Terence David John Pratchett , OBE was born on 28 April 1948 and is best known for his popular and long-running Discworld series of comic fantasy novels. Pratchett's first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971, and since his first Discworld novel The Colour of Magic was published in 1983. Having written, on average, two books a year, he is also known for close collaboration on adaptations of his books but has held back from Discworld feature films so far.

Pratchett was the UK's best-selling author of the 1990s and as of December 2007 had sold more than 55 million books worldwide, with translations made in 33 languages. He is currently the second most-read writer in the UK, and seventh most-read non-US author in the U.S. In 2001 he won the Carnegie Medal for his children's novel The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents

Despite his popularity, Pratchett is often described as having a ‘cult following’ - a factor seen as having, in the past, hindered his literary recognition. He was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire "for services to literature" in 1998 and holds the record for the most shoplifted books in Britain!

In August 2007, Pratchett was misdiagnosed as having had a minor stroke in 2004 or 2005, which was believed to have damaged the right side of his brain. While his motor skills had been affected, the observed damage had not impaired his ability to write. On 11 December 2007, Pratchett posted online that he had been newly diagnosed with a very rare form of early-onset Alzheimer's disease, which he said "lay behind this year's phantom 'stroke'." Pratchett appealed to people to "keep things cheerful", and proclaimed that "we are taking it fairly philosophically down here and possibly with a mild optimism." Leading the way, Pratchett stated that he feels he has time for "at least a few more books yet", and added that while he understands the impulse to ask 'is there anything I can do?', in this particular case he will only entertain such offers from "very high-end experts in brain chemistry." Discussing his diagnosis at the Bath Literature Festival, Pratchett revealed that he now found it too difficult to write dedications when signing books.

Awards

Pratchett was the British Book Awards' 'Fantasy and Science Fiction Author of the Year' for 1994.

Awarded his OBE for 'services to literature' in 1998

Pratchett has been awarded four honorary Doctorates of Literature; University of Warwick in 1999, the University of Portsmouth in 2001, the University of Bath in 2003 and the University of Bristol in 2004.

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents won the 2001 Carnegie Medal for best children's novel (awarded in 2002).

In 2003 Pratchett firmly reinforced his credentials as one of Britain's most loved authors, by joining Charles Dickens as one of the only two authors with five books in the BBC's Big Read 'Top 100' (four of which were Discworld novels). Pratchett was also the author with the most novels in the 'Top 200' (fifteen).

The first three Discworld novels centering on the Tiffany Aching 'trainee witch' character have each received the Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book (in 2004, 2005 and 2007).

Authors Books