h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

If you are not working to a formula or setting out to pay butcher's bills you tend to write what is in your mind. I can only speak from very minor experience of course.

I doubt Pratchett is constrained to write for money. Wasn't The Truth a one off? I haven't read the latest, based on a skit of the Wee Free's but it sounds like the sort of thing you wanted.

The first book in any trilogy is a one off so if he keeps writing trilogies he will write one one of a kind in three.

If you go to alt.fan.pratchett or one of the other google groups you can ask him yourself.

"The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents" was a one off - I don't think "Wee Free Men" is a one off - I imagine we're going to see Tiffany evolve in a trilogy. I'm surprised that he hasn't yet followed up Agnes Nitt in a further book yet... hmm...

Edd

Amazing Maurice doesn't count as it's not part of the main bulk of novels

Oh the Thruth was one...

slowly backs away...

Well if you look at the way the series is done on a whole.. we're due a Witches book...

As Last Hero was a Rincewind one since it was written 2002...

It's clever the way Brutha paved the way for real belief in the Omnian church... Constable Visit in the Watch and Mightily Oats in Carpe Jugulum....

Actually does anyone have his address? You hear about him getting fan mail etc. but you NEWVER see his address around anywhere...

Don't know why I keep making mistakes.. I'm not normally this sloppy...

>>> 'Amazing Maurice doesn't count as it's not part of the main bulk of novels'

In what way is not not 'part of the main bulk'? It's set on the Discworld, what more do you need? The whole point about so-called 'one-offs' is that they use a set of characters which maybe haven't been used before, exploring different parts of the Disc. If Amazing Maurice isn't part of the Discworld Saga, neither is something like Small Gods.

Amazing Maurice is not a novel..

It's a children's book..
As is Wee Free Men....


Just check the inside the novels and you'll see a list of the discworld series.. and Maurice and Last Hero are quite distinctly seperate...

Wee Free Men is subtitled "A Story of Discworld". I'd classify a story of 318 pages a Novell...

Make that Novel even Can't spell today :D

BTW the definition of Novel is:

"novel (BOOK) noun [C]
a long printed story about imaginary characters and events:"

So Maurice would fall into that category.

There are 27 Discworld novels..

Maurice and Wee Free Men are 'stories of discworld'

And last hero is 'a discworld fable'

Check the list!

Well, I don't think I could actually pick a favourite Discworld book, but yeah, Vote Pratchett for First Citizen.

Layers of subtle (and not-so-subtle) humour, deep philosophical insights and original storylines make a good combination.

I also have to admit to having read *those* books by *that* writer. They certainly lack the aforementioned qualities, and her writing style is generally weak, and her attempts to write male characters are absolutely laughable, and there's barely a shred of originality in the whole series, but they're still alright for a little light escapism when you don't feel like taxing your brain too much.

I love Prachett's books (and Paul Kidby's artwork. But they play versions of the books are great and open up some wonderfully crafted monolouges for actor's auditioning. Noteable monologues being the "you're all so dim-witted" monologue given by Ronald in Interesting times, and the monologue where Mr. Pin is holding up Mr. Slant in The Truth.

oh now come on if you're not going to accept Amazing Maurice then you also can't allow Last Hero, which was a Graphic Novel, and one I havn't actually read yet (gasp)

Edd

I'm not counting Last Hero...

And it's a big book with pictures...

A graphic novel is a comic aimed at adults..

Can we assume that you don't include 'Eric' either then, on the sole fact that it is largely a graphical work?

Eric isn't a graphic novel!

I've got it in the Rincewind omnibus and I'm pretty sure I didn't see any pictures!

Look. the The 'official' discworld series is the 27 novels...

Maurice.. Free Men... Last Hero are all (loosest term used) spin offs from the novel series... thats including cookbooks, diaries, graphic novels, games, music etc.!!

You're quite right, Eric isn't a graphic novel. It's an *illustrated* novel. If you had a 'proper' copy, you'd know. It wasn't published without the illustrations for quite some time.

In what way are Maurice, Wee Frees, Last Hero spin offs? They're set in the same place, they're novels (by any reasonable definition), they use some characters we've seen before... They're merely extensions of the exisiting series, going in different directions.