Dedication to Terry Pratchett

Dedication to Terry Pratchett

March 12th, 2018

It has been three years since Terry Pratchett's death on March 12th, 2015. There's not a day that I don't think of his books or how amazing his mind was. He will always be missed. #SpeakHisName. He has become one of my favorite authors of all time and is a writer that I admire a lot. 

I remember when I first picked up one of Terry's books. It was in late 2013, I was trying to find books that were similar to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and Good Omens was recommended to me. I had never heard of Terry Pratchett before this but I had heard of Neil Gaiman before, having read Stardust. A little bit after that I bought the book and fell in love with the writing style. After I read the book, I looked up what else Terry had written and found out about the Discworld series and all of the other books he had written. At the time, the Discworld series was at forty books, which intimidated me. I wanted to pick the books up but a forty-book series (which would become a forty-one book series) scared me away a bit. 

On the day of his death, I was on Facebook looking at posts on a Harry Potter fan page. They had posted about Terry that day saying that he passed away earlier in the day. I remember looking at the quote that they had put, “No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away...” ― Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man, and tearing up a little. I never knew the man in real life and I wish that I had. I really at the time did not even know him as a writer either and on that day I vowed that I would read his entire Discworld series someday. 

Fast forward to last year, I had asked my parents for my college graduation present for the Discworld series (well the ones that were out at the time in the Gollancz Discworld Collector's Library series). I started reading the series in March and fell in love with the Discworld and its characters. Now, I wish that I had read the series years before but I'm glad that I'm reading them. Terry has not only become one of my favorite writers of all time but also someone that I look up to as a writer. I'm still a young writer in regards to someone like him and one day I hope to be half as good as him. He was one incredible man.

I have read nine of the books so far and I'm reading Eric right now. If I wanted to I could have read the series probably in two months, three at the most, but I didn't want to. I enjoy writing my reviews of these books and taking the time to really feel a part of each book. I have enjoyed every visit to Ankh-Morpork, the Unseen University, my time with each of the characters: Rincewind, Death, Granny Weatherwax, the Librarian, the Luggage and so many more. I want to be able to take the time to enjoy this series for the first time and can't wait for many more readings of the books. 

So on this day, I wanted to honor Terry with this dedication. Over the past year, I have enjoyed writing reviews on here for the books I have read (well besides The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, I wasn't doing reviews at that time) of his and will continue to do so. I have also enjoyed talking about his books and recommending them to anyone I can. If anyone is feeling intimated by his books like I was, don't be. It's a series that I believe everyone should try and trust me if you're a fantasy fan it probably won't be hard to get sucked in by this world. He had a one of kind writing style that I cannot get enough of. My Terry Pratchett collection keeps growing all the time and I hope one day I'll be able to say I own all of his books. 

Love you, Terry.