TERRY PRATCHETT'S INFLUENCE ON FANTASY
As I keep ranting I have been reading Discworld novels for the first time recently, and am finding it staggering just how much influence Terry Pratchett's writing seems to have had on the world of fantasy writing. Here are a few that I think are really interesting:
NEIL GAIMAN
Well this one is kinda really obvious, seeing as they wrote a book together in the early 90s. They have similar approaches when writing about Gods, in particular. Large, ridiculous pantheons which cater to every aspect of the universe. In this case there can be no doubt that Gaiman has been influenced by Pratchett. Particularly in American Gods and Sandman, you can see overlaps. Sandman and the Discworld novels both favour a kind of meta-verse approach to writing fantasy. The first volume of Sandman includes allusions to Shakespearian characters, Superheroes from the DC Universe, and John Constantine from Hellblazer. In The Colour of Magic allusions are made, not to other fantasy-verses but to other realities, one of which seems to obviously be our own (the aeroplane scene). Both Gaiman and Pratchett favour this 'meta' style of writing.
JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL
This book features footnotes! A seemingly boring feature, but actually really inventive as they are used to relate the vast history and lore of Clarke's alternate reality England. 'What an original and inventive use of this old-fashioned writing device!' I couldn't help but think when first I read some of them. Little did I know then that Pratchett had begun this trend decades beforehand.
G.R.R MARTIN
I have not noticed much overlap here - Martin tends to draw on more serious fantasy writers (such as Feist) in his writing, but one thing he does share with Pratchett, and was possibly inspired by, is the strange spelling of names. Now, I know that it is a fantasy trope to invent strange names with strange spellings, but Martin is the first writer I've read who, like Pratchett, just spells conventional names in strange ways. Presumably to make them feel more ye olde. For example: Lysa, Jeyne and Petyr.
HARRY POTTER
The disappearing shops thing! Which is described in detail towards the end of The Light Fantastic, is identical to the way Rowling claims the Leaky Cauldron is hidden in the Potterverse. Only Pratchett goes to some length to explain these disappearing shops and takes a much sillier approach towards them.
WARHAMMER FANTASY
I saved the longest and nerdiest for last. The staggeringly obvious influence Pratchett has had on the Warhammer Fantasy world. While the first edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle (WFB) was released in the same year as the first Discworld novel (The Colour of Magic), the first Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying core-book was not released until 87, four years later, making it historically plausible that Pratchett influenced the creation of this massively popular fantasy world. My initial reaction towards Ankh-Morpork was feeling generally baffled at how similar it sounded to Altdorf. I have only read a few short stories set in WF, but I have also been playing a WFRP game for over a year now, and reading about Rincewind and his acquaintances, I couldn't help but feel that I was being introduced to new NPCs and the GM was soon going to ask me what I wanted to do next. It feels gritty and dark, and death is literally always on Rincewind's tail - which is exactly how you feel playing WFRP. The characters are gruff and have more flaws and faults than average fantasy, which is exactly what I love about both universes. The adventures seems so much more interesting and plausible than things like Doctor Who, in which you know the main characters cannot die because of the simple fact that they are main characters. This kills suspense and mystery!
Aside from the general grim-dark feel of the both settings, the other overlaps are the silliness and the magic systems. WFRP features 8 colours or winds of magic, and in Discworld 8 is constantly referred to as a powerfully magical number. Magic cannot be tamed. It cannot be tethered or contained and is extremely risky to use. In WFRP magic users risk riling the God of Change, Tzeetnch, every time they call upon magic, and can literally melt their brains if things go too wrong. Similarly in the Discworld, magical books have minds of their own, and mastering a single spell can take years to learn.
NEIL GAIMAN
Well this one is kinda really obvious, seeing as they wrote a book together in the early 90s. They have similar approaches when writing about Gods, in particular. Large, ridiculous pantheons which cater to every aspect of the universe. In this case there can be no doubt that Gaiman has been influenced by Pratchett. Particularly in American Gods and Sandman, you can see overlaps. Sandman and the Discworld novels both favour a kind of meta-verse approach to writing fantasy. The first volume of Sandman includes allusions to Shakespearian characters, Superheroes from the DC Universe, and John Constantine from Hellblazer. In The Colour of Magic allusions are made, not to other fantasy-verses but to other realities, one of which seems to obviously be our own (the aeroplane scene). Both Gaiman and Pratchett favour this 'meta' style of writing.
JONATHAN STRANGE & MR NORRELL
This book features footnotes! A seemingly boring feature, but actually really inventive as they are used to relate the vast history and lore of Clarke's alternate reality England. 'What an original and inventive use of this old-fashioned writing device!' I couldn't help but think when first I read some of them. Little did I know then that Pratchett had begun this trend decades beforehand.
G.R.R MARTIN
I have not noticed much overlap here - Martin tends to draw on more serious fantasy writers (such as Feist) in his writing, but one thing he does share with Pratchett, and was possibly inspired by, is the strange spelling of names. Now, I know that it is a fantasy trope to invent strange names with strange spellings, but Martin is the first writer I've read who, like Pratchett, just spells conventional names in strange ways. Presumably to make them feel more ye olde. For example: Lysa, Jeyne and Petyr.
HARRY POTTER
The disappearing shops thing! Which is described in detail towards the end of The Light Fantastic, is identical to the way Rowling claims the Leaky Cauldron is hidden in the Potterverse. Only Pratchett goes to some length to explain these disappearing shops and takes a much sillier approach towards them.
WARHAMMER FANTASY
I saved the longest and nerdiest for last. The staggeringly obvious influence Pratchett has had on the Warhammer Fantasy world. While the first edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle (WFB) was released in the same year as the first Discworld novel (The Colour of Magic), the first Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying core-book was not released until 87, four years later, making it historically plausible that Pratchett influenced the creation of this massively popular fantasy world. My initial reaction towards Ankh-Morpork was feeling generally baffled at how similar it sounded to Altdorf. I have only read a few short stories set in WF, but I have also been playing a WFRP game for over a year now, and reading about Rincewind and his acquaintances, I couldn't help but feel that I was being introduced to new NPCs and the GM was soon going to ask me what I wanted to do next. It feels gritty and dark, and death is literally always on Rincewind's tail - which is exactly how you feel playing WFRP. The characters are gruff and have more flaws and faults than average fantasy, which is exactly what I love about both universes. The adventures seems so much more interesting and plausible than things like Doctor Who, in which you know the main characters cannot die because of the simple fact that they are main characters. This kills suspense and mystery!
Aside from the general grim-dark feel of the both settings, the other overlaps are the silliness and the magic systems. WFRP features 8 colours or winds of magic, and in Discworld 8 is constantly referred to as a powerfully magical number. Magic cannot be tamed. It cannot be tethered or contained and is extremely risky to use. In WFRP magic users risk riling the God of Change, Tzeetnch, every time they call upon magic, and can literally melt their brains if things go too wrong. Similarly in the Discworld, magical books have minds of their own, and mastering a single spell can take years to learn.
