It’s 40 years since The Colour of Magic hit the shelves. As newly unearthed short stories are published, fans and friends celebrate the late author’s enduring legacy
is the most alive,” said John Lloyd at the author’s memorial in 2015. This sentiment remains as true now, 40 years after the publication of Pratchett’s first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic. The anniversary has been commemorated in a set of illustrated Royal Mail stamps. There’s been a show dedicated to Pratchett at the Edinburgh fringe.
He combined all the best parts of swords and sorcery, while stripping out the objectionable relics of their period “Terry Pratchett managed to combine all of the best parts of the classic swords and sorcery writers, while stripping out the objectionable relics of their period – the racism and misogyny particularly,” says fantasy author Alex Pheby. “What he put in place of the bad stuff was humour, and a progressive, inclusive treatment of a wide variety of characters. I found that a pretty unbeatable mix, and it’s one that’s really secured his legacy.
Not that Pratchett was universally disparaged: the critics who actually read his books tended to like them. When AS Byatt reviewed Thief of Time, she said it deserved to win the Booker prize. Of course, Pratchett never got a look in. “Thank goodness,” he, “because I think my earnings would have gone down considerably if I suddenly got literary credibility.” He also joked that when he was given an OBE for services to literature, those services “consisted of refraining from trying to write any”.
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