CULT FACTION

For all your cult film, tv, cartoon, comic and video game needs

Remembering Terry Pratchett (1948 – 2015)

Fantasy author Terry Pratchett has died aged 66 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Sir Terry wrote more than 70 books over his lengthy career and was first diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2007, but continued writing, completing his final book last summer. The author of the acclaimed and bestselling Discworld series he was long regarded as a significant satirist. He won numerous literary awards, was appointed OBE in 1998 and received eight honorary doctorates. In December 2007, Terry released a statement that he had been diagnosed with a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Since then, he became patron of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust but despite his tireless charity work he was first and foremost a writer and one that refused to be defined by his disability.

His first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971, and since his first Discworld novel (The Colour of Magic) was published in 1983, he wrote two books a year on average. His 2011 Discworld novel Snuff was at the time of its release the third-fastest-selling hardback adult-audience novel since records began in the UK, selling 55,000 copies in the first three days. He was the UK’s best-selling author of the 1990s, and has sold over 85 million books worldwide in 37 languages.

tp2

Although during his early career he wrote for the sci-fi and horror genres, later in his life, Pratchett focused almost entirely on fantasy, explaining, “It is easier to bend the universe around the story. In the acceptance speech for his Carnegie Medal he said, “Fantasy isn’t just about wizards and silly wands. It’s about seeing the world from new directions”, pointing to J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels and J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. In the same speech, he also acknowledged benefits of these works for the genre. He believed he owed “a debt to the science fiction/fantasy genre which he grew up out of” and disliked the term “magical realism” which is “like a polite way of saying you write fantasy and is more acceptable to certain people … who, on the whole, do not care that much.” He expressed annoyance that fantasy is “unregarded as a literary form” because it “is the oldest form of fiction” and he described himself as “infuriated” when novels containing science fiction or fantasy ideas were not regarded as part of those genres.  Pratchett argued that fantasy is fundamental to the way we understand the world and is therefore an integral aspect of all fiction.

There have been numerous adaptations of his work but Pratchett held back from Discworld feature films , though the rights to a number of his books have been sold. In 2006 it was reported that The Wee Free Men was set to be directed by Sam Raimi, but in 2009 Pratchett said that he had “got [it] back” after reading the proposed screenplay.  In 2001, DreamWorks also commissioned an adaptation of Truckers by Andrew Adamson and Joe Stillman but Pratchett believed that it would not be made until after “Shrek 17”. Four graphic novels of Pratchett’s work have been released and are well worth checking out. The first two, originally published in the US, were adaptations of The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic and illustrated by Steven Ross (with Joe Bennett on the latter). The second two, published in the UK, were adaptations of Mort (subtitled A Discworld Big Comic) and Guards! Guards!, both illustrated by Graham Higgins and adapted by Stephen Briggs. The graphic novels of The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic were republished by Doubleday on 2 June 2008.

The slight figure with the white beard and trademark black hat leaves behind an unrivalled legacy of wit and imagination in the Fantasy genre that enriched the culture of the entire planet.  Cult Faction would like to pass our condolences to his loved ones.

RIP Terry Pratchett.

“The whole of life is just like watching a film. Only it’s as though you always get in ten minutes after the big picture has started, and no-one will tell you the plot, so you have to work it out all yourself from the clues.”
― Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures

Related Posts
Ōgon Bat

Ogun Bat is a Japanese superhero created by Takeo Nagamatsu in 1931 and is considered to be the first Japanese superhero. The anime ran 52 episodes between April 1st 1967 and March 23rd Read more

Zork: The Great Underground Empire – Part I (1980)

Released in December 1980, Zork: The Great Underground Empire - Part I aka Zork I was an interactive fiction video game written by Marc Blank, Dave Lebling, Bruce Daniels and Tim Read more

Zoom in Coming! Flash releases new trailer!

The CW has released a new extended trailer for The Flash, offering up some new footage from several upcoming episodes and teasing the unmasking of Zoom:

Zoolander 2 trailer released

Zoolander is back but a lot has happened since 2001! Rest assured the Ben Stiller comedy features familiar faces and a few new ones with plenty to get you excited. Read more

Zontar, the Thing from Venus (1966)

At a dinner party with their wives, NASA scientist Dr. Keith Ritchie (Tony Huston) reveals to his colleague Dr. Curt Taylor (John Agar) that he has secretly been in communication Read more

Zone Troopers (1985)

In Italy during World War II, an American military patrol discovers a spaceship that has crash-landed in the woods, along with its alien crew. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm9fnNfLg8M A nearby Nazi unit also Read more

Zone Fighter

Zone Fighter was a tokusatsu science fiction/superhero television series produced by Toho Company Ltd. It aired from April 2nd 1973 to September 24th 1973, with a total of 26 episodes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdhcjsVLDQY The series follows Read more

Zone 414 trailer released

Zone 414 is an upcoming American science fiction thriller film written by Bryan Edward Hill and directed by Andrew Baird. The film stars Guy Pearce, Matilda Lutz, Jonathan Aris, Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson, Olwen Fouéré, Colin Salmon, Antonia Campbell-Hughes, Read more

Zomboat! Episode 6

It is the final episode of Season 1, and as expected following the somewhat calmness of last week's episode this week is about to go off the scale. Our crew Read more

Zomboat! Episode 5

Episode 5 of Zomboat! is the penultimate episode of Season 1 and it gave the audience a chance to catch their breath before the grand finale. Instead of the fast Read more

Zomboat! Episode 4

In Zomboat! Episode 4 we discover that even a shopping trip can be hazardous to your health in post-apocalyptic Birmingham. With the boat moored and apparently safe Amar (Ryan McKen) Read more

Zomboat! Episode 3

After our diversion last week our Zomboat crew begin travelling in the right direction and end up back where they first got on the boat. This also happens to be Read more

Zomboat! Episode 2

Zomboat! burst onto our screens last week and while we loved it we noted that it felt "a bit rushed with lots crammed in." As Episode 2 washed over us Read more

Zomboat! Episode 1

Debuting on ITV2 in the UK, Zomboat! is filmed in the 2.35:1 widescreen ratio of most zombie movies and answers the life long question of what would happen if you Read more

Zombo – You Smell of Crime And I’m the Deodorant

When the government's latest crime deterrent, obmoz, goes completely off the rails and starts to destroy everything from the underfunded super team Planetronix to the president himself, who ya gonna Read more

Zomblogalypse trailer released

Homemade horror-comedy feature Zomblogalypse received its UK premiere at Dead Northern Film Festival - in association with Fangoria and Shudder - at City Screen York on 26th September 2021. The Read more

Zombies-Outlive The Undead trailer released

Tony Todd is back in an all new zombie movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBlWz-n-nec When the world is in shambles, plagued by a zombie outbreak, only the strong will survive, but just how Read more

Zombieland: Doubletap “Keeps Getting Better” featurette released

Columbus, Tallahasse, Wichita, and Little Rock move to the American heartland as they face off against evolved zombies, fellow survivors, and the growing pains of the snarky makeshift family... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL6NTQhEqn4 Read more

Zombieland 2: Double Tap trailer released

In Zombieland 2: Double Tap, Columbus, Tallahasse, Wichita, and Little Rock move to the American heartland as they face off against evolved zombies, fellow survivors, and the growing pains of Read more

Zombiegeddon (2003)

Directed by Chris Watson and distributed by Troma Entertainment, Zombiegeddon begins as Satan creates a human-like race called zombies. When the zombies begin taking over the world, dirty cops Jeff Read more

Stephen Pryde-Jarman is a Cult TV and Film journalist, award winning short story writer, playwright and screenwriter. A natural hoarder, second hand shopping fulfils his basic human need for hunter-gathering; but rummaging through a charity shop’s bric-a-brac shelf also brought him the inspiration for his novel Rubble Girl having seen a picture of a Blitz survivor sat amongst the rubble of her house with a cup and saucer. Rubble Girl has been described as " thought-provoking" and "fast paced ... with plenty of twists and turns." Amazon.

%d bloggers like this: