Wossname -- September 2015 -- Main issue part 2

News and reviews about the works of Sir Terry Pratchett wossname at pearwood.info
Wed Sep 30 10:42:48 AEST 2015


Wossname
Newsletter of the Klatchian Foreign Legion
September 2015 (Volume 18, Issue 9, Post 2)

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WOSSNAME is a free publication offering news, reviews, and all the other 
stuff-that-fits pertaining to the works and activities of Sir Terry 
Pratchett. Originally founded by the late, great Joe Schaumburger for 
members of the worldwide Klatchian Foreign Legion and its affiliates, 
including the North American Discworld Society and other continental 
groups, Wossname is now for Discworld and Pratchett fans everywhere in 
Roundworld.
********************************************************************

Editor in Chief: Annie Mac
News Editor: Vera P
Newshounds: Mogg, Sir J of Croydon Below, the Shadow, Wolfiekins, Mss C, 
Alison not Aliss
Staff Writers: Asti, Pitt the Elder, Evil Steven Dread, Mrs Wynn-Jones
Staff Technomancers: Jason Parlevliet, Archchancellor Neil, DJ Helpful
Book Reviews: Annie Mac, Drusilla D'Afanguin, Your Name Here
Puzzle Editor: Tiff (still out there somewhere)
Bard in Residence: Weird Alice Lancrevic
Emergency Staff: Steven D'Aprano, Jason Parlevliet
World Membership Director: Steven D'Aprano (in his copious spare time)

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INDEX:

01) MORE QUOTES OF THE MONTH
02) EDITOR'S LETTER: ABOUT LITERATURE AND "LITERATURE"
03) THE SIR TERRY PRATCHETT MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
04) THE SHEPHERD'S CROWN: REVIEWS
05) THE SHEPHERD'S CROWN: FAN TRIBUTES
06) MORE ODDS AND SODS
07) DISCWORLD MEETING GROUPS NEWS (UPDATE)
08) THE SHEPHERD'S CROWN: THE WOSSNAME REVIEW
09) MORE IMAGES OF THE MONTH
10) CLOSE

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

01) MORE QUOTES OF THE MONTH

"The Shepherd's Crown and all the Tiffany Aching adventures are a New 
York Times bestselling series. Fabulous news!"
– @terryandrob, 10th September 2015

"I fancy a memorial scholarship in my name. Speak to David Lloyd and 
make it so."
– Sir Terry Pratchett, in his final to-be-opened-after-death letter to 
Rob Wilkins

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

02) LETTER FROM YOUR EDITOR

Most Pratchett fans will be aware of the stir that ensued a few weeks 
ago when an arts critic for The Guardian newspaper savaged and dismissed 
the works of Terry Pratchett without having read them. Apart from 
showing rank unprofessionalism by critiquing a body of work without 
reading any of it first, the piece was a sad display of the kind of 
egregious literary snobbery – "all genre novels are bad because only 
impenetrable and tortuously-written novels about Serious Subjects(TM) 
can possibly be good" – that gives big-L Literature a bad name among the 
multitude who read for pleasure. Or in simpler words, said critic was a 
self-important twit pitching to an audience of self-important gits.

And yet... and yet...

...what this critic did was a good thing, because he brought the 
spotlight back onto the literature-versus-Literature debate and placed 
that light squarely on the works of an author who wrote a vast series of 
high literary quality – in the fantasy genre.

Look at any list of so-called greatest novels in the English language 
and you find a plethora of of "worthy" writing: books built on themes 
rather than on stories, books that take the inward eye to boring 
extremes, books that may have been significant in their original era and 
then failed to age gracefully but remain on the "greatest" lists due to 
the power of memes and traditions. The predictable inclusion of 
Moby-Dick, of the novels of Austen and Joyce, of writers whose entire 
oeuvre celebrates the repellent lives of personal or societal failures 
in ways that are more misery-inducing than uplifting 
(coughBukowskicoughMcCarthycough)... of course these have their place, 
and some of them are even well-written, but to deny beautifully-crafted 
literature an uppercase L simply because it belongs to a less mainstream 
field is an insult to good writing.

Great literature, in my unapologetic opinion, needs to contain both 
superb wordcraft and emotionally-involving subject matter, plus what I 
would call "flow of story". Many of the books that find their way to 
those "greatest" lists lack one or more of these qualities – again, this 
is my own arrogantly unapologetic opinion, but for the record, yes, I 
*have* read the bulk of them so I am speaking from a base of evidence. 
Many of the novels of "genre author" Stephen King have all three in 
abundance. Most of the novels of Terry Pratchett have all three in 
abundance *plus* an undercurrent of moral and social observation that 
raises them to the highest level of big-L Literature.

I would also include, in the category of great and enduring literature, 
stories that are so filled with life and flow that they transcend their 
time, for example the novels of Robert Louis Stevenson. But sometimes a 
cracking story is not nearly enough, and for an illustration of that we 
can look to the myriad bestselling novels of Michael Crichton: cracking 
stories, yes, but Crichton's wordcraft is simply wooden and his 
inability to create characters that were more than one-dimensional 
ciphers suffused his entire body of work; so no, Crichton is very likely 
to be read several generations down the line. (Crichton was also, if you 
want to get technical, possibly the most successful genre author in the 
history of popular publishing – hellooo, the plots and subject matter of 
most of his work are science fiction –  but for some reason his books 
were never filed in the SF and Fantasy section. Go figure.)

Confession time: I got over PG Wodehouse a long time ago. Once upon a 
time I loved his books, but by the time I'd come back for a third 
re-read I realised that the scope of them was too narrow, the stories 
too formulaic, to retain their sparkle for me – and that there were 
quite simply too many of them cut from the same cloth with little to 
relieve their sameness. It used to bother me that Pratchett was 
compared, in the early days of his career, to Wodehouse as if this were 
conferring a great honour upon a novice author. I suppose The Colour of 
Magic had a certain Wodehouse-like playfulness to it, but Pratchett's 
writing rapidly transcended those narrow confines. Wodehouse wrote well, 
but he wrote only about the madcap stupidities of the uppercrust of one 
place and era. Pratchett wrote about vampires and werewolves, golems and 
trolls, dwarfs and pictsies, but what he was really writing about was 
the human condition – and books about the human condition are as 
Literature as you can get.

And now, on with the show...

– Annie Mac, Editor

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

03) THE SIR TERRY PRATCHETT MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

The University of South Australia's media release:

"Marking his passion for lifelong learning, curiosity and exploration, 
the estate of the late Sir Terry Pratchett has announced the endowment 
of a unique scholarship at the University of South Australia to honour 
the memory of the best-selling author. The Sir Terry Pratchett Memorial 
Scholarship will be awarded by the University of South Australia in 
perpetuity, every two years and will support a student to undertake a 
Masters by research at UniSA's Hawke Research Institute, covering 
stipend, travel and accommodation expenses as well as research costs. 
The $100,000 scholarship will additionally provide an extraordinary 
opportunity for students to conduct their research both at UniSA and at 
Trinity College Dublin, in Ireland for up to a full year in the course 
of their two-year's study...

"UniSA Vice Chancellor Professor David Lloyd says that the University is 
humbled by the generosity of the scholarship. 'This extraordinary gift 
is the largest student scholarship of its kind in the history of the 
University,' Prof Lloyd says. 'Terry was someone who was never shy of 
contributing to the things he believed in and as recipients of this 
wonderful bequest we are reminded of his commitment to inquiry and to 
learning. The fact that this is a perpetual scholarship means that, like 
Terry's books, this gift will endure for generations to come. The 
scholarship will support worthy students to complete cultural research 
relevant to, or inspired by Terry's work and linked to the Hawke 
Research Institute's theme of identity transformations. That opens a 
vast field for creative and sharp minds – anything from the study of 
satire and its impact on societal identities right through to the impact 
of information and communications technology (ICT) in society. Whatever 
the research proposal in this field, we want to see topics that consider 
social impacts and investigate tangible benefits to society – it's an 
exciting challenge and one that we think Terry would have loved.'

"The collaborative scholarship builds on a growing relationship between 
two very different universities in two hemispheres, who share links both 
through research and their strong associations with Sir Terry Pratchett 
and is underpinned by an MOU between Trinity College Dublin's Trinity 
Long Room Hub and UniSA's Hawke Research Institute.

"Dean of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Trinity College Dublin, 
Prof Darryl Jones, says the School of English at Trinity was honoured to 
have Sir Terry Pratchett as an Adjunct Professor. 'His wit, his warmth, 
his intelligence and above all else, his humanity made him an 
unforgettable friend and colleague,' Prof Jones says. 'We miss him 
dearly, and we're delighted to be part of this joint endeavour with the 
University of South Australia. The Sir Terry Pratchett Memorial 
Scholarship is a fitting tribute to a wonderful writer and a remarkable 
man.'..."

http://bit.ly/1VkFLH7

In Indaily:

"The $100,000 biannual scholarship will support a student studying a 
Masters by research at UniSA's Hawke Research Institute. In addition, 
scholarship holders will be given the opportunity to study at Trinity 
College Dublin, in Ireland, for up to a year during their two years of 
study. The estate of the late, and much loved, author announced the 
endowment of the Sir Terry Pratchett Memorial Scholarship in Adelaide 
today. UniSA Vice Chancellor Professor David Lloyd said the perpetual 
scholarship, like Pratchett's books, was a gift that would endure for 
generations. 'This extraordinary gift is the largest student scholarship 
of its kind in the history of the university,' Lloyd said. 'Terry was 
someone who was never shy of contributing to the things he believed in 
and as recipients of this wonderful bequest we are reminded of his 
commitment to inquiry and to learning.'

"He said the scholarship would support students to complete cultural 
research relevant to, or inspired by Pratchett's work, and linked to the 
Hawke institute's theme of identity transformations. 'That opens a vast 
field for creative and sharp minds – anything from the study of satire 
and its impact on societal identities right through to the impact of 
information and communications technology in society...'""

http://bit.ly/1KZuQBf

In The Australian:

"In an envelope sealed until after his death in March, best-selling 
British author Terry Pratchett kept a $1 million secret, honouring a 
great friendship, a love of science fiction and his respect for higher 
education. Half a world away, the University of South Australia will now 
benefit from Pratchett's generosity in perpetuity, thanks to his close 
relationship with vice-chancellor David Lloyd. 'Last time we saw Terry, 
we went to his house in the UK last year and the kids were out feeding 
the sheep,' Professor Lloyd said. 'The next day he gave a letter to 
(manager) Rob Wilkins and in the letter he said he wanted to give this 
to the university. It was only opened on his birthday in April this 
year,' Professor Lloyd told The Australian... It is the largest 
endowment the university has received...

"Professor Lloyd first met Pratchett when he recommended his favourite 
author for an honorary doctorate while working at Trinity in 2008. 
Pratchett had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease a year earlier, 
but Professor Lloyd said he remained intellectually sharp and gave 
regular guest lectures until his death from pneumonia. When Pratchett 
would lecture at Trinity, he would visit Professor Lloyd and his wife 
for dinner. He went to family birthdays, and they would discuss 
literature. 'He was just Terry to us,' Professor Lloyd said. 'My 
children knew he was Sir Terry and they thought he would have a sword.'"

http://bit.ly/1QHTpmq

And some iconographs...

The sandwich board announcement:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CP8ucRyWcAAQT98.jpg

David Lloyd and Rob Wilkins holding a replica Bank of Ankh-Morpork 
cheque signed to the university for $1,082,753.00:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CP8-UspWcAAhzp_.jpg

Rob delivering the announcement:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CP86Lt6VAAAUwRX.jpg

And there's even some video! This is a four-minute selection of bits 
from the formal announcement, featuring David Lloyd, Rob Wilkins... and 
The Hat!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mE4coOWdeKI&feature=youtu.be

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

04) THE SHEPHERD'S CROWN REVIEWS

BE WARNED!!! IN LARGE, UNFRIENDLY LETTERS!!! WITH MULTIPLE EXCLAMATION 
MARKS!!!! HERE BE SPOILERS!!! NOT IN THE QUOTED EXTRACTS, BUT DEFINITELY 
IN THE REVIEWS THOSE EXTRACTS CAME FROM. IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE 
SHEPHERD'S CROWN YET AND DON'T WISH TO READ SPOILERS, *DO* *NOT* *CLICK* 
ON THE ACCOMPANYING LINKS!!!! INSTEAD, GO TO ITEM 7, BELOW, FOR THE ONLY 
REVIEW OF THE SHEPHERD'S CROWN GUARANTEED TO BE FREE OF ANY SPOILERS 
WHATSOEVER – Ed.

By David G. Lloyd, Arch-Chancellor, I mean, Vice-Chancellor and 
President at University of South Australia and admiring friend of Sir 
Terry Pratchett, on The Conversation:

"I knew and counted Terry among my friends since 2008, and I watched 
Alzheimer's slowly and insidiously strip him of attributes and faculty 
over that time. The 41st and final Discworld novel – published five 
months after its author's death – wasn't something I ever wanted to 
face. But I am glad I did. It's a joy to read. Terry knew in 2014 that 
this was the likely curtain call for his time on the Disc. He was still 
incubating ideas for future books. He wasn't quite finished with Sam 
Vimes or the wizards of Unseen University – but he was a very clever 
and, above all, realistic man...

"Shepherd's Crown wasn't an easy write for Terry. Rob Wilkins' afterword 
to the book hints both at that and that there was still more finishing 
to be done on this novel, had there only been more time. We can only 
wonder what that may have been... This is not a fantasy novel intended 
for 'younger readers' as it is wont to be pigeonholed... This is a book 
for all ages, the tour de force of one of the English language's 
greatest authors, who, in the midst of encroaching darkness and facing 
so many terrors of his own, has contrived to astound us one last time 
with his craft. Terry's razor-sharp insight to the human condition, 
through an unusually turtle-shaped lens remains strong. Pratchett 
liberally sprinkles his text with instructions to his readers – read 
books if you want to learn things, make choices when faced with them, 
stand your ground, don't tolerate the intolerable from others. Simple, 
yet sound advice for life..."

http://bit.ly/1Q3o79R

In The Telegraph by Kat Brown, who gives it five out of five stars:

"This isn't just a great Discworld book, it's extraordinary; a proper 
send-off for Pratchett and this mammoth series. It is shot through with 
an elegiac tone, you have a sense of it being his own 'play's last 
scene'. If this wasn't intentional, it's a bloody good coincidence. 
Earlier themes and characters return for a last hurrah (impressively 
without once feeling like an episode of This is Your Life) anchored by 
one of Pratchett's most popular recent characters, young witch Tiffany 
Aching... Pratchett has never been a sentimental writer, but there is an 
expansiveness here that is new and reflective... Having spent the last 
30 years raising an amused eyebrow at the quirks of human nature, 
Pratchett uses his final novel to examine the power of humanity... There 
is the potential for decency in all of us, he says. None of this is to 
say that Pratchett has gone soft. His trademark wisdom and seemingly 
bottomless knowledge remains sharp... As ever with this series, there is 
a delight to be had in knowing you will spot another intriguing 
reference when you read it again..."

http://bit.ly/1VqebrU

By Nicholas Tucker in The Independent:

"The Shepherd's Crown, the 41st addition to his Discworld series, 
continues the story of young witch Tiffany Aching, first met four novels 
ago in The Wee Free Men. But this final work contains no bewildering 
flashbacks or anything else taken for granted in the Discworld 
cosmology. Sir Terry had a new tale to tell, and launches into it at top 
speed... There is no evidence that Sir Terry's degenerative illness 
affected the quality of this prose. Some scenes were written two years 
ago, given that he usually had more than one novel on the go. A few 
cliches of the 'foaming tankard' type get past, but this is still an 
author delighting in the fertility of his imagination..."

http://ind.pn/1X42TND

Also in The Independent, by David Barnett:

"It's impossible to open the book without a sense of melancholia, and it 
feels like the author embarked upon the writing of it weighted with the 
same. He knew when he sat down to write it that it would be his last 
Discworld, his final book. As such, it's difficult to see The Shepherd's 
Crown as anything other than Sir Terry's farewell letter to his legion 
of fans – though of course, this being a Pratchett, it's pretty fine 
novel in its own right... This is essentially Tiffany's coming of age 
novel, of a young woman on the cusp of adulthood who has greatness 
thrust upon her... The Discworld series has outgrown its comic fantasy 
roots – despite the central conceit of a flat world balanced on four 
elephants on the back of a giant turtle swimming through space – to 
become astute observations on the human condition... The Shepherd's 
Crown is a sometimes sad, often funny and eminently suitable testament 
to the life and career of Terry Pratchett."

http://ind.pn/1JGbQqG

...and Christopher Stevens in the Daily Mail:

"His publisher categorises these as books for 'young adults', but that's 
ridiculous because any teenager (or any 70-year-old, for that matter) 
could find fun in a Discworld book. The point about the Tiffany tales is 
that they are also suitable for much younger children. A bright 
seven-year-old could easily be engrossed, even if half the plot and most 
of the sly cultural references were too subtle for them to spot. Bookish 
children know they're skating over some of the literary layers but they 
don't care, as long as there's lots to enjoy. Terry, who was a bookish 
child all his life, understood that. These 'young witch' novels are also 
especially good for parents who want to read aloud to their children. I 
can attest to that: there's endless scope for over-acting and dreadful 
accents. Most entertaining for bedtime stories are Tiffany's tiny 
guardians, the brawling, drunken fairy folk called the Nac Mac Feegle. 
They curse and threaten and blather in a rollicking Glasgow dialect, 
like Billy Connolly fighting his way out of a vat of whisky, and such is 
Terry's skill with language that he never writes a word you'd be shocked 
to hear a child repeat... There's no condescension, however, no coyness 
about life's cruelties just because this is a children's book..."

http://dailym.ai/1KjoS9A

In the Christian Science Monitor, by Yvonne Zipp:

"To open the final Terry Pratchett novel is an emotional thing. To close 
it is even harder. Many wonderful writers, from Neil Gaiman to A.S. 
Byatt, have expounded on Pratchett's brilliance, the righteous anger 
that powered the prolific writer, his unfailing sense of fairness. The 
man also wrote a beautiful footnote. Over 41 novels, he created a 
fantasy world rich enough for readers to steep in and wry and wise 
enough to come back for another dip... this is less of a review and more 
of a thank-you letter. Other folks can debate the relative literary 
merits of 'The Shepherd's Crown' – I was just grateful there was one 
more book..."

http://bit.ly/1NyCjtd

In The Guardian, by AS Byatt:

"Tolkien's mystic and lordly elves have an ambivalent relationship with 
humans. Pratchett's are glamorous and nasty. They destroy things – 
washing, children – for the pleasure of it. As a child I knew that elves 
were nasty not nice, but also exciting. Neil Gaiman has famously said of 
Pratchett that he was not 'a jolly old elf' – he was angry. He wrote 
increasingly about worlds in which real harm happens and increasingly 
about real efforts to prevent it. In The Shepherd's Crown, which is part 
of a group of novels claiming to be for 'young adults', evil and anger 
still take the form of fairy story and myth. But the reader experiences 
them sharply...

"I started to read Pratchett out of a need for other worlds as well as 
the one I lived in. I like the alien geography, the octarine colour, the 
magic that was tough and neither technical nor sentimental. I was happy 
enough with the clacks, a system of message towers cleverly rhyming with 
fax when we first knew faxes, a kind of telegraph in mountains and 
wildernesses. I used to argue with journalists who asked me if the 
Discworld was not all simply satire of our world and I would say, no, 
no, it is an imaginary world with its own ways..."

http://bit.ly/1IhYvj5

Also in The Guardian, by Amanda Craig:

"Pratchett, with his sardonic inventiveness, social satire, play on 
language, deep feeling for landscape and love of what is best in human 
nature, had less critical praise than he deserved. His heroes and 
heroines are not royalty in disguise, but thieves, con-men, shepherds, 
soldiers and midwives. In his championing of the ordinary, the sensible 
and the slightly silly he went against the grain – and never more so 
than in creating Tiffany Aching... Of course [The Shepherd's Crown] is 
riotously funny, with the gloriously irrepressible Nac Mac Feegles 
having the best jokes and fights; as bright blue warriors otherwise 
known as the Wee Free Men they are shrunken but fearsome Scottish 
Nationalists; the Elves and their quarrels may well recall other 
politicians south of the border. The real battle, however, is between 
selfishness and duty. Pratchett has rarely been so direct. It's tempting 
to think that in this, his last book, he felt able to drop his customary 
teasing through footnotes and explain what empathy is... We are so used 
to the way George RR Martin or Joe Abercrombie or even Ursula le Guin 
show us fantasy worlds riven with cruelty, that perhaps the kindliness 
of Discworld is more subversive than it seems. It is, in essence, a 
humanist's creation in which laughter, as Nabokov said, is the best 
pesticide, and humour as potent as swords... This is not a perfect 
example of Pratchett's genius, but it is a moving one..."

http://bit.ly/1hMrs1T

By Michael Dirda in The Washington Post:

"'The Shepherd's Crown' is certainly a worthy crown to Terry Pratchett's 
phenomenal artistic achievement, though sharp readers will recognize 
that some elements ... are never fully developed. Moreover, anyone 
expecting lots of laughs will need to revisit some of the other books 
set on Discworld. While the Nac Mac Feegle are consistently amusing, 
much of this novel concerns itself with death and life's purpose, while 
also examining the claims of tradition against the need for change and 
progress. Above all, though, 'The Shepherd's Crown' — like all of 
Pratchett's fiction — stresses the importance of helping others. Beyond 
this, I think that Pratchett's farewell advice would be to follow his 
witches' sensible principle: 'Just do the work you find in front of you 
and enjoy yourself.'..."

http://wapo.st/1Kn91gu

The Huffington Post's review, by David Kudler:

"The characters were always the strong suit of Pratchett's novels — that 
and the wild humor. Throughout, we meet up of some of the most memorable 
characters from the previous forty Discworld novels, particularly the 
women — Eskarina Smith, Agnes Nitt, Queen Magrat, Nanny Ogg, and of 
course the indomitable Granny Weatherwax. In fact, Granny Weatherwax has 
what I found to be the most memorable scene in the book, a somber, quiet 
passage that set the tone for the whole novel... Most of Pratchett's 
writing was notable for its biting satire and wild humor. While there is 
definitely humor in The Shepherd's Crown, it feels very subdued. Nanny 
Ogg and the Nac Mac Feegle crack jokes, but there's a 
whistling-in-the-graveyard feel to them. Even the author's notoriously 
random footnotes feel more wistful than riotously funny..."

http://huff.to/1LECUU9

In the New Statesman, by Deputy Editor Helen Lewis:

"Since March, I have been reading the few remaining Discworld books I 
never tackled during Pratchett's lifetime. I had never got round to 
reading his series about the junior witch Tiffany Aching. Shamefully, I 
think I saw 'young adult' and my inner dowager duchess reached for the 
smelling salts. That was my stupid mistake. The Aching books are some of 
Pratchett's best, and I fell so instantly in love that I had a passage 
from one of them at my wedding this summer. So The Shepherd's Crown was 
a double sadness: not just goodbye to Terry Pratchett, but goodbye to 
new adventures for Tiffany Aching, to Nanny Ogg, to Greebo the smelly, 
one-eyed tomcat and to Magrat, the drippy hippie queen who nevertheless 
shot an elf in the eye with a crossbow through a keyhole when her 
friends were in danger... And that is what I was really saying goodbye 
to, as I snuffled quietly to myself on the train, surrounded by 
strapping Danes on a day trip to the countryside. I'm never going to 
love another author like I loved Terry Pratchett..."

http://bit.ly/1F8vY4L

By Natalie Bowen, in the Lincolnshire Echo:

"This is not the place to start exploring the series, as it is 
impossible to read without being familiar with the satirical world he 
created over 40 previous novels. Newcomers will be baffled by 
unexplained references to canonical events and apparently random 
characters given the barest introduction – and there are a lot of these 
cameos, a pleasing nod to fan favourites. Pratchett's last adult novel, 
Raising Steam, was criticised for lacking his typical biting wit, but 
this does not seem as obvious in young adult fiction, which has always 
had a gentler approach. Yes, some of the punchlines are predictable, but 
Pratchett's signature twists on real events still raise a smile..."

http://bit.ly/1glh1kf

On Den of Geek, by Juliette Harrison. WARNING!!! THIS REVIEW CALLS 
ITSELF "SPOILER-FILLED" AND YES, THEY REALLY MEAN IT!!! But here be a 
spoiler-free extract:

"It was not entirely deliberate that The Shepherd's Crown is, as the 
back cover reminds us, the final Discworld novel. Rob Wilkins' Afterword 
offers a tantalising glimpse of the other stories that will never now be 
written down, and this novel is not an ending. The Discworld goes on and 
Tiffany Aching has a lot of future ahead of her. It may say 'The End' at 
the bottom of the last page, but this is not a story that has an end, 
just a point where we have left it to go and do other things. The story 
carries on, and while there will be no more Discworld novels, it will 
continue in other ways, in plays and (probably) screen versions, through 
games and cosplay events... But this is a Discworld book, and no matter 
how tragic and weighty they may be, there is always a light heart at the 
centre of any of these novels. And so it is with this one; the hilarious 
footnotes are present and correct as ever, and the references to 
everything from Shakespeare to Dad's Army to Margaret Thatcher will 
ensure that readers are smiling through their tears..."

http://bit.ly/1UQnaTc

Den of Geek also offers a "spoiler-free" review, also by Juliette Harrison:

"The Shepherd's Crown is a funny, sad and extremely moving farewell to 
Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels... Reading this book first will, of 
course, spoil the endings of several other Discworld books, 
predominantly those featuring Tiffany Aching, but it has resonances 
reaching right back to the third book, Equal Rites, and forward to the 
fortieth, Raising Steam. But the story itself will make perfect sense 
and offer an enjoyable tale filled with pop culture references and 
people trying out new ways of thinking – and most importantly of all, it 
is funny as well as heart-breakingly sad. The Discworld is still, at its 
heart, comedy, even if tragedy has been seeping through its bones for a 
long time now... For a long-time Discworld reader, this is not a book 
that can easily be quantified as 'good' or 'not quite so good' (no 
Discworld novel is 'bad'). It is neither of those things. Like all 
Discworld novels, some will come to think of it as an all-time 
favourite, while others will consider it pretty good, even if it doesn't 
have the Watch in it. No one is likely to think of it as a weaker novel 
in the series, and most will likely consider it one of the strongest, 
and certainly one of the most – possibly the most – moving..."

http://bit.ly/1Khryo8

Charlie Jane Anders' review on i09:

"The latest Discworld book, The Shepherd's Crown, doesn't just have the 
task of wrapping up the story of Tiffany Aching, trainee witch. It's 
also the very last Discworld book, since author Terry Pratchett sadly 
passed away earlier this year. The good news is, this is a solid ending 
to both stories... There's not much glory in the life of a witch, as 
Pratchett has imagined it, and the main enemies that Tiffany must battle 
against include pervasive sexism and idiocy. So the coming-of-age, 
hero's-progress story for Tiffany is as much a matter of accepting one's 
lot in life as it is rising to some kind of fantastic world-beating 
challenge. That said, The Shepherd's Crown is surprisingly upbeat, 
especially as compared to the somewhat darker previous Tiffany Aching 
book, I Shall Wear Midnight. This is very much the culmination of 
Tiffany's journey, and a major theme is that she's no longer a 
struggling young girl, but a fully-fledged witch who deserves, and 
demands, respect. And Tiffany's arrival as a proper, important witch in 
her own right, is balanced with a story about how Discworld has changed, 
and the nature of progress in general... The Shepherd's Crown is 
bittersweet for a number of reasons, including the fact that we'll never 
get any more Discworld books from Pratchett's pen...

"As a final Discworld book, meanwhile, Shepherd's Crown presents a 
beautifully panoramic view of Discworld as a place in flux. Pratchett 
does a good job of giving cameos to a number of other great Discworld 
characters, without being too obtrusive, while also giving kind of an 
overview of how his world is moving into a new era of industrial 
progress... this is a beautiful ending to Tiffany Aching's story, with a 
blend of sadness and hopefulness that will stick with you long after 
you've closed the pages..."

http://bit.ly/1Qca8xG

By Villordsutch on Flickering Myth:

"The Shepherd's Crown will be the Terry Pratchett book which will be 
known for both breaking your heart and mending it at exactly the same 
time. As a grown man I bear uncanny resemblance to a 6ft Viking and I 
don't think a book – which is technically classed as young adult fiction 
– has ever brought me to such an emotional state before. Just after the 
first fifty pages I needed to stop reading and resolve myself due to the 
sadness that had fallen upon the Discworld.  This book of gender 
discrimination and equality, acceptance and humility, coping with loss, 
and the circle of life which has been all wrapped up in a YA fantasy 
setting has become a landmark in my mind; a true emotional marker that 
will never be forgotten..."

http://bit.ly/1Lt6cVI

By Gopal Sathe on Gadgets NDTV:

"Pratchett's genius often lay in his asides, which were full of knowing 
glances and cheerful nudges to the brain, to make you think about things 
in completely different ways. And where Raising Steam seemed like it was 
in a hurry to tie up all the loose ends that had come up in Snuff, The 
Shepherd's Crown is a slower book that has been building up ever since 
Pratchett wrote The Wee Free Men in 2003. There are parts where The 
Shepherd's Crown still feels rushed, but it is an excellent work which 
feels much more like Pratchett than some of his other, recent books. It 
carries his trademark humour, with its blend of jollity and savagery. As 
is typically the case for his books, he takes a closer look at any kind 
of accepted truth, and goes on to upend our understanding of things. 
That he does so now with the characters and characterisations he himself 
had created in the past might not appeal to everyone. But that is not 
what this book is about..."

http://bit.ly/1K8Pz1v

By Tasha Robinson, for NPR:

"The book is unmistakably a personal, meaningful, but no-fuss goodbye to 
the world. And significantly, it's largely about how life goes on for 
everyone else... A note at the end of the book explains that Pratchett 
did complete it, but didn't have time for the second passes he usually 
took to flesh out the story. That omission is obvious throughout The 
Shepherd's Crown: The writing is unusually blunt and artless in places, 
and there's an unevenness to the storytelling — some colorful side 
moments play out at rapturous length, while key action whisks by, and 
characters occasionally get lost in the blur. But Shepherd's Crown is 
still recognizably Pratchett, from the giggle-fit-inducing footnotes to 
the stern moral message about selflessness, empathy and caring for 
others..."

http://n.pr/1LUHnaZ

Cassandra Khaw's review on Ars Technica:

"Terry Pratchett is ostensibly a voice of humorous fantasy. He made 
atheist golems, literary orangutans, a cowardly wizard who dealt with 
his role as a Hero by running away very, very quickly. But as Neil 
Gaiman observed in his introduction for A Slip of the Keyboard: 
Collected Non-fiction, Discworld's venerable creator was also often 
furious. His books snarled. They railed against today's storms, its 
innumerous injustices. Monstrous Regiment lampooned the pointlessness of 
war. Equal Rites shouted at sexism, Small Gods at the problem of blind 
faith, Carpe Jugulum the privileged's proclivity to demean those beneath 
them. In comparison, The Shepherd's Crown feels quieter and tauter, 
although no less fierce. It feels like an acknowledgement. No matter 
Pratchett's influence, there is only so much he could do, has done, can 
continue to do even as the effects of his writing ripple outwards. And 
he seems at peace with that..."

http://bit.ly/1KNavRz

A review by Lucy Sussex in the Sydney Morning Herald:

"The Shepherd's Crown, his final book, belongs to a series aimed at 
young adults, centred on young witch Tiffany Aching. They were among his 
best, very English pastorals, with a strong sense of place. Here, 
Pratchett revisited earlier novels, drawing in characters as if tying up 
loose threads... Pratchett gave joy to millions of readers and his 
personal millions enriched good causes. The Shepherd's Crown is an 
uneven epitaph, but under the circumstances, a fitting one."

http://bit.ly/1OlefKB

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

05) THE SHEPHERD'S CROWN: FAN TRIBUTES

Anna Mulch:
"Thank you Sir Terry for writing girls and women as heroes and well 
rounded characters. Thank you for not creating caricatures of women. You 
are more of a feminist than quite a few that I know, and what is great 
about it is that it wasn't overt, it wasn't anarchistic, it wasn't 
forced. You wrote the girls and women the way you did because that's how 
they were. Thank you."

Kereth Makura:
"I've just finished the Shepherd's Crown, and a sense of loss is upon 
me. Though I am thankful for my visits to a strange world that sat upon 
the backs of four elephants; that in turn stood atop a Turtle's shell. I 
am glad that I can always revisit such places, in the pages of a book. 
In my head – I have wandered the Streets of Ankh Morpork, I've seen the 
distant Ramtop Mountains, and Far Off Uberwald. I have travelled from 
Lancre to the deserts Djelibeybi across The Circle Sea, and have sat 
upon the Chalk and watched the "Ships," As occasionally I'd swore that I 
heard someone small, blue and unseen but often nearby give out the yell 
of "Crivens" I've met many strange folk upon my travels, The Good, The 
Bad and The Witchy. I've been drunk on Scumble and sang of Hedgehogs and 
Wizzard's Knobs, and even witnessed DEATH. . .And for these moments of 
joy, and many others...I thank you (Sir) Terry, and if there is a World 
beyond the Black Desert of Death's realm? I hope that you have found 
peace there. . ."

Jac Chamberlain:
"Finished the last book, would like to thank a great man for making me 
laugh, cry and most of all think!"

Chris Browne:
"Does it count as a spoiler if I say I did not find ANY trace of 
Embuggerance in the whole book? The Shepherd's Crown will stay in the 
Overhead forever I think."

Merredy Jackson:
"Having finished the last book, I intend to go back and re-read every 
witches book. I don't think of it as ending; I always pick up new things 
when I read Discworld. But I grieve for what is lost; Terry's 
brilliance, and the stories we will never hear. Young Sam growing up to 
be a Watchman, Moist's son trying to pull cons on his father, continuing 
adventures of Susan, the Wizards, and all the other characters I love so 
much."

Martine KB:
"Today I pay my homage. I open my bottle of wine and toast to a man that 
has been an enormous part of my life. On this day, the day his last 
story comes out into the world, I will drink to his greatness and his 
family. I will mourn his loss and will rejoice his life. His world has 
given me much more that he will ever know. He has been there in the good 
and the bad and he will continue to be there for ever more. The last of 
his series has come out today, the end of an era. I will read it, the 
moment it arrives at my door. After that, I will read it again and 
again, just like I did with all his books. They will stay with me, his 
characters will live inside my own imagination and have great 
adventures. They will live on in me and in all the people who have been 
touched by his works. Sir Terry Pratchett will never really die, for his 
name is spoken by all his readers and his fans. Tomorrow I will start 
spreading the word and tell people about his Discworld, the great A'Tuin 
riding through space, on his back 4 elephants that carry the disc, a 
world where everything is possible! Tomorrow I will spread the word, 
today I will remember."

Daniel Harrowven:
"Over the last few years when Terry's illness was getting worse I still 
loved the new publications but if I am completely honest I felt that the 
'depth' of the plot and humour was slightly lacking compared to earlier 
works, but the books were still amazing and even more so considering 
what Terry was dealing with. This afternoon I have cried my eyes out 
(Danny, 37, skin head heavy metal fan) but also laughed louder than I 
have in years, The Shepard's[sic] Crown reads like a Discworld book from 
the 90's-early 2000's when Terry was at the peak of the fantasy/comedy 
scene. The comedy is razor sharp and the plot gripping and intense."

Maire Wilcox:
"I guess each of us is going to get something different from it and I 
was left with the realisation that Terry was making peace with himself 
and the world, He left us with a legacy to always look at the world from 
a different angle and to never lose sight of what's important which is 
different from personal. I'm going to be digesting this for a long time 
to come."

Jay Bolt:
"Terry, you weren't good. You were amazing. You can never begin to 
understand the impact you had on me or my family, never mind the wider 
Discworld community. I can never thank you enough for what I have 
personally gained from you and your work. I am ever in your debt."

Katy Rewston:
"I wish I had had the guts to write sir Terry a letter whilst I still 
had the chance, thanking him from the bottom of my soul for the 
Discworld books. They got me through the hell of school, and through 
times of deepest depression and weeks of insomnia because in the dark of 
night my mind just will not shut up. The audiobooks sooth me, and I find 
so much wisdom and comfort in them, and even now when i go through them 
after almost 15 years of reading the books and listening to the 
audiobooks I still find new wit and wisdom that i did not notice before. 
I would have thanked him for writing the most 'real' women I have ever 
encountered in books, in such a huge variety of ages and personalities. 
Susan for her no nonsense strength, Angua for just being so badass and 
Cheery for her bravery in the face of so much prejudice. His women are 
so real, so strong, and it helped me accept things about my own 
personality as i have so often felt out of place in the modern world.

"The witches made me think about how much I think about reality and 
other people, about nature and the complex relationships of communities. 
Agnes Nitt was one of the first larger girls i encountered in fiction 
and i could relate so much to her when I was in school. The Tiffany 
books make me think of my childhood as i grew up in Yorkshire near where 
the floodplains gave way to the chalk (near a white horse too), and in a 
way they make me homesick.

"In Vimes I found a reflection of my own cynicism, it let me create my 
own watchman on my thoughts, and think about the meaning of Justice and 
the law, and I still maintain that Night Watch is one of the finest 
books ever written. Death made me not so scared of dying, if only for 
the thought that I would love to give that big lovable skeleton a hug as 
I doubt he gets many.

"The wizards made me laugh, and the books like Small Gods and Thief of 
Time really made me think, something that is one of the greatest things 
about his books. They make you see the world in a whole new light. The 
sheer complexity and depth to the world and its characters never ceases 
to amaze me and they feel like old friends. The observations he made 
about people are just incredible and so witty and funny that they still 
make me laugh after all this time. I sit here with the Shepherds's crown 
in my lap and some part of me does not want to open it, I do not want to 
say goodbye to the series, and yet I know I never will because I will 
always keep coming back to it, always. Thank you Sir Terry.... from the 
bottom of my heart and soul for giving us the Discworld and for making 
the world a better place for so many people."

Nick Mays:
"I wasn't disappointed. It really is a fitting end to the fantastic 
Discworld series, marrying together the 'Adult' and 'Young Persons' DW 
strands brilliantly... it really felt that Sir Terry was giving his fans 
a really fond farewell. There's a lovely and moving afterword from Rob 
too. When I read the final page, I felt the tears spring to my eyes and 
I whispered "Thank you, Terry." Just one thing though: I really DO feel 
that Discworld isn't gone. It's still there, it will always be there... 
and Rhianna is going to make sure that it lives on still further with 
the City Watch series and adaptations of the novels, the calendars, the 
diaries, the games.... We have all this to come, as well as our fond 
memories. Discworld will never die – it will live forever. We're not 
just lucky to have been a part of this continuing journey... we are 
blessed. Thank you indeed, Sir Terry."


Mandy Cosser:
"It is not my place to grieve for Terry Pratchett. For I will always 
have the books, to read and to reread. The Discworld will never die. 
Yes, there will be no new Discworld, but there will also be no new 
Middle Earth. For me, I believe the true grief belongs to those who knew 
him and loved him personally. I have a very strong belief about Death. 
When I die, I don't want to be remembered for the fact that I am gone, 
or how I went. I want to be remembered for how I lived. We, as readers, 
have a luxury that his family don't. Every time we open one of his 
books, the worlds he created come alive again."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

06) MORE ODDS AND SODS

6.1 PAUL KIDBY'S DISCWORLD AND BEYOND

...is available for tour bookings. This is from Mr Kidby's official page:

"The Discworld & Beyond Touring Exhibition is currently available for 
bookings at museums & galleries around the UK in 2016. For details 
please contact Steve Marshall, Exhibitions Curator, St. Barbe Museum & 
Art Gallery Lymington, Hants, SO41 9BH Email 
steve.marshall at stbarbe-museum.org.uk Phone 01590 676969"

6.2 REVIEWS: THE LONG UTOPIA

Reviewed in The Independent by Barry Forshaw:

"The late Terry Pratchett was the undisputed master of comic fantasy, 
cheerfully channelling everything in his armoury to produce witty, 
immensely imaginative novels. Steven Baxter also sits comfortably in the 
pantheon, but in his case as Britain's principal writer of 'hard' 
science fiction, using underpinnings of real science which make his 
outrageous narrative leaps utterly plausible – and with not a 
hairy-footed troll to be seen. In other words: 
Pratchett=Magic/Baxter=Science. But against all the odds, The Long 
Utopia, the latest in a continuing, now-posthumous collaboration, 
demonstrates that this forced marriage of disparate talents has produced 
a diverting offspring, with the scientific comfortably seeing off the 
supernatural... Those looking for the steady stream of Pratchett wit 
will be disappointed, though humour is certainly in evidence – but this 
is very much a science-fiction novel, rich in an awe-inspiring sense of 
wonder, with mind-boggling concepts thrown out like sparks from a 
Catherine wheel..."

http://ind.pn/1MWVgDY

...and in The Guardian by Adam Roberts:

"Our supply of original Pratchett is running dangerously low. Since he 
continued working almost to the end, there are several posthumous titles 
in the offing: one more Discworld novel (The Shepherd's Crown, due at 
the end of August) and two Long Earth books – this one and the series 
finale. After that, having been so busy a feature of the literary 
landscape for so many decades, and having inspired a devotion in his 
readers unparalleled in contemporary writing, Pratchett's voice will 
finally pass into silence. Something of that melancholy seems to have 
worked itself into the fabric of this novel, too. Earlier Long Earth 
books possess various degrees of whimsical warmth and inventive charm. A 
more autumnal breeze blows through The Long Utopia. It's a book much 
concerned with things coming to an end, with cosmic-scale disease and 
with the limits of knowledge. A premise that started as an infinite 
number of open doors is starting to close them around its characters... 
If you go to these books looking for the rich comedy of Discworld, you 
will be disappointed. It's worth remembering that hilarity isn't 
Pratchett's only mode. He started out as a science fiction writer (and 
fan), and jotted down the conceit for the Long Earth before he wrote the 
first Discworld novel. Indeed, one of the things that made his fantasy 
writing so distinctive was the scientific rigour with which he pursued 
even the most absurd of his premises. Baxter, similarly prolific, is 
Britain's leading writer of 'hard' SF, a seemingly inexhaustible fount 
of thought-provoking, imagination-tickling and sometimes mind-blowing 
ideas. Their collaboration is more a hymn to the joys of unfettered 
world-building than it is to story or character. But if the pace of 
plotting is gentle, the restless inventiveness more than compensates..."

http://bit.ly/1TYCNcs

6.3 WATERSTONES BLOG: LOOKING BACK ON THE DISCWORLD SERIES (CONTINUED)

Our Booksellers' journey through the Discworld continues...

Part Two selections:

For me, [Reaper Man] was the turning point in the Discworld novels – the 
first that fully uses this fictional world to satirise our own. A very 
clever and humorous look at the existential by a master wordsmith. – 
Andrea Richards, Waterstones Dunfermline

Small Gods is not your typical Discworld story; it's not a Vimes 
whodunnit, or Granny Weatherwax thwacking everyone with a big stick. The 
plot is much more personal... It explores an oft-overlooked world 
outside of Ankh-Morpork that's created with Pratchett's inimitable 
style; there are characters who don't even believe they live on a disc. 
And it's by far the most thoughtful of all the books, with some of 
Pratchett's best jokes sitting alongside his most poignant 
observations... – Chris Taylor, Waterstones Reading Oracle

Men At Arms: The constants of Terry Pratchett – exploring notions of 
inclusion, exclusion, social mobility, right and wrong, responsibility, 
action when necessary, faith and belief – are all here. Men At Arms is 
funny, clever, knowing and a bit darker than previous stories... – 
Thorie Hinds, Waterstones Exeter High Street

[Interesting Times] is filled with the customary wit and satire which 
runs through all the Discworld novels, yet it still retains something a 
bit different to the rest of the collection. It is the scale of the 
story and the "otherness" of the content which draws me back to it again 
and again. – Katie Hawthorne, Waterstones Newcastle Emerson Chambers

https://www.waterstones.com/blog/re-reading-discworld-part-two

Part Three selections:

The Last Continent: A story of creation and evolution, exploring myths 
and folklore common to our own part of the universe as much as the 
Discworld. It's also a fantastic study of academic institutionalism, 
colonialism and exploration. Pratchett at his best. No Worries! – James 
Gray, Waterstones Lancaster King Street

I love the hidden depths of [Carpe Jugulum], as binding together a 
rollicking good plot is a theme of duality. There are vampires who gives 
humans a sporting chance, and vampyres, who don't. There is Agnes Nitt, 
discovering that the little voice in her head has become a full blown 
second personality. There's a Phoenix, that lays not one egg but two and 
there is an edge between light and dark. Treading a path along that edge 
is the always wonderful Granny Weatherwax. Physically and emotionally 
she appears at her most vulnerable in the novel and her character is all 
the richer for it... – Rebecca Gransbury, Waterstones Sheffield Orchard 
Square

The Thief of Time is the apocalyptic action movie of the Discworld 
series, only with far better dialogue and a plot that does stuff other 
than blow things up (though there's plenty of that too)... There's a lot 
of threads to this one that Pratchett masterfully intertwines, managing 
to write a full-on thriller – albeit one peopled by yetis, baby monks, 
creepy floating cloaks, witches, clock enthusiasts and more chocolate 
than you can possibly imagine – without losing eye-watering humour, 
heart, or his trademark pitch-perfect characterisation. The Thief of 
Time is a sprawling blockbuster of a novel; one that will make you 
examine what it really means to be human. – Jenn Morgans, Waterstones 
King's Road Chelsea

[The Last Hero] is, for me, the best of the Discworld series. It marks 
the turning point between the high fantasy of the earlier books and the 
'fantasy noir' of the later books. It's also a Discworld all-star 
team-up book, with dozens of recurring characters making appearances. 
And it manages to be genuinely moving, too... – James Donaldson, 
Waterstones Kirkcaldy

Night Watch truly demonstrates Pratchett's genius... I read this novel 
without any prior knowledge of Discworld, and it spurred me on to 
reading the rest of the series. It's perfect for new readers because it 
has all the elements of a Discworld story – insofar as it is bizarre, 
satirical, hilarious yet serious – but it also has a particular cohesion 
which some of other books occasionally lack. – Lucy Lyndon-Jones, 
Waterstones Oxford

https://www.waterstones.com/blog/re-reading-discworld-part-three

Part Four selections:

[Monstrous Regiment] is a masterpiece of comedy from Pratchett, who 
brings to life, for one short book, some characters you really wished 
popped up more often. It's brilliantly funny and, what's more, Pratchett 
never shies away from describing the horrors of war... – Emy Howard, 
Waterstones Cirencester

Going Postal: In Moist, Pratchett gives us one of the best leading men 
the Discworld has seen since the early Vimes books, a reluctant civil 
servant using his ability to spin any situation to his advantage makes 
for wonderful satire about the state of politics... This book also 
brings up the important point that in the rush of new technology and 
different ways to communicate it's important to remember that only real 
tactile letters can be S.W.A.L.K... – Jen Wooton, Waterstones Covent Garden

Wintersmith is all about balance: between the seasons, the elements and 
– most poignantly in Tiffany's case – between heart and head. Not only 
must she concentrate on the subtleties of witchcraft, she has to learn 
to deal with boys and the first tentative allusions to sex... It is this 
straightforward, no nonsense manner that I find so endearing... – Lucy 
Hounsom, Waterstones Exeter Roman Gate

[Unseen Academicals] is classic Pratchett (ie: hilarious). It's full of 
jokes, influences and ideas... as Pratchett says: the important thing 
about football is that it is not just about football. Plus, the 
goalkeeper is a librarian orang-utan. What's not to like? – Ian Farnell, 
Waterstones Sheffield Orchard Square

Snuff is certainly one of the more heavy hitting of the Discworld 
novels. Slavery, drugs, intimidation and murder cannot be tackled 
lightly and it is clear the author has strong feelings on the matter... 
[Vimes'] inner battle throughout the novel to hang onto what is Right 
and Just, makes this novel for me... – James MacDonald, Waterstones 
Scarborough

Raising Steam feels a much more expansive read than previous books in 
the series. Indeed, it can often feel like events are passing by at some 
speed as you hurtle along the narrative rails. There's a sense that 
there's no time for dawdling, with a greater degree of reported action 
than in stories such as Night Watch or Snuff, where the narrative feels 
almost to take place in realtime... These shifts in speed allow 
Pratchett to pack in glimpses of far more characters than he might 
otherwise have been able – which will bring smiles of delight to fans... 
Trains might not evoke in everyone the excitement which they obviously 
do in Mr Pratchett. We have now come to a place in history where they 
are merely functional – part of our everyday lives, and an expensive and 
often frustrating part at that. Raising Steam makes the idea of this 
invention – the revolutionary nature of it, which is filled with ideas, 
hope and possibilities – truly thrilling, and in doing so revitalises 
the entire series in the same way that Dick Simnel's Iron Girder does 
the Disc. – Dan Lewis, Waterstones Piccadilly

https://www.waterstones.com/blog/re-reading-discworld-part-four

6.4 ...AND AN INDIVIDUAL RE-READ EFFORT

A well-written piece by one Nat Wassell about re-reading Discworld, 
particularly The Colour of Magic:

"I love Pratchett's humour and I love his philosophy and I love how he 
could just find those words to describe something that you never would 
have thought could have been put into words. I love the in-jokes. I love 
the inversion of the expected into the unexpected, and how the way he 
mocks things is almost always gentle. I love Terry Pratchett because he 
so clearly, so dearly, loved what he did. So then, to 'The Colour of 
Magic'; the first Discworld book and the first I ever read. Picking it 
up and starting to read it feels like talking to an old friend... One of 
my favourite things about Discworld is the way that Pratchett treats the 
gods, as if they were just another group of people who happened to live 
on the Disc, which I suppose they kind of are. In this book, the 
metaphor is stark; they play dice just as they play with the character's 
lives. I like the concept of Fate and The Lady being the only ones that 
the people really seem to have any respect for. That sounds a lot like 
modern day to me – I know more people who believe in Fate and Luck than 
who truly believe in any god. It's a clever touch, I think..."

http://bit.ly/1ifGAV6

6.5 THE RETURN OF COLLECTIBLE CARROT!

A classic from Discworld.com:

"Originally released in July 2009, this bronzed pin features Captain 
Carrot standing to attention, holding the Ankh Morpork flag. It was due 
to be the first in a series of figurative pins featuring various 
Discworld denizens. If fact, he turned out to be the only one. It stands 
at 38mm high."

The Captain Carrot pin is priced at £25.00. For more information, and to 
order, go to:

http://discworld.com/products/collectables/captain-carrot-collectors-pin/

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

07) DISCWORLD MEETING GROUPS NEWS (UPDATE)

Here be some upcoming events hosted by the Pratchett Partisans of 
Brisbane, Fourecks!

Dining around the Disc: Uberwald. Wed 7 Oct 7pm. Black Forest German 
Restaurant Highgate Hill. Join us for a culinary tour of the Disc, or at 
least Roundworld's closest equivalent. Hosted by Jon

Brisbane Tolkien Fellowship Dinner Dance. Sat 10 Oct 7pm. Enoggera Bowls 
Club. RSVP to the Official Facebook Event to get more information

Carpe Jugul– Vinum! Halloween Party. Friday 30th Oct 7pm. Lady 
Margolotta's Castle. Appropriate Halloween/Discworld/Formal attire 
compulsory. $20 per person: platter food, games, prizes and dessert.

Discworld games afternoon Sat 14 November 2pm-8pm. Community meeting 
room Brisbane Square library. Drop in during the afternoon for Discworld 
board and card games, then dinner and drinks starting from 6pm at a 
local eatery.

Homicide at Hogswatch. Sat 19 December 6pm-10pm. Grand Central Hotel 
Dining Car. Will another Murder will be committed in Ankh Morpork? More 
details will be released soon.

Remember, you can join up at

https://www.facebook.com/groups/pratchettpartisans/

or contact Ula directly at uwilmott at yahoo.com.au

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

08) THE SHEPHERD'S CROWN: THE FIRST WOSSNAME REVIEW

By Annie Mac

This is probably the easiest review I've ever written.

There will be a detailed review, eventually, but because The Shepherd's 
Crown is the last Discworld book, Wossname is likely to wait for some 
weeks or even months before tackling any in-depth analysis. So for now I 
can say that everything that needs to be said about the  can be summed 
up in one sentence:

The Shepherd's Crown, fifth and final novel in the Tiffany Aching 
sequence, was written by Terry Pratchett.

No, really. That is the single most important quality of this book. Are 
you with me so far?

Before you read any further, let me assure you that you *can* read 
further. Those of you who haven't taken possession of a copy of The 
Shepherd's Crown yet, or who are saving it to be opened at some future 
date when the finality of it seems more bearable, can read this entire 
review without learning one thing about the plot. Over the years of 
writing pre-publication reviews of Discworld novels and other works by 
Terry Pratchett, I often sweated proverbial bullets trying to write a 
review that discussed the contents of each book without giving away 
anything about its contents; but this time there was no advance copy and 
the lay of the land is irrevocably changed by the knowledge that there 
will be no more Discworld novels, not ever.

Much as I loved them – and continue to love them – Pratchett's last 
Discworld books leading up to The Shepherd's Crown, especially Raising 
Steam, felt different in style, rather like they had been dictated 
(which of course they were, by necessity, as his PCA advanced, but the 
point is that they *felt* dictated, and this is possibly what made some 
long-time fans, so used to his pre-Embuggerance style, less 
comfortable). The Shepherd's Crown, though, feels like it was written, 
as in both written down and typed up by its creator.

Yes, written.

It matters not one whit that this was a physical impossibility; I'll say 
it again: The Shepherd's Crown feels like it was written, by Terry 
Pratchett's own hand.

The dialogue is beautiful. The storylines have direction and flow. And 
best of all, there is a sweetness of spirit, a full measure of heart and 
soul and brim-filled affection for his characters, that in my opinion 
makes The Shepherd's Crown stand without qualification amidst what I 
consider to be his greatest works: Night Watch, Nation, the rest of the 
Tiffany Aching series. And I don't feel that it counts as spoilage to 
say that this final book has integrated Sir Terry Pratchett's great 
creation, brought the evolutionary changes in the Discworld series' 
forty-one novels together in a way that sets the stage for an imagined 
future.

Oh, and I cried. More than a bit. But not from sadness at the finality 
of The Shepherd's Crown – no, I cried because the writing was beautiful 
and the story was perfect.

They say one should go out on the crest of a wave, leave the pitch as a 
winner. With The Shepherd's Crown, Terry Pratchett has certainly 
succeeded at that.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

09) MORE IMAGES OF THE MONTH: PAUL KIDBY

Young Esk, drawn in 2009 for a Talpress edition:
http://bit.ly/1MxCTV0

One of my all-time favourite Kidby drawings – the Band with Rocks In 
channelling Roundworld's Sgt Pepper album cover, featuring many of my 
favourite Kidby renderings of favourite Discworld characters:
http://bit.ly/1Wqpxyx

An early version of the cover art from The Shepherd's Crown:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CPLBf4cWcAApUvN.jpg

Granny's boots... starting with Paul Kidby's own boots, photographed:
http://bit.ly/1RazddG

...to eventually become these (The Shepherd's Crown, chapter 5 
illustration):
http://bit.ly/1iVeJKP

Discworld Massif characters identified... left to right, back row to 
front row!

1. Nigel the Destroyer, Moist von Lipwig, Adora Belle Dearheart, 
Detritus, Samuel Vimes, CMOT Dibbler, Otto Chriek, Cohen the Barbarian, 
Fred Colon, Magrat Garlick, Verence of Lancre, Gimlet, Nobby Nobbs, 
Grabpot Thundergust, Tiffany Aching, Mr Fusspot, Errol, and Of the 
Twilight the Darkness (and the uncredited mime "photobombing" them:
http://bit.ly/1QHWxyH

2. Casanunda, The Dean, Lord Vetinari, Leonard of Quirm, Mort as the 
Duke of Sto Helit, Death, Granny Weatherwax, Ponder Stibbons, Ridcully, 
Rincewind, Nanny Ogg, Greebo, Twoflower, The Luggage, and The Librarian:
https://instagram.com/p/8FeJOPsiDN/

3. Ysabell, Lord Downey, Constable Flint, Dr Whiteface, Susan, Albert, 
Carrot, Angua, Lupine (Mrs Cake's potential son-in-law), Lu-Tze, Reg 
Shoe, Eric Thursley (the well known demonologist – not), Cheery 
Littlebottom, Igor, Snorri Snorrisson, and Gaspode:

http://bit.ly/1JxLjqR

For more of Mr Kidby's Discworld art, go to https://instagram.com/paulkidby/

Also, an announcement from the Official Paul Kidby page:

"As part of The Salisbury Arts Trail I will be signing prints & books, 
including 'The Shepherd's Crown' at Longford Barn, Bodenham, Salisbury, 
Wiltshire, SP5 4EJ on Sat 3rd October 2-4pm. Items are available for 
sale or bring your own copies. My work will be on show at the barn 
throughout the trail week, 3rd–11th October, 10am–6pm daily."

http://www.plainartssalisbury.co.uk/salisbury-art-trail/

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10) CLOSE

And this time, this really is it for September. I need a break! See you 
soon, and a happy autumnal equinox to most of the world and happy vernal 
equinox to dwellers in Fourecks and the Land of Fog. See you soon...

– Annie Mac

Remember, the Wossname blog (_wossname.dreamwidth.org_) often features 
image-based posts and is worth checking now and again. The mirror 
version of this current issue can be viewed at
http://wossname.dreamwidth.org/22847.html

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The End. If you have any questions or requests, write: wossname-owner 
(at) pearwood (dot) info


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