Terry Pratchett reflects on his introduction to science fiction fandom and how meeting established authors inspired him to write.
Uploaded by BBC Studios, 2009 · Watch on YouTube ·
Pratchett recalls that early sci-fi conventions were low-tech gatherings of men in sports jackets, where he first experienced both drinking beer and throwing up.
“a science fiction convention was a room full of guys in sports jackets all called Ted”
Pratchett explains that early science fiction had a built-in ethos where famous authors mingled freely and were willing to share advice with aspiring writers.
“built in to the whole science fiction ethos was that you paid forward”
Meeting literary figures like Arthur C. Clarke made Pratchett realise that writers were not mythical giants, giving him the confidence to write down his own stories.
“these authors, who were in my imagination men of gold half a mile high, were normal people.”
Pratchett describes fandom as a democratic space that naturally inspires people to write, noting how that creative impulse persists in modern online fan fiction.
“The democracy of the low literary world, the gutter literary world!”
70 books, 4 series; 15 reviewed on LuvemBooks. Dates and covers from Amazon.
4.8/5
reader rating · 9,046 ratingsGoing Postal is the 33rd Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, following con artist Moist von Lipwig as he's coerced by the Patrician Havelock Vetinari into resurrecting Ankh-Morpork's long-dead postal service — or face a very real death. Kirkus Reviews called it "sharp-edged humor — and wonderfully executed," and the book's shortlisting for both the Nebula and Locus Awards confirms its standing as one of Pratchett's most celebrated entries.
Reviewed Sep 21, 2026
4.8/5
reader rating · 12,485 ratingsMen at Arms is the 15th Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett and the second book in the City Watch sub-series, following Captain Samuel Vimes and a newly diversified Ankh-Morpork City Watch as they pursue a string of guild murders tied to the Disc's first firearm. It earns attention as the entry that introduces fan-favourite characters Angua and Detritus while wrapping Pratchett's satirical wit around questions of power, identity, and monarchy.
Reviewed Aug 27, 2026
4.8/5
reader rating · 567 ratingsMort, Terry Pratchett's fourth Discworld novel — originally published in 1987 and available in a collector's hardback edition from Gollancz — is widely regarded as the book that cemented his reputation as a master of comic fantasy, following the hapless apprentice Mort as he takes on the job of Death itself, with hilariously complicated results.
Reviewed Jul 11, 2026
4.7/5
reader rating · 8,152 ratingsThe Wee Free Men is a comic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett and the first book in the Tiffany Aching sequence of the Discworld series, following a pragmatic nine-year-old girl who must venture into a nightmare Fairyland to rescue her kidnapped brother, aided by a clan of tiny, brawling, Scots-speaking pictsies. It earns attention for fusing genuine wit, layered symbolism, and a protagonist whose uncommon sense makes her one of Pratchett's most distinctive creations.
Reviewed Sep 10, 2026
4.7/5
reader rating · 6,082 ratingsCarpe Jugulum is the twenty-third Discworld novel and the sixth entry in Pratchett's beloved Witches subseries — a satirical fantasy that pits Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and a crisis-of-faith priest named Mightily Oats against a thoroughly modern vampire family who have talked themselves out of all their weaknesses. Released as an audiobook by Transworld Digital on April 28, 2022, with a full cast including Indira Varma, Peter Serafinowicz, Bill Nighy, and Steven Cree, this edition brings one of Pratchett's darker and more philosophically ambitious Witches entries to a new listening audience.
Reviewed Jul 9, 2026
4.7/5
reader rating · 7,154 ratingsMaking Money is a Discworld fantasy novel in which reformed con artist Moist von Lipwig is coerced into running the Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork, using the premise to deliver sharp satire about the nature of money, public trust, and financial institutions. First published in 2007, it won the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel in 2008 and was nominated for the Nebula Award the same year. Critical opinion is genuinely divided — praised for its wit and humanity, and critiqued for lacking the forward momentum of its predecessor, Going Postal — making it essential for committed Discworld readers while occasionally frustrating those who rank Going Postal among the series' best.
Reviewed Feb 13, 2026
4.6/5
reader rating · 9,337 ratingsSnuff is the 39th Discworld novel and the eighth City Watch story by Terry Pratchett, following Commander Sir Sam Vimes as a forced countryside holiday at the Ramkin estate quickly becomes a murder investigation tangled up in class prejudice and the persecution of goblins. A New York Times bestseller, it sold over 55,000 copies in its first three days — a figure that reflects the series' enduring pull on readers worldwide.
Reviewed Oct 13, 2026
4.6/5
reader rating · 10,132 ratingsReaper Man is the eleventh Discworld novel, in which Death is forced into retirement and works as a farmhand while the dead pile up. Reviewers praise the Death storyline warmly but find the wizard subplot meandering.
Reviewed Sep 8, 2026
4.6/5
reader rating · 37,836 ratingsGood Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch is a 1990 comedy novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, following the angel Aziraphale and demon Crowley as they scramble to prevent the Apocalypse — only to find the Antichrist has been misplaced at birth. It remains one of the most warmly regarded satirical novels in the English language, listed at number 68 on the BBC's Big Read survey in 2003.
Reviewed Aug 18, 2026
4.6/5
reader rating · 8,898 ratingsHogfather is Terry Pratchett's twentieth Discworld novel, originally published in 1996 by Victor Gollancz and now available as an audiobook from Transworld Digital, narrated by Sian Clifford, Bill Nighy, and Peter Serafinowicz. A 1997 British Fantasy Award nominee that placed in the BBC's The Big Read survey, it remains one of the most celebrated entries in the long-running series — a festive, philosophically charged adventure in which Death himself must step in to save belief in the Discworld's Father Christmas equivalent, the Hogfather, while his granddaughter Susan Sto Helit battles the sinister assassin Mr. Teatime.
Reviewed Jul 7, 2026
4.5/5
reader rating · 3,787 ratingsDodger by Terry Pratchett follows seventeen-year-old Dodger, a sewer-scavenging tosher in Victorian London, whose life upends when he rescues a young woman and falls into the orbit of Charles Dickens, Benjamin Disraeli, and the notorious Sweeney Todd. A New York Times bestseller and Printz Honor Book, it is a rare YA novel that earns both comedy and conscience in the same breath.
Reviewed Oct 14, 2026
4.5/5
reader rating · 12,492 ratingsRaising Steam is Terry Pratchett's 40th Discworld novel, in which Moist von Lipwig must keep Ankh-Morpork's first steam railway on track. Kirkus starred it and Cory Doctorow praised it, but eyrie.org found it the first Discworld book it could not recommend.
Reviewed Feb 13, 2026
4.4/5
reader rating · 28,200 ratingsThe Colour of Magic is the fantasy comedy novel by Terry Pratchett that launched the Discworld series, following hapless wizard Rincewind as he reluctantly shepherds Twoflower — the Disc's first tourist — through chaos, catastrophe, and cosmic absurdity. It is the book that introduced one of fiction's most beloved satirical universes, and its irreverent wit remains its greatest asset.
Reviewed Oct 10, 2026
Equal Rites is the third Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett, in which young Eskarina Smith — accidentally bequeathed a wizard's staff meant for a male heir — and the indomitable witch Granny Weatherwax challenge the all-male institution of Unseen University. It marks the point where Pratchett shifted from parody anthology to purposeful storytelling, and it introduced one of the series' most enduring characters.
Reviewed Aug 1, 2026
4.6/5
reader rating · 19,169 ratingsStephen Briggs and Graham Higgins adapt Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel about a summoned dragon and a ragtag Night Watch. No source reviews the adaptation itself; reader scores for the novel run from 9/10 to 7/10, with pacing the main complaint.
Reviewed Jul 9, 2026
4.4/5
reader rating · 6,116 ratingsEric is Terry Pratchett's ninth Discworld novel, a short Faust parody in which teen demonologist Eric Thursley summons the wizard Rincewind instead of a demon. Critics split: eyrie.org and Metaphorosis found it skippable, while Muse With Me says it earns its place.
Reviewed Jul 6, 2026
4.4/5
reader rating · 575 ratingsTerry Pratchett's first novel, written at 17 and later revised, follows the Munrung tribe as Fray and the mouls threaten the tiny peoples of the Carpet. Reviewers praise its ideas and humour, though it is slighter than his later work.
Reviewed Jul 5, 2026
Who is Terry Pratchett?
Follow up
Synthesized from verified book data & published reviews · How we review
Press Enter to ask. Answers come from our editorial Q&A — start typing to see related questions.
Patrick Rothfuss
Neil Gaiman
Diana Wynne Jones
Diana Wynne Jones was a British novelist, poet, academic, literary critic, and short story writer.
2 books reviewed
V. E. Schwab
Douglas Adams
**Douglas Noël Adams** was an English author, humourist and screenwriter.
1 book reviewed
Rick Riordan
