Sir Terry Pratchett is with us no more. I'm not sure how to convey how utterly wretched this makes me feel. It seems so unbelievable cruel and unjust that such a witty, thoughtful, insightful and incredibly amazing human soul is no longer with us.I wrote in a tweet earlier, shortly after I heard the news: "When I started writing I wanted to be the next Pratchett then I realised that to be half as good as TP I'd have to be 100x better than I was" - and this is absolutely true. When I read Colour of Magic and Light Fantastic they were like no books I'd ever read before. They were incredibly funny, embarrassingly funny sometimes - it turns out that you cannot sneakily read a Terry Pratchett book when you're supposed to be taking notes in a lecture...But, as brilliant as those two books are they do Sir Terry a disservice, for they have none of the subtle, character-study, complex plotting and wickedly observed story telling that developed rapidly in his later books. Reaper Man remains one of my all time favourite books, it is such a stunningly beautiful book, Death in all His glory. I hope he treated Sir Terry well when he visited today.I was lucky enough to meet Sir Terry, twice, at book signings. Most people who meet Terry Pratchett met him at book signings. The first time myself and friends offered to buy him a Banana Daiquiri - he agreed to join us if we could find a pub that would sell it - we failed, although we did try. I really wish I could lay claim to have bought Terry Pratchett a Banana Daiquiri, but I can't.I thought he faced his Embuggerance with amazing style and I hope the legacy he started with increased research into Alzheimer's Research eventually bares fruit and his determination to bring the elephant (four of them stood on the back of a giant turtle indeed) in the room of Assisted Suicide to a sensible debate rather than an embarrassed cough followed by shuffled feet and looking at the floor, should not be ignored. His documentary about the subject is one of the most upsetting things I have ever made myself watch, but I'm glad I did.So, finally, I offer you this - It's a 12K word Discworld Novelette I wrote back in 1998, it's set just after Guards! Guards! A few people (all Terry Pratchett fans of course) have read it over the years - they've all told me they enjoyed it. I hope you do too.
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“No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away...”― Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man Until next time,
John (Picture by Sandara http://sandara.deviantart.com/art/Shaking-hands-with-Death-519841642)