Sir Terry Pratchett takes Death’s arm...

“It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Last Continent

Sir Terry Pratchett, renowned fantasy writer for cult classics such as the Discworld series dies aged 66 on 12th march 2015, eight years after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

"The world has lost one of its brightest, sharpest minds," said Larry Finlay of his publishers Transworld. The author died at home, surrounded by his family, "with his cat sleeping on his bed", he added.



Fellow author and friend Neil Gaiman was among those paying tribute to Sir Terry: "There was nobody like him. I was fortunate to have written a book with him, when we were younger, which taught me so much."

I found my way into Discworld by playing the Sega Saturn game version in 1995 featuring the famous voice Eric Idle as the protagonist Rincewind the Wizard. This was my first third person point and click game which was odd for a console as it's a bog standard format for the PC. I was charmed by the wit of Rincewind and the concept of Death tagging along with his walking chest with many dolls legs.

The Discworld series - which started in 1983 - was focused around a flat world perched on the backs of four elephants which rested on the back of a giant turtle. If you got to the edge of the world you were simply going to fall off

At the turn of the century, he was Britain's second most-read author, beaten only by JK Rowling.

It was in August 2007, Sir Terry had suffered a stroke, but the following December he was diagnosed with a very rare form of early-onset Alzheimer's disease which, he said, "lay behind this year's phantom stroke". The writer has wrote more than 70 books during his career and completed his final book last summer.

His daughter Rhianna Pratchett is a video game writer and has worked on acclaimed titles such as Tomb Raider (2013), Heavenly Sword, Overlord, and Mirror's Edge