Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett was born in 1948 and had his first story published when he was just thirteen. After leaving school at seventeen to become a journalist he continued writing, publishing his first novel, The Carpet People, in 1971 and going on to produce the phenomenally successful Discworld series.

Terry worked for many years as a journalist and press officer, writing in his spare time and publishing a number of novels, including his first Discworld novel, The Color of Magic, in 1983.

To date there are a total of 36 books in the Discworld series, of which four (so far) are written for children. The first of these children's books, The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, won the Carnegie Medal. A non-Discworld book, Good Omens, his 1990 collaboration with Neil Gaiman, has been a longtime bestseller.

Regarded as one of the most significant contemporary English-language satirists, Pratchett has won numerous literary awards, was named an Officer of the British Empire “for services to literature” in 1998, and has received four honorary doctorates from the Universities of Warwick, Portsmouth, Bath, and Bristol.

His acclaimed novels have been translated into 36 languages. Featuring trainee witches, educated rodents, a charismatic tosher and a race of tiny people from another world called Nomes, these books were written with younger readers in mind but can be read by anyone with a love of the fantastical.

He died in March 2015 after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Information taken from terrypratchettbooks.com