Pratchett diagnosed with Alzhiemers.

[Athlete{UK}]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7141458.stm

Honestly i'm surprised I didn't see this sooner. Terry Pratchett (author of the Discworld series) is without doubt my favourite author of all time.

Constantly releasing books which never fail to amuse. Even his worst offerings have been intelligent, whitty, humourous and utterly without pomposity. He's a living legend.

Authors like JK Rowling are content to release one book every so often which (in my opinion) isn't really that great and there are people like Pratchett who released almost anually with complete novels. Over 30 years he's created an entire fantasy universe that makes complete logical sense by its own standards. I've never seen anyone in fantasy, sci-fi, films, books, comics accomplish something with such a detailed and rich backstory and world.

While JK Rowling is content to bost she subverted fantasy with the Harry Potter books Pratchett has subverted, fantasy, religion, government, sci-fi, crime, comic books, hollywood, the post office and so much more in his novels without having to bost about it to Times magazine afterwards.

I always thought the day he died would be a sad one but I never expected this. My grandad suffers from seniel dementia which is a similar disease to Alzhiemers (alzhiemers being a chemical issue Dementia being more physical, like Pratchetts.) I never actually got to know him that well. He's been here all my life but all i've ever seen is his slow decent into what he is now. A shrivled man who is barely able to talk and needs to be fed and dressed. I wouldn't wish that existance on anyone and the news that this gargantuan talent, this man with seemingly boundless imagination and witt is facing the same thing saddens me deeply.

He's currently donating money to Alzhiemers research (about half a million pounds.)

His comment on the situation:

"I’D EAT THE ARSE OUT OF A DEAD MOLE IF IT OFFERED A FIGHTING CHANCE"

[Wills]

Yeah, I heard about this a while back and it really, deeply saddened me. I've been a fan of Pratchett for years now, and have all of his books proudly lining the top shelf of me bookstand, even the maps, cookbooks, quizzes and short stories. I am an absolutely geek when it comes to Discworld. His subversive humour is just superb, as you say, undermining everything beautifully. I enjoyed the Potter books, but have never re-read a single one. I've re-read nearly all the Discworld books around 3-4 times each (Guards, Guards!, Soul Music and Hogfather being read around 10 times each). I've even met him twice! A talent like his will be such a shame to loose, and especially in this way.

Nonetheless, he's quite positive about the whole thing, so we ought to be aswell!

He's stated that his aim is to continue writing, and that he has at least three more books in him, but an end to the Discworld series, is just something I never wanted to happen.

[Sorrow]

That "We'll see" attitude will hopefully sustain him for quite some time, shit that this had to happen though.

[Mr. Happy]

Oh no

I grew up on Discworld, he's writings are just obsolutely amazing. Like Wills we have the maps and everything..somewhere. Even have the Discworld computer game on my shelf still.

This is such sad news

[Bema]

I only just found out about this the other day too - he did a phone interview on Radio 2 about his donation + his illness in general..

Never really bothered to read his books, and I probably still wont - but he's a good guy. Still writing away.

[Athlete{UK}]

Give at least one of the books a try. if you've never read any of them you've doing yourself a dsservice. if you read one and think it's wank fair enough but jsut give one a try. I recomend nightwatch

[Wills]

Absolutely, Nightwatch is superb. Bizarrely good as a starter into Discworld, considering its one of the last in the "Vimes" series. But I guess that's the beauty of his writing! Going Postal is another good one to try, as it's a new set of stories, mostly independent from the rest, with established characters dropping in and out.

The book I started out on was Soul Music, which I think is his 17th book... Over the next few months I literally bought up each and every single book and read them all.

Glad to know there's a few other Pratchett fans on here!

[ad_hominem]

Yeah, it was sad news. Still, I think that he has the right attitude towards it.

I also have almost every discworld book on my self. My favourites are Night Watch or Thief Of Time. DIdn't think Making Money was as good as his others though...

[edit]
Oh, and Wills' avatar is done for the discworld novels by Paul Kidby, who is brilliant at getting the mood of the discworld into an image.

[Surfa]

Sad to hear, but i have never really been able to get into his books. Don't have a clue why but oh well.

[ad_hominem]

A nice donation thing has cropped up on t'internet, attempting to get 500,000 Pratchett fans to donate £1 to help Alzheimers research. This is in response to Terry Pratchett's £500,000 donation to the fund.

Source
Original Idea
Go here to donate

[Mr. Happy]

Nightwatch, Thief of Time, Soul Music, Feet of Clay, Men at Arms, Reaper Man, (I LOVE the Death ones! ) and Guards! Guards! I think are all good ones to start with.

Or start with Colour of Magic and just move forward!

[InfidelCastr0]

While I still need to read some of the more recent books, I must say that Discworld is by far my favorite series of novels. Pratchett is a genius, and the thought of him losing his immensely fertile mind saddens me greatly. If you've never read any of his stuff do so NOW.

[Zhuangzi]

I mentioned Pratchett in my Introduction post, but now I'm sad
I still have many of his books to go. I'll definitely be reading them with a hint of tragedy mixed into the comedy now.