He and Death and now sitting in the Great Dark Mansion, playing chess.

One of my favorite lines in the Discworld novels is when this guy had just died and was turning into a rot.
"But... but I don't believe in reincarnation!" the fellow said.
IT APPEARS THAT REINCARNATION BELIEVES IN YOU, says Death in THAT voice.

I'm going to re-read all his novels.

His explaination on why children must believe in the Hogfather (Santa) remains with me to this day.

I have spent countless hours enjoying his wonderful work, which could make me laugh uproariously and think seriously at the same time.



ETA some great Pratchett quotes:

Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time. - from Hogfather

Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one.

The truth may be out there, but the lies are inside your head.

Goodness is about what you do. Not who you pray to. - from Snuff

The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they’ve found it. – from Monstrous Regiment

to get acclimated to Pratchett's uniquely hysterical universe: The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic. I'd probably recommend Mort next, and then you can go off and graze on whatever you fancy. I found Reaper Man to be especially amusing because of the sheer madness of its premise, and say hello to Reg Shoe when you bump into him.

Meeting Rincewind, the faculty of the Unseen University, The Luggage (don't ask), various and sundry denizens of Ankh-Morpork, and DEATH more or less prepare you for the rest of his endlessly imaginative cosmos.

... that is worth the whole book all by itself (the village where the young men run with the bulls gets considerably disrupted when Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat Garlick drop in) and don't get me started on what happens to the riverboat gambler who takes on Granny.

The Hogfather takes you so deep into mythology you may never come back.

I would wear a sprig of lilac on the 25th of May if any grew around these parts. Ah, the Glorious Revolution of Treacle Mine Road!

Pratchett -- I want to say he will live forever in his books. Perhaps he will, perhaps he will.

It looks like he left on his own terms. As DEATH was an old friend to him, I'm sure went with no fear.

Buggrit! Millennium hand and shrimp! Buggrit!

He will be so missed on Roundworld. have to go, my fingers keep hitting the wrong keys

I'm going to miss him too.

One of my treasures is a copy of Small Gods that he autographed:

"To Kay -- The Turtle moves!" with a sketch of a turtle, including scythe

I'm not Kay -- I bought it pre-owned. Same with Going Postal:

"To Tom -- You're never alone with a Sonkey!"

I read Jingo during the run-up to the US invasion of Iraq, and had to check the pub date to assure myself he hadn't written it just for the occasion.

Damn. I wish he could have stayed with us, though I know he was right to leave ....

I don't like this day.