Wossname – May 2021 – Main issue

[News and reviews about the works of Sir Terry Pratchett]

Wossname
Newsletter of the Klatchian Foreign Legion
May 2021 (Volume 24, Issue 5, Post 1)

********************************************************************
WOSSNAME is a free publication offering news, reviews, and all the other 
stuff-that-fits pertaining to the works 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, Mss C, Alison not 
Aliss
Staff Writers: Asti, Pitt the Elder, Evil Steven Dread, Mrs Wynn-Jones
Staff Technomancer: Jason Parlevliet
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)

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

INDEX:

01) QUOTES OF THE MONTH
02) EDITOR'S LETTER
03) ODDS AND SODS
04) DISCWORLD PLAYS NEWS
05) DISCWORLD MEETING GROUPS NEWS
06) IMAGES OF THE MONTH
07) CLOSE

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

01) QUOTES OF THE MONTH

"I am always at some point through the cycle (I’m currently on The Thief 
of Time). They’re not only gloriously funny, they’re humane in a way 
that makes you actually feel seen and forgiven, with all your faults. He 
was a one-off, Sir Terry. When I finish reading them through, I simply 
put the last book down and pick the first one up again."
– genre author Patrick Ness

"DW books don't have chapters because, well, I just never got into the 
habit of chapters. I'm not sure why they should exist (except maybe in 
children's books, to allow the parent to say "I'll read to the end of 
the chapter and then you must go to sleep."). Films don't have chapters. 
Besides, I think they interfere with the shape of the story. Use a 
bookmark is my advice."
– Sir Pterry was wise. Listen to Sir Pterry

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

02) LETTER FROM YOUR EDITOR

Looking back over assorted years of May Wossname issues just now, I 
discovered to my astonishment that the Glorious 25th has rarely been 
mentioned in Wossname and wasn't mentioned at all last year even on the 
Wossname mirror site! As of May 2021, Lilac Day will have come around 
for thirteen years on Roundworld, so I'm reposting the Lilac Day links 
from the May 2017 issue in hope that it will jog my memory next year:

This one means well: "The Glorious Twenty-Fifth of May, also referred to 
as Wear the Lilac Day, is an annual celebration observed by fans of 
Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. Lately it has also become an 
impromptu Alzheimer's disease awareness day... The Glorious Twenty-Fifth 
of May is a remembrance day in the fictional Discworld that commemorates 
the People's Revolution, which put an end to Lord Winter's[sic] reign. 
On May 25, the survivors wear a spring of lilac and gather at the 
cemetery to honor those who fell during the Revolution. The Revolution 
is described in the novel Night Watch. The fictional celebration was 
adopted by fans of Terry Pratchett's works, who began to wear 
springs[sic] of lilac on May 25 to commemorate his writing. In 2007, 
Pratchett announced that he had Alzheimer's disease. His fans began the 
campaign Match It For Pratchett to raise awareness of Alzheimer's. Fans 
are encouraged to wear lilac in support of Pratchett and make donations 
to Alzheimer's research funds."

https://anydayguide.com/calendar/2026

And here we have the L-space wikipage about the Wearing of the Lilac:

"Each year, on the 25th of May, a group of survivors of the uprising 
gathers at Small Gods' Cemetery to honor the casualties with lilacs and, 
affectionately, one hard-boiled egg (from Madam Roberta Meserole). The 
seven killed were mostly Watchmen from Treacle Mine Road : John Keel, 
Cecil Clapman, Horace Nancyball, Billy Wiglet, Dai Dickins, Ned Coates, 
and, temporarily, Reg Shoe – he will lie in his grave for a time during 
that day, and then leave. The 25th of May is also memorialized, among 
those who survive, by the wearing of lilac on that date. Persons known 
to wear it include Sam Vimes, Fred Colon, Nobby Nobbs, Cut-Me-Own-Throat 
Dibbler, and, improbably, Havelock Vetinari (he, at the time a young 
assassin, has kept his and his aristocratic aunt Lady Roberta 
Meserole's, not-insignificant involvement in the affair entirely 
secret). The date is not publicly known as it was one of those 
revolutions where everybody likes to pretend in the aftermath that it 
never happened, with many new Watchmen uncertain of its relevance to the 
point that one new recruit tried wearing lilac only to be sharply
criticised by Fred Colon. Vetinari once speculated about erecting a 
statue in memory of the soldiers, but Vimes rejected the idea, stating 
that the dead men would not want to be immortalised and inspire others 
to be heroes after they were betrayed for going beyond the call of duty, 
requesting that the men be simply left in peace... May 25th is also 
national Geek Pride Day and Towel Day, a day in honour of Douglas Adams. 
This has led to some fans having to choose between the two, until 
someone came up with the lilac towel."

https://wiki.lspace.org/mediawiki/Glorious_Revolution

Wossname would like to extend its congratulations to Marc Burrows, whose 
biography The Magic of Terry Pratchett has made the list of Locus Award 
finalists in the nonfiction category. [Readers may recall we reviewed it 
a while back! – Ed.]

Congratulations are also due to bookbinder Thomas Hosking, who has won a 
prestigious medal for his work on a very special edition of Mort:

"Run by Designer Bookbinders and sponsored by The Folio Society, [the 
Bookbinder Mansfield Medal] comes at a time when the craft of 
bookbindery in the UK is facing a challenging future. There are no 
full-time bookbinding programs currently on offer, while several of the 
processes involved in bookbinding, such as edge gilding, gold tooling, 
fore-edge painting, and vellum making, are due to appear on the Heritage 
Crafts Association list of endangered crafts. 'We want to spread the 
word that excellent contemporary bookbinding does exist, that it’s not 
just something in Victorian gentlemen’s libraries,' said bookbinder Kate 
Holland, co-organizer with fellow binder Sue Doggett of the biennial 
competition. 'We’re really keen to encourage new people and the younger 
generation into the profession so it’s exciting that there are lots of 
new names in this year’s entries and awards.' The two major awards were 
won by Thomas Hosking for his goatskin binding of Mort by Terry 
Pratchett featuring a scythe-shaped void, and Miranda Kemp whose bradel 
structure binding of the set text Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck with 
unsupported link stitch included imagery of the baking California sun on 
ranch buildings with prairies in the distance..."

https://bit.ly/34alz8K

And now, on with the show...

– Annie Mac, Editor

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

03) ODDS AND SODS

3.1 AMAZING MAURICE NEWS

The Amazing Maurice is on its way to becoming a real film! Some of the 
biggest names in screen entertainment have now been confirmed as voice 
cast members – including our favourite demon. The original Narrativia 
announcement:

"Sky today announced a new co-production with Ulysses Filmproduktion and 
Cantilever Media, The Amazing Maurice, a Sky original. This animated 
family film is based on one of Sir Terry Pratchett’s wildly popular 
Discworld novels and will star Hugh Laurie (Avenue 5) as Maurice, Emilia 
Clarke (Game of Thrones) as Malicia, David Thewlis (Wonder Woman) as 
Boss Man, Himesh Patel (Yesterday) as Keith, Gemma Arterton (The King’s 
Man) as Peaches and Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) as The Mayor... 
Coming to Sky Cinema in 2022, The Amazing Maurice, a Sky original, 
follows Maurice, a streetwise ginger cat who has the perfect 
money-making scam. He finds a kid who plays a pipe, and he also 
befriends his very own horde of strangely educated, talking rats – so 
Maurice can no longer think of them as ‘lunch’. When Maurice and the 
rodents reach the stricken town of Bad Blintz, they meet a bookworm, 
Malicia. Their little con soon goes down the drain as something very bad 
is waiting for them in the cellars... Rob Wilkins, Producer and Managing 
Director of Narrativia, said: 'Bringing Maurice’s story to life was such 
a joy for Terry and I’m delighted that the teams at Sky, Ulysses 
Filmproduktion and Cantilever Media are honouring his vision with such 
reverence and respect.'.

"The Amazing Maurice, a Sky original is co-produced by Sky, Ulysses 
Filmproduktion and Cantilever Media, with animation studios Studio 
Rakete (Hamburg) and Red Star Animation (Sheffield). The film has the 
full support of the Terry Pratchett estate and is produced in 
association with Narrativia. Producers are Julia Stuart (Sky), Emely 
Christians (Ulysses), Andrew Baker and Robert Chandler (Cantilever 
Media) and Rob Wilkins (Narrativia). The Film is directed by Toby 
Genkel, co-director is Florian Westermann..."

To read the full announcement, go to https://narrativia.com/maurice.html

And here be some updates...

 From Cinema Express:

"Broadchurch-fame David Tennant is the newest addition to the voice cast 
of The Amazing Maurice. The animated feature is the silver screen 
adaptation of Terry Pratchett's The Amazing Maurice and His Educated 
Rodents. The film marks Tennant's second project which is based on 
Pratchett's novel. Previously he had starred in the Amazon Prime Video 
series The Good Omens. The 50-year-old Scottish star joins Hugh Laurie, 
Emilia Clarke, David Thewlis, Himesh Patel, Gemma Arterton and Hugh 
Bonneville in the cast. Actors Rob Brydon, Ariyon Bakare, Julie 
Atherton, and YouTuber Joe Sugg are also part of the film..."

https://bit.ly/3bQaspt

 From Gizmodo:

"The animated adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s Carnegie Medal-winning 
2001 children’s book The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents has 
already commandeered a huge celebrity voice cast, but apparently there’s 
always room for more. Now Doctor Who’s David Tennant has joined the 
ranks, alongside Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke and House’s Hugh Laurie, 
among many others... Besides starring in Amazon’s adaptation of 
Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s novel Good Omens, Tennant actually voiced 
the rat Dangerous Beans in a 2003 radio adaptation of The Amazing 
Maurice, so it’s pretty reasonable to suspect he’ll be reprising the 
role..."

https://bit.ly/3fFAZHk

3.2 ABOMINABLE SNOWBABY NEWS

More animation goodies on their way soon! This one is an adaptation on 
UK Channel 4 of one of the lovely stories in the "Father Christmas’ Fake 
Beard" collection, expected this very Hogswatch. From the Narrativia 
announcement:

"The magic of Terry Pratchett, the legendary national treasure and 
maverick British author who sold over 100 million books worldwide, comes 
to life in this half-hour programme. The Abominable Snow Baby tells the 
story of a quintessentially English town which is thrown into disarray 
by a huge snowfall and the dramatic appearance of a 14-foot tall 
Abominable Snow Baby. Shunned and feared by the local townsfolk, Snow 
Baby is rescued by the indomitable Granny who along with grandson 
Albert, welcomes him into her home, showering her new pet with love and 
affection, changing the town’s perception and helping the community 
overcome their initial prejudices... Channel 4 Head of Drama, Caroline 
Hollick said: 'Terry Pratchett’s The Abominable Snow Baby is a 
magnificent, heart-warming, riotously funny story about love, courage 
and compassion. Witty, entertaining and deeply moving in equal measure, 
it captures the spirit of Christmas with Sir Terry’s unique charm'... 
Rob Wilkins, Managing Director of Narrativia and Manager of Sir Terry 
Pratchett’s Estate said: 'In his lifetime, Terry wrote over seventy 
books, which have been translated into 41 languages. He started his 
career as a writer of short stories for young people, who remained his 
favourite audience. The Abominable Snow Baby showcases Terry’s firmly 
held belief in not judging people on appearances, his reverence for the 
elderly, and his very genuine love of Christmas. Narrativia is delighted 
to see Terry’s work brought to life by the talented team at Eagle Eye 
Drama, in the fiftieth year of Terry Pratchett being a published 
author.'..."

To read the full announcement, go to https://narrativia.com/snowbaby.html

3.3 REVIEW: TERRY PRATCHETT HISWORLD EXHIBIT COMPANION

The Magic and the Memories: a review of the Terry Pratchett HisWorld 
Official Exhibition Companion

By Annie Mac

A few years ago, a friend of mine brought me back a present from one of 
her rare trips to London: Masterpieces of the British Museum, a 
handsome, glossy 300-page catalogue of some of the Museum's most notable 
exhibits, full of images and brief descriptions of each item and its 
provenance. It's a pretty thing, and I enjoy riffling through it now and 
again, but it's little more than a pleasant coffee table entertainment 
and is typical of the genre. So when my copy of the Terry Pratchett 
HisWorld Official Exhibition Companion landed on my doorstep, I was 
expecting a Pratchett-based sample of the same kind of thing.

It's not.

The Terry Pratchett HisWorld Official Exhibition Companion (henceforth 
referred to as the HisWorld Companion in this review, to save wordcount) 
is a thing of beauty, yes, but it is also far more than that. Have you 
ever been lifted to an exalted state or reduced to tears from reading a 
museum catalogue? I never had been, but I was more than a few times when 
reading the HisWorld Companion – and I think many appreciators of the 
world and works of Sir Terry Pratchett will be too. Everything about 
this book, from the stunning images to the little-known fascinating 
facts to the way the entire book has been constructed and presented, 
is... well... there is a Danish word, "hygge", that refers to a place, 
thing, or experience that surrounds you with feelings of warmth and 
cosiness and pulls you into a happy state – and in my opinion, the 
HisWorld Companion is filled with hygge.

But enough justified gushing for the moment; let's get to a description 
of the contents. The HisWorld Companion opens with a six-page timeline 
of Sir Terry Pratchett's lifetime and works, followed by a foreword by 
exhibit curator Richard Henry and eleven chapters covering periods of 
the author's life, histories of some of his most famous books, and of 
course the backstories behind the exhibits themselves, described by 
those who worked for and with him and the ones who knew him best: Colin 
Smythe, Rob Wilkins, and daughter Rhianna, plus assorted friends and 
co-creators.

The first chapter (How It All Began) offers a short tour of Sir Terry's 
origins as a writer, in his own words. Next comes Literary Beginnings, a 
chapter about his early works by Colin Smythe, the man who brought the 
author to the world, first as his publisher and then as his agent. This 
chapter includes some amazing images of early Pratchett illustrations 
for The Carpet People and The Dark Side of the Sun, and some lovely 
surprises (did you know that young Terry,during his days as a 
journalist, also drew a comic strip called Warlock Hall? I didn't!) and 
some amazing art pieces that represent his long interest in bees.

The third chapter is dedicated to Josh Kirby, the first official 
Discworld illustrator. Included here are his story, and some of his 
works rarely seen – stunning portraits of Sir Terry that, while they 
include Kirby's renderings of Discworld characters, don't have the 
familiar deliberately grotesque look of his covers for the novels (and I 
have to say, his Tsortean Horse as rendered for Eric is very 
impressive). Next up is The Cunning Artificer, featuring the amazing 
artworks and amusing anecdotes of Bernard Pearson. There is a selection 
of absolutely gorgeous stuff in this chapter.

Chapter five (Sockets and Wires), is Rob Wilkins' section, in which he 
tells the story of two friends' shared passion for tinkering with 
technological devices. One can see the original of HEX in Sir Terry's 
early computer gear. Chapter six (Crooked Wanderings on the Chalk) is by 
Nick Cowen, who could be described as a benign Eric Wheelbrace 
(twenty-eight years behind the compass, officially looking after public 
rights of way in South Wiltshire). In this chapter we are introduced to 
the descriptions and ecology of the *real* Chalk and Mr Cowen's own 
interactions with Sir Pterry as they wandered around it (not to mention 
iconographs of The Author's shepherding hut!). In the seventh chapter 
(Swords and Awards), master swordsmith Jake Keen shares the tale of That 
Sword and how he and the newly knighted author made it; also featured in 
this chapter are iconographs of Sir Terry's various awards, including 
the one he said meant the most to him (hint: it wasn't his knighthood, 
nor even the Carnegie medal), plus a two-page timeline of the awarding 
of them all.

Now we come to the chapters that cover bringing the Discworld into 
visibility. The eighth chapter, Designing Discworld, tells the story of 
how author and artist worked together to create two (and sometimes 
three) dimensional realisations of the beloved characters of Discworld 
and the other novels. This one is the Paul Kidby's showcase, and 
appropriately it's a long one, lavishly  with reproduced illustrations 
including a centrefold pullout of the Discworld Massif. Mapping Terry's 
Worlds, the ninth chapter, offers the turn of Stephen Briggs, first and 
still foremost Discworld mapper and primary Pratchett stage adaptation 
playwright; this chapter features his own work and some pieces by Paul 
Kidby.

So where, are you wondering, do the tears come in? Well, the final two 
chapters are called The Embuggerance and Legacy. Need I say more? 
Chapter ten, headed by Professor Roy Jones of the RICE Institute, takes 
us through the heartbreak of the PCA years and their inevitable end and 
I'll stop right there because my tears are welling again. But the final 
chapter, written by Rhianna Pratchett, brought tears of both nostalgia 
and hope to this reader, as they cover, among other things, past, 
present and possible future adaptations, and the chapter is replete with 
yet more beautiful artwork. Weirdly, for those of us who did our best to 
suffer through that Discworld-adjacent television series called The 
Watch, the final extended word goes to the Dark Lord, I mean showrunner, 
Simon Allen, who, had he managed to apply even a minuscule amount of the 
grace and humour he shows in his short essay here, might have given the 
world a true glimpse of Discworld rather than a virtually unrecognisable 
travesty... but that's a war to be fought on another day.

At last we come to the credits, index, and more beautiful artworks and 
photographs. And then you might well want to read it through again. I 
did. All in all, the HisWorld Companion gave this reader an experience 
that felt closer and more personal even than attending the exhibition 
itself. I cannot recommend it too highly.

The Terry Pratchett HisWorld Official Exhibition Companion. Truly worth 
owning and cherishing and re-reading over and over. To paraphrase the 
quote on the back cover, it's still magic, even if it's pressed between 
the endpages of a book.

p.s. Have a box of tissues at the ready.

Published by Dunmanifestin Ltd
ISBN 978 1 9998081 5 0

3.4 MORE PRATCHETT PROJECT TALKS!

Allusions and Cultural References in Terry Pratchett’s Jingo: 
Translation and Understanding, by Damon Tringham:

https://youtu.be/NdbKghKxmnc

Humour, parody and satire in Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels by Kamil 
Karas:

https://youtu.be/btRiFbH48dI

More to come...

https://twitter.com/PratchettProj

3.5 ROLLING ON ZERO... THE GOOD OMENS FILM THAT NEVER WAS

Here be the story of Terry Gilliam's unsuccessful attempt to bring Good 
Omens to the Clicks, by Joe Gillis on ScreenRant:

"Upon completing Good Omens, Gaiman and Pratchett sent Gilliam a copy – 
noting that the novels’ comedic sensibilities owed a debt to Monty 
Python – and a meeting was arranged at London’s famous Groucho Club to 
discuss the prospect of a film adaptation... by the late '90s, Gilliam 
was said to be co-writing the film with his Fear and Loathing in Las 
Vegas collaborator Tony Grisoni. According to Neil Gaiman, Robin 
Williams and Johnny Depp (who had previously worked with Gilliam on The 
Fisher King and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, respectively) were 
considered to play Aziraphale and Crowley – a match made in cinematic 
heaven, if ever there was one. Sadly, development hell would ultimately 
claim the project, as Gaiman explained to TW: “He (Gilliam) had almost 
all the money he needed. Unfortunately, this was like three months after 
9/11 and nobody was in the mood to hear about a really funny 
end-of-the-world comedy”. This, paired with Gilliam’s comments to Reel 
in 2001, wherein he described Good Omens as “the most expensive thing” 
he had ever done, gives a pretty good idea of why the project was 
relegated to the scrap pile... While there were talks of reviving 
Gilliam’s Good Omens throughout the 2000s, none of them resulted in a 
finished film. In 2011, Gilliam’s fellow Python Terry Jones was attached 
to adapt the novel as a television miniseries [via Neil Gaiman’s 
Journal], before that project, too, went the way of the dinosaurs..."

https://bit.ly/2Rys2aV

3.6 THE MERCH CORNER

* The Terry Pratchett HisWorld Official Exhibition Companion!

"In 2017 the Estate of Sir Terry Pratchett, the Salisbury Museum and 
illustrator Paul Kidby joined forces to present the award winning Terry 
Pratchett: HisWorld exhibition – taking visitors to the heart of the 
world of the Discworld creator. This comprehensive and fully illustrated 
guide is the official companion to that unique collection. With 
additional images and extra content including essays by Rhianna 
Pratchett, Rob Wilkins, Paul Kidby, Colin Smythe, Bernard Pearson, 
Stephen Briggs, Amy Anderson for The Josh Kirby Estate, Professor Roy 
Jones, Jake Keen & Nick Cowen. The exhibition won Best Temporary or 
Touring Exhibition in the prestigious Museum & Heritage Awards. The 
judges described it as “an exhibition which demonstrated great emotional 
connection which resulted in a marked change in visitor demographics”. 
This book is a perfect memento for those who made the journey to view 
the resoundingly popular exhibition and the perfect consolation for 
those who were unable to visit in person."

This beautiful book, all 224 pages of it, is now priced at £15, half of 
its previous price. For more information and to order, go to:

https://bit.ly/3fHXgnM

(Also see item 3.3 for a review! – Ed.)

* Mrs Bradshaw's Handbook!

"Authorised by Mr Lipwig of the Ankh-Morpork and Sto Plains Hygienic 
Railway himself, Mrs Georgina Bradshaw’s invaluable guide to the 
destinations and diversions of the railway deserves a place in the 
luggage of any traveller, or indeed armchair traveller, upon the Disc. 
 From the twine walk of Great Slack to the souks of Zemphis: edifying 
sights along the route. Ticketing, nostrums and transporting your swamp 
dragon: essential hints on the practicalities of travel Elegant resorts 
and quaint inns: respectable and sanitary lodgings for all species and 
heights. From worm-herding to Fustic Cake: diverting trivia on the 
crafts, foods and brassica traditions of the many industrious people for 
whom the railway is now a vital link to the Century of the Anchovy. 
Fully illustrated and replete with useful titbits, Mrs Bradshaw’s 
Handbook offers a view of the Sto Plains like no other."

Another beautiful book at another reduced-price bargain price! Now 
priced at only £8. For more information and to order, go to:

https://bit.ly/3yAtBp5

3.7 WHY SKYNET WILL NEVER BE A BESTSELLING AUTHOR

...but given the nature of "Literature with a big L", could possibly win 
a Booker Prize. Here is what happens when and AI programme, "Generative 
Pre-trained Transformer 3", is asked to write a short story in the style 
of Pratchett or Gaiman. As posted on reddit by user summerstay, who gave 
the AI a simple short prompt in each case after feeding in samples of 
each author's work:

Sir Pterry... not:

"The Old Queen’s palace is dark and full of dust. But there are lots of 
little lights there. Little bug lights. And bugs. There are a lot of 
them, for some reason. There are lots of things in the Underland. There 
are bugs and birds, and foxes and deer, and bears, too. Everything you 
might expect to find in an old forest, except that this is a place you 
can’t see. And you can’t leave.

"But the strangest things are not the bugs and the animals. They are the 
people. They are small. They are the same size as the bugs and the birds 
and the animals. And they walk around, too. Sometimes you can hear them 
down below. You can hear them coming and going. You can hear them 
talking and singing. You can hear them cry. You can even hear them 
fighting. But that doesn’t happen very often. And when it does, the 
fights don’t last long. Because when they are done, the winner picks up 
the loser and puts them in the
window.

...or Neil Gaiman... not:

"I take off, fly out the window, circle around the city. I can't go back 
to Heaven. They don't understand anything. They'll keep me here in this 
chrysalis until it rots, and I'll rot with it. So I fly to Hell. Satan 
is an angel too, but he's an angel who understands. He says, 'Of course. 
Why else would you be here? You're a perfect butterfly, a golden-eyed 
chrysalis. Your place is in Heaven. But they don't understand anything. 
You don't have to go back.'

'Thank you,' I say.

'Don't mention it,' says Satan...."

https://bit.ly/3vfiCj7

...and more about Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3, in an op-ed by 
Leonid Bershidsky on Bloomberg.com:

"It’s been almost a year since OpenAI, the San-Francisco lab co-founded 
by Elon Musk, released Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3, the 
language model that can produce astoundingly coherent text with minimal 
human prompting – enough time to draw some conclusions on whether its 
brute-force approach to artificial intelligence can in time allow most 
writing to be delegated to machines. In my current job at Bloomberg News 
Automation, I’m in the business of such delegation, and I have my doubts 
that the trail blazed by GPT-3 leads in the right direction....

https://bloom.bg/3ud4nd1

3.8 PRATCHETT BOOK CLUB UPDATES

On the website of publishers Tor, Emmet Asher-Perrin continues a 
Discworld discussion page. This month's instalments take us from the 
wrap-up of Good Omens through the entirety of Eric.

Finishing Good Omens...

"I’m not a Christian theologian by any stretch of the imagination (and 
I’m not Christian myself), but as far as I’ve always understood it, 
Jesus embodies qualities that people are supposed to strive for – 
kindness, forgiveness, mercy, a sense of moral responsibility, that sort 
of thing. Yet here we have an entire book dedicated to this idea that 
Heaven and Hell aren’t inherently Good and Evil places because you find 
real grace and real cruelty in humanity. We have the capacity for the 
whole spectrum in each and every one of us. Thus, the point of Adam 
isn’t showing how true evil works, it’s showing a potential flip side to 
the characteristics of the 'savior.' Because sure, Adam saves the world, 
for a definition of that, but he doesn’t go around fixing everyone’s 
problems – and he could. He thinks that people need to take 
responsibility for their own messes, hence his point to Anathema that he 
won’t be saving whales for everyone; if he does that, then people will 
forget that their actions have consequences. He keeps Armageddon at bay 
because he hasn’t seen enough yet, which is a fair complaint from an 
eleven-year-old boy..."

https://bit.ly/3yxABDi

...and the first part of Eric:

"Maybe this is a weird thing for me to say, but there’s some part of me 
that wonders if writing the Good Omens version of Death didn’t clarify 
some things for Pratchett about the Discworld version. Because his very 
first appearance in The Colour of Magic is notably not quite there yet, 
and obviously we get a lot of him in Mort, and he continues to coalesce 
with every additional appearance. But there’s something about this 
particular bit with the Rite of AshkEnte that feels just exactly 
correct, like the Discworld’s Death has finally distilled down or aged 
appropriately like a fine wine – his being on the wrong side of the 
octogram, the “expression of polite interest,” the expectant curiosity 
whilst being very to-the-point. (Picking invisible particles off the 
scythe, I could die.) When I think of the character, this is how I’m 
usually thinking of him... there’s a lot of Good Omens influence in this 
book, particularly in the explanation of Discworld’s Hell, and Lord 
Astfgl’s mission to make the whole thing function better. (Plus his 
petty grievances with the old guard of demons.) It’s there in the talk 
of how Astfgl wants Eric because Hell is missing out of human 
imagination, giving Pratchett a spot to really drill down on that 
concept. There’s the mention that the difference between gods and demons 
on the Disc is basically the same as the difference between “terrorists 
and freedom fighters,” which immediately puts me in mind of Crowley and 
Aziraphale’s conversation about guns and moral arguments. Then there’s 
the “bell, book and candle job” line, which has that air of echoes in 
the brain working their way out, and I have to say, it’s comforting? 
Obviously writers don’t usually mean to repeat themselves, but if 
someone like Pratchett can do it, we can all feel a little less awkward 
when we do it. But I feel like the real crux here is the moment when 
Rincewind is looking at Eric looking out over the world and he wonders 
if he was like him at that age, and then thinks 'I wonder how I 
survived?'..."

https://bit.ly/2Spu8tm

...and the second...

"This... this is just a weird lil book, isn’t it? I mean, it’s a bit fun 
if you’ve read any of the myths and classics attached to the story, but 
that only really takes you so far, and then you’re mostly left wondering 
why at the end. Because Eric is thoroughly boring as a co-protagonist. 
He doesn’t really do much, it’s all Rincewind, and by this point we know 
full well that Rincewind is a better protagonist when he’s got someone 
to bounce off of – Twoflower, other wizards, barbarians, literally 
anyone with a personality and a point of view that will get in the way 
of his sense of self-preservation. But throughout this book, he’s mostly 
stuck at the whims of the plot. I mean, you know it’s all gone wonky 
when even the Luggage doesn’t get to have much fun... My theory here is 
that there was just too much leftover in Pratchett’s head after working 
on Good Omens, and he wanted to shove it somewhere, so this is where he 
put it. Right? I mean, this version of Hell is basically what the place 
would be like if demons actually listened to Crowley. That’s the whole 
arc we get with Astfgl being deposed by demons who really just want to 
go back to the good ol’ days of flames and blood. Which is fun to play 
with, but maybe not enough material for an entire book. And you know, 
this is less than half the length of most Discworld books, so you can 
kind of rest your case there..."

https://bit.ly/2T8LgnD

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

04) DISCWORLD PLAYS NEWS

It's a promising-looking season for Australian Discworld plays!

* MAKING MONEY IN BRISBANE, FOURECKS (NOW–JUNE 2021)

Brisbane Arts Theatre is back in the swing with more Discworld! 
Currently playing is the Stephen Briggs adaptation of Making Money. 
"Someone is killing Lord Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork. No one 
knows who; no one knows why; and, worst of all, no one knows how – he 
just gets weaker and weaker. But, it’s not just Vetinari. Across the 
city, people are being murdered, but there’s no trace of anything alive 
having been at the crime scene. In a city teeming with vampires, 
werewolves, dwarfs with attitude, and golems, Vimes must solve the crime 
and save the Patrician."

When: now through 5th June 2021
Venue: Brisbane Arts Theatre, 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane, Queensland 4000
Time: Thursdays 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays 8pm, Sundays 6:30pm
Tickets: $36 (concession/group $29,Student Rush: $16), available online 
via https://aubat.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/5873  ($2 fee 
on all transactions)

https://www.artstheatre.com.au/productions/making-money/

*MORT IN SUBURBAN MELBOURNE, FOURECKS (JUNE 2021)

How good is it to see Fourecksian Discworld productions getting back to 
normal? The CPP Community Theatre will present Stephen Briggs' 
adaptation of Mort in June! "When Mort and his father attend the 
Sheepridge hiring fair in the hope that this year Mort will finally get 
an apprenticeship, they didn’t expect the day to end with death. But at 
least Death offered Mort a job! As Death’s apprentice, Mort gets to 
travel and meet interesting people… well, for a short time anyway. But 
once Mort is trusted to take on the Duty by himself, trouble brews, as 
Mort lets his heart rule his head… Adapted by Terry Pratchett and 
Stephen Briggs from the fourth of Terry’s wildly successful Discworld 
novels, Mort brings the Discworld to the stage. Come and see how Mort 
gets out of the trouble he’s caused!"

When: 11th–19th June 2021
Venue: CPP Community Theatre, Doongalla Rd & Simpsons Rd, The Basin, 
Bayswater, Victoria 3154
Time: 8pm Fridays and Thursday, 2pm and 8pm Saturday 12th, 5pm Saturday 
19th
Tickets: $27 (concession $24, group – minimum of 10 tickets – $24, 
family of 4 $75), available online via https://bit.ly/2ShDmbp

https://cppcommunitytheatre.com.au/mort/

* FEET OF CLAY IN BRISBANE, FOURECKS (SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 2021)

Brisbane Arts Theatre returns with a second Discworld production of a 
Stephen Briggs adaptation! Making up for lost pandemic time... "Someone 
is killing Lord Vetinari, Patrician of Ankh-Morpork. No one knows who; 
no one knows why; and, worst of all, no one knows how – he just gets 
weaker and weaker. But, it’s not just Vetinari. Across the city, people 
are being murdered, but there’s no trace of anything alive having been 
at the crime scene. In a city teeming with vampires, werewolves, dwarfs 
with attitude, and golems, Vimes must solve the crime and save the 
Patrician."

When: 12th September–17th October 2021
Venue: Brisbane Arts Theatre, 210 Petrie Terrace, Brisbane, Queensland 4000
Time: Fridays and Saturdays 8pm, select Thursdays 7:30pm, select Sundays 
6:30pm (see booking page)
Tickets: $36 (concession/group $29,Student Rush: $16), available online 
via https://aubat.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/640 ($2 fee on 
all transactions)

https://www.artstheatre.com.au/productions/feet-of-clay/

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

05) DISCWORLD MEETING GROUPS NEWS

Remember, one day, possibly in the not too distant future, Discworld 
fans will be able to meet in the real Roundworld again. So keep this 
information handy! Also note there are a few updates below...

A new Fourecksian meeting group joins the gang: the Purdeigh Islanders, 
based in Hobart, Tasmania. "Purdeigh (or Purdee) Island lies hubwards of 
Fourecks. Roundworld islanders are fans of the great Sir Terry Pratchett 
resident in Tasmania, the island state of Australia."

The Purdeigh Islanders is a private group. To join in, go to their 
Facebook page and see if they'll have you!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/205967619882683/

*

The Broken Drummers, "London's Premier Unofficially Official Discworld 
Group"
BrokenDrummers at gmail.com or nicholls.helen at yahoo.co.uk or join their 
Facebook group at https://bit.ly/2YrPGW7

NOTE: the Drummers are still meeting occasionally via Zoom. Check out 
the above link for updates!

*

Drumknott's Irregulars
Facebook https://bit.ly/31FlSrq or Google Groups 
https:groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/drumknotts-irregulars or join us 
at our next event."

*

The Victorian Discworld Klatch
https://www.facebook.com/groups/VictorianDiscworldKlatch

*

"The Gathering of the Loonies (Wincanton chapter)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/373578522834654/

*

The Pratchett Partisans
https://www.facebook.com/groups/pratchettpartisans/ or contact Ula 
directly at uwilmott at yahoo.com.au

*

The City of Small Gods
www.cityofsmallgods.org.au

"What are we doing while we're stuck at home due to COVID-19? Given that 
our normal social gatherings can't happen while everyone's under 
lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are instead trying to host 
regular activities and discussions online. Most of these will be done 
via our Discord Server – https://discord.gg/3RVzsyJ – which has several 
text chat channels and a few voice chat channels as well. We will still 
use our Facebook group – https://facebook.com/groups/cityofsmallgods – 
to coordinate scheduled events. When things get back to normal... 
(semi-) regular social meetings are generally held on the last Thursday 
of the month at a pub or restaurant in Adelaide. We have dinner at 
6.30pm followed by games until 9pm.

"We'll try to keep this page up to date (no promises!) but always check 
emails on the mailing list or our Facebook Group for further details of 
these events."


*

The Broken Vectis Drummers
broken_vectis_drummers at yahoo.co.uk

*

The Wincanton Omnian Temperance Society (WOTS) meets at Wincanton's 
famous Bear Inn when social gatherings are possible.

*

The Northern Institute of the Ankh-Morpork and District Society of 
Flatalists normally meet at The Narrowboat Pub in Victoria Street, 
Skipton, North Yorkshire, Details of future meetings are posted on the 
Events section of the Discworld Stamps forum: 
http://www.discworldstamps.co.uk/forum/

*

Sydney now hosts two groups of fans who meet on a regular basis.

In the CBD, The Mended Drummers (Sydney) meet on the first Monday of 
each month at Albion Place Hotel from 6.00pm. Join the Facebook Group – 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/downunderdrummers/ – for more information.

And over in the western suburbs of Sydney you can find the Western 
Drummers who meet on the third Tuesday of each month at the Nepean 
Rowers Club from 6pm. Join their Facebook Group – 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/100376433635355/ – for more information.

All we do is chat over a few drinks, with subjects ranging far and wide, 
have a Discworld themed quiz and generally enjoy the company of fellow 
discworld fans.  Sometimes we end up getting together for a Zombie Walk, 
table top games or Supanova - nothing formal, just a loose group of like 
minded people.

Editor's note: If either of these supersedes the Sydney Drummers, please 
let Wossname know! Still posting the original for now: Sydney Drummers 
(formerly Drummers Downunder)
Contact Sue (aka Granny Weatherwax): kenworthys at yahoo.co.uk

*

The Treacle Mining Corporation, formerly known as Perth Drummers 
https://bit.ly/2EKSCqu – or message Alexandra Ware directly at 
<alexandra.ware at gmail.com>

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

06) IMAGES OF THE MONTH

The Author with ducks. What ducks? Posted on reddit by user Bill-Door064:
https://i.redd.it/50jjcsxryc561.jpg

Another round of Discworld cakes! By canadabakes:
https://bit.ly/2RwzymD

By Michelle Pearce: https://bit.ly/3fKaD7c

By Denise Allen: https://bit.ly/3hIJvrH

...and by the Nightwitch, who is possibly Elza Baldzhiyska:
https://bit.ly/3468oFG

Two glorious Grannies by Paul Kidby:
https://bit.ly/2Td2IYn

...and Death as beekeeper, for World Bee Day which was this week:
https://bit.ly/3bKjt3C

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

07) CLOSE

Paul Kidby's fantastic Discworld and Beyond exhibition may have been 
somewhat derailed by the pandemic, but it will surely be back. If you 
know a local UK museum that might want to feature it in the near future, 
here's the info: "We are currently taking bookings for this ever popular 
exhibition from Galleries & Museums around the UK for 2021 and onwards. 
For details please contact Steve Marshall, Exhibitions and Collections 
Officer, St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, New Street, Lymington, 
Hampshire SO41 9BH (phone 01590 676969)

And finally, your Editor has never been a one to recommend fanfiction, 
but this one, by Sue Kesby, is an exception. Not trying to imitate The 
Author, not even pastiching, really, but... well... observing. Observing 
what a certain event might well be like. Enjoy!

https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/132559172/posts/3095

Right then, that's it for now. To our readers in the UK, may you enjoy 
your government-permitted hugs on the Glorious 25th! For our readers in 
Fourecks and the Land of Fog, try to remember that there's still a 
pandemic on out there. For our readers everywhere else, stay safe and 
remember, someday this will be over. And to everyone, mind how you go, 
and we hope to see you next month!

– Annie Mac

This issue can be viewed on the Clacks at 
https://wossname.dreamwidth.org/81851.html

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

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