Disc-world

the Disc-World (original title: Discworld ) is a imaginary world fantastic Médiéval parodic developed starting from 1983 by the British writer Terry Pratchett in the continuation of Romance Annals of the Disc-world .

Inspiration and origin

In 1983, Terry Pratchett writes the first volume of the Disc-world. This first volume will be followed from 29 others.

While creating this world which he wants absurd and comic, Terry Pratchett is placed at the antipodes of another universe of Fantasy: the world of Tolkien. Thus, one finds in the Disc-world, the dwarves, the trolls, the magi, but the course of the adventures presents a universe where reign the irrational one, the satire, is delirious it and which points out, by certain sides, the humor of the Monty Python. Behind this light tone and its shifted characters, Terry Pratchett presents a satire of the company: the reactions of the various protagonists are basically human and incoherent. The universe created is thus before a whole pretext to explore the man and his behavior, of its successes to its defects, while passing by its (many) contradictions.

This tendency to social satire, Terry Pratchett inherits it one of its principal references, the comic author Jerome K. Jerome. Very known in Great Britain, this one had as a practice to point in its works them through human and, consequently, those of the company as a whole. Pratchett borrows a great number to him of its characteristics of writing, the such tendency to speak with the first anybody and to address themselves often directly to the reader to deliver his comments to him.

At the time of the exit of the first book of the Disc-world, the Eighth Color , the editor presented the book besides as When Jerome K. Jerome meets Lord off the Rings (with has touch Peter Pan off) (“When Jerome K. Jerome meets the Lord of the Rings (with a key of Peter Pan)”). This short sentence summarizes with it only the essence of the style of Terry Pratchett.

The universe which it created gains a sharp success among amateurs of Fantasy with more than ten million books sold with the the United Kingdom and 546 translations in the whole world. (works of Tolkien gather 1121 translations)

Description of the universe of the Disc-world

Geography

As its name indicates it, the Disc-world is a flat and circular world (supplemented by immense the Cataracte which runs out of its edges). It is constant in the vastness of the universes by four elephant S (Bérilia, Tubul, Ti-Phon the Immense one and Jérakine), themselves perched on the carapace of Large A' Tuin, tortoise sailing slowly in cosmos towards an objective that it only seems to know. Let us announce that small a the Moon and small a Sun turn around the disc, obliging an elephant sometimes to raise a leg to let them pass. One can note the presence in certain mythologies of the intervertebral discs of a fifth elephant which, badly hung in Large A' Tuin, would have been crushed on the Disc-world, thus creating the immense reserves of grease resting under certain areas of the Disc.

As the Disc-world is a disc, the cardinal points (northern, southern, is and western) do not exist, the directions are thus replaced by their circular equivalents: towards the hub , towards the edge , direct direction and direction retrogresses , these two last being relating to the rotation of the disc, rotation explained by the need for equitably distributing the weight of the disc on the back of the four elephants.

There are five Continent S principal on the disc. The first, anonymity, are that where is held the majority of the novels. It is primarily an equivalent with the Eurasia. It contains the flat of Sto and the mountains of the Ram .

In the plains Sto to lie the most famous city of the disc, Ankh-Morpork, site of the Invisible University.

The mountains of the Ram constitute a gigantic assembly line strewn with microphone-kingdoms like that of Lancre. The life as the winters are hard there.

Uberwald, mountainous region and savage who extends between the Ram and the Hub, are a divided territory, under the cut of clans of vampires and wolf-garous (like some insane scientists).

The Moyeu of the disc is occupied by Cori Celesti, an immense gray and frozen vertical peak. At its top, well beyond the clouds, is Dunmanifestine , the field of the God X of the disc, which point out those of the Mythologie S Scandinavian and Greek.

The other continents are the unintermitting Contrepoids with the Eastern style where are located the Agatéen Empire inspired by China, Klatch which one can regard as the Africa disc although it also contains elements inspired of the India and (to pronounce “quatrehics”) which is clearly the Australia.

Fantastic

The Disc-world is a universe of Fantasy with its batch of magic, dragons and robbers. This world however has notable characteristics due to its strong degree of not-reality: the Disc-world should not exist, the author and the characters more the scholars are overall of agreement on this point there.

The Magic is the principal consequence of this distance to reality. But it is also the justification: it would be enough that the magic disappears from the Disc so that this one is dislocated.

The number 8 has a particular significance for the disc (the equivalent of the 7 in our company). There are eight colors in the solar spectrum (the eighth being the '' octarine '', visible magic color only of the magi), eight Jour S in a Semaine of the intervertebral discs (the eighth being octedi ). Because of particular astronomical arrangements, there is also eight Saison S (and 800 days) in one year, although for the majority of the inhabitants of the disc, one year they is four seasons, no matter what the Astronome S. say some the card decks on the disc-world have eight " couleurs": sticks, swords, cuts, parts, octogrammes, elephants, tortoises and crowns.

The low level of reality of the disc also makes it possible the beliefs to materialize: if the inhabitants of the disc believe in something, it is that this thing must exist. And the inhabitants of the disc believe in many things:

  • the gods who govern the life of the mortals and whose capacity depends on the number of faithful (and it is difficult not to accept the gods when those can strike down you at any moment);
  • anthropomorphic personifications. It is enough that a concept sufficiently is developed and spread so that this one is personified by a character. Death belongs to these characters.

Inhabitants

Too much many is the inhabitants of the disc who can be met with the turning of a way or a lane (and rare are those which do not await you there for you détrousser). However we can quote most known who return in several volumes:

  • Of the inhabitants of Ankh-Morpork like:

  • Whose of the invisible Université clicks it with inter alia:
    • Rincevent, magus (at least it is registered on its hat: “MAJE”) accompanied by the Luggage to the multiple legs,
    • Mustrum Ridculle, current Archichancelier,
    • the treasurer, who loses little by little the reason and needs dried frog pills,
    • the holder of the pulpit of the indefinite studies,
    • the assistant of the modern runes,
    • Cogite Stibon, the young director of the magic applied malavized of the UI,
    • the librarian, a Orang-outan,
    • Modo, the dwarf gardener,
    • the major of promotion;
  • And half-tone engraving police force of the city: municipal Guet. With inter alia, in high-speed motorboat:
    • Samuel Vimaire ordering of Guet, old addicted to drink, cynical, disillusioned and pessimistic, married with the richissime Sybil Ramkin, burning protective of sulfurous and pathetic dragons of the marshes,
    • Carrot Fondeurenfersson the largest dwarf of the disc (human adoptee),
    • the sergeant Frederic Colon (human),
    • the corporal Cecil Wormsbourg Midsummer's Day Chicque more known under the name of Chicard (probably human),
    • the agent Refuse, Troll with the slow brain (even according to the trolls criteria),
    • the agent Bourrico, a dwarf,
    • the agent Angua, a she-wolf-garou,
    • the Hilarious agent or Hilaria Petitcul, dwarf seeking to affirm its femininity;
  • the Witch S of the Kingdom of Lancre:
  • close relations of Dead the
  • Of the travellers whom one can meet everywhere:
    • Cohen the Barbarian, legendary hero at the venerable age,
    • Conina, a barbarian woman, girl of Cohen,
    • Deuxfleurs, imperturbable tourist,
    • Casanabo, dwarf and mad lover whose calling card proclaims “Second large lover of the world. Fine swashbuckler. Shameless liar, Soldier of fortune, Repairer of stools”;
  • As well as many divinities and personifications anthropomorphic of which:
    • Azraël, the beginning and end of time,
    • Controllers of reality,
    • Io the Blind man, chief of the gods,
    • the Lady, goddess of the chance (which from goes away if his name is pronounced),
    • the Destiny, rival of the Lady,
    • Offler, divinity with head of Crocodile.
    • the large god Om, god of the only religion monotheist on the disc
    • P' tang-p' tang, the god-salamander.
    • the Gods Trolls.
    • the Gods of Jolhimôme.
    • the Gods of Beautiful young man

Annals of the Disc-world

The series of Romance of the Annales of the Disc-world comprises forty volumes in English, of which 31 was translated into French.

All the translations are the work of Patrick Couton, which received the Grand Prix of Imaginary the in 1998 for its work, and were published in France since 1993 by the publisher Atalante, in its collection Dentelle Of the Swan (until Night round to date), like, since 1997 by the editions Pocket, in the collection Science-Fiction (until Va-t-en-guerre to date). The various illustrations are the work of the Illustrateur S Josh Kirby and Paul Kidby.

The novels can line up in five categories:

  • Rincevent ─ These accounts concentrate around the missed magus.
  • Sorcières ─ These stories are those of the witches of the Kingdom of Lancre.
  • Death ─ These stories speak about Death, its companions and his family.
  • Guet ─ These stories concentrate around half-tone engraving police force of Ankh-Morpork.
  • Various ─ When none the preceding cases applies or not sufficiently.

Note: So distinct, classification and the titles in english language version are specified between brackets.

Other associated works

Except series

* Disc-world: The Vade mecum (The Discworld Companion) , updated in 2006 pennies the title Disc-world: The new Vade mecum
* the science of the Disc-world (The Science off Discworld) with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen : * (The Science off Discworld II: the Earth) with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen : * (The Science off Discworld III: Darwin' S Watch) with Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen

These last three works leave the observation which the novels obey a logical narration , which makes that “what has a chance on a million to arrive occurs 9 times out of 10”, while our physical world is governed by another logic which is the causal logical . The characters of Discworld thus undertake to manufacture a world governed by the causal logic (which is being for them a delirious idea!), which Terry Pratchett tells in the odd chapters , while Ian Stewart and Jack Cohen show of them the physical consequences in the real-world during the even chapters , with the result that one has in fact three different books in the same one.

* the art of the Disc-world (The Art off Discworld) Illustrated by Paul Kidby

* (Nanny Ogg' S Cookbook) Illustrated by Paul Kidby (1999)
* (The Streets off Ankh-Morpork)
* (The Discworld Mapp)
* (Tourist Guide to Lancre has)
* (Death' S Domain)

New S

Pratchett wrote four news in connection with the Disc-world: the Theater of Cruelty ( Theater off Cruelty ), Death, and what comes after ( Death and What Comes Next ), Drame of Troll ( Troll Bridge ) and the Sea and the small fish ( The Sea and Little Fishes ). The two first are available on Internet in several languages including French. Drame of Troll was published in the Good-bye with the King ( After The King: Stories in honor off J.R.R. Tolkien ), a collection of short stories and tests in homage to Tolkien. the Sea and the small fish is appeared in the anthology Légende directed by Robert Silverberg.

Roleplay

; GURPS - Discworld (1998): Roleplay of Philip Masters, Terry Pratchett, edition Steve Jackson Ranges. ; GURPS - Discworld Also (2001): Roleplay of Philip Masters, Terry Pratchett, edition Steve Jackson Ranges.

Video game

The series of Annals of the Disc World ( Discworld in English) was adapted in Video game for ZX Spectrum, PC and PlayStation:

There exists also a MUD based on Annals of the Disc World available has this address

Film

At the time of the festivals of Christmas of the year 2006, the novel of Annals of the Disc-world the Father Pig-keeper ( Hogfather ) was adapted in a telefilm in two parts.

Moreover, two new adaptations should be born: Chtis free men , by Sam Raimi, and Three sœurcières by Terry Gilliam.

  • Imdb Card of '' the Father Pig-keeper ''

Cartoon film

Two novels of Annals of the Disc-world, Three Sœurcières ( Wyrd Sisters ) and Accros of the rock ( Drunk Music ), were adapted in cartoon films in 1997. The films (diffused in series of 6 and 7 episodes on television British) were carried out by Jean Flynn. The British actor Christopher Lee lends his voice to it to the character of Death.

The two series were published in DVD, on which are reproduced also a Short-measuring of presentation of the universe entitled Bienvenue on the Disc-world ( Welcome to the Discworld ).

  • Imdb Card of '' Three Sœurcières ''

  • Imdb Card of '' Accros of the rock ''
  • Imdb Card of '' Bienvenue on the Disc-world ''

Internal bonds

  • Project: Universe of fiction

  • Gate: Science fiction

See too

Carot

External bonds

  • http://www.terrypratchettbooks.com/discworld/
  • http://www.ie.lspace.org/
  • Terry Pratchett Unseen Message Board
  • http://www.elbakin.net/fantasy/romans/disquemonde.htm
  • http://disquemonde.free.fr
  • http://www.efferp.net/

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