.
PS.
The Shepherd’s Crown is a forthcoming comic fantasy novel and last novel by Terry Pratchett (1948–2015) set on the Discworld. It will be the fifth novel within the Discworld series to be based on the character of Tiffany Aching. It is expected to be published in September 2015.
Arts said:
PM 2Ring said:
The Shepherd’s Crown
It is expected to be published in September 2015.
Bit late for the book signing.
I wouldn’t mind one signed by Rhianna .
I’ve also heard rumours that a 4th The Long Earth book will also be published.
PM 2Ring said:
Arts said:I hope so.PM 2Ring said:I wouldn’t mind one signed by Rhianna .The Shepherd’s CrownBit late for the book signing.
It is expected to be published in September 2015.
I’ve also heard rumours that a 4th The Long Earth book will also be published.