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Discworld Monthly - February 2023 - Issue 296

[Table of Contents]
Issue 296 - Year of the Querulous Megapode!

1. Editorial

Welcome to issue 296 and to the roundworld year 2023 and the Discworld year officially known as the Year of the Querulous Megapode!.

Over the last couple of months we, as a community, have lost two big names in the Discworld fandom. Both Elizabeth Navi and Pam Gower were amazing people and will be missed by many. GNU Elizabeth and Pam.

* * * * *

Hopefully by now many of you will have seen the Amazing Maurice either at a cinema or on your Television via Sky Cinema. Don't forget to visit our Database of Maurice Cinemas to see when you can see Maurice in your country.

The USA / Canada and Brazil are some of the most recent countries to get The Amazing Maurice and Germany got it on 9th February 2023.

Don't forget you still have the opportunity to purchase a Maurice of your own, but not for long, we believe the ordering window will close at the end of March. BluGoblin's Maurice statue is a life sized ceramic model of Maurice as seen in the film. See BluGoblin's Store for more details.

* * * * *

Amazon has recently commissioned a survey of Britain's best loved authors. The top spot was taken by Jane Austin and Terry Pratchett came in at number 11. The news of this report was reported by a number of newspapers but we are unable to find the original source.

* * * * *

The team at The Amazing Maurice film have a request from those of you that enjoyed the movie. Please go over to Rotten Tomatoes and write your review.

The film industry does read what is being said on Rotten tomatoes so it is important for the future investors to see that Terry's works can be well received and are worth adapting.

There have been some quite negative and biassed (in my opinion) reviews on there so please post some genuine and fair (hopefully positive) ones to help balance them out.

Jason

Hi all,

Since we've added to our social media channels, our Mastodon account continues to gain followers. Unlike our other channels, I use Mastodon to give a little insight into the processes behind creating Discworld Monthly.

If you are into the Fedi-verse and a little interested in how our sanity copes with producing this periodical, then do follow us on Mastodon.

* * * * *

As you are all aware, I tend to get snippets of information about things floating into my eyesight and also into my ears.

Fantasy Forest Festival in Cheltenham this July may be worth buying a ticket. The tickets for the event are selling quite quickly and I wouldn't want anyone to miss out on what may be appearing there.

I can't give any detailed information but I am pretty confident that Discworld fans will be upset if they cannot get tickets when those details come to light.

* * * * *

Amateur dramatic society productions of Terry's works have finally come back to the stage in force after the pandemic.

Don't forget we have the only database of Discworld Events and Stage productions available anywhere so do check it out.

* * * * *

Paul Kidby's exhibition Denizens of Discworld 30 Years of Paul Kidby's Discworld Illustrations is entering its last week at St Barbe Museum. Don't miss this amazing collection of his works as it will be closing on the 18th Feb.

Tickets are available from St Barbe Museum

* * * * *

Do we have any news for Good Omens fans? It won't be long until we have some news about Good Omens 2 but for now we have some news about some merchandise that will be coming out later this year. See Section 2.3 for details.

* * * * *

One last thing, thank you to everyone who sent in letters over the last couple of months. Many that were sent to us were not for publication, but to show their support for what we do and we were genuinely touched by them. They made the heart swell and they made the constant work to produce Discworld Monthly a little bit more bearable.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,

Rachel

2. News

2.1 LarpCon 2023 - The Larpcon of Magic

Larpcon is a larp convention where traders, panellists and promoters alike celebrate something that has influenced their time in the Larp community. Larp stands for Live Action Role Play for those who don't know the acronym.

This year the organisers decided to celebrate 40 years of Discworld. To celebrate this anniversary there will be several Discworld themed activities over the weekend on top of the usual Larpcon convention activities.

Larpcon happens at Whitwick and Coalville Leisure Centre, but it is much more than just a Larp kit fair.

The event includes:

The Discworld activities include:

Friday night's quiz will include some Discworld themed rounds, at the Elite Gaming Lounge in Coalville - entry is free.

Discworld Monthly will be in attendance with an exhibit all about Terry and Discworld with Jason talking about Terry on both days (different talk each day).

There will be a Discworld Cosplay parade with prizes for the best costume both days and there will also be an opportunity to have your photo taken with the Luggage.

An orangutan may also be found wandering about the venue.

To find out more head over to their facebook event page but if you don't do facebook, they do have a website

Where, when and how much? I hear you shout..

Date: Friday 3rd March - Sun 5th March 2023

Location: Whitwick + Coalville Leisure Centre, Stephenson way, Coalville, Leicestershire, UK, LE67 3FE

Tickets can be bought in advance from Warped Dreams

Bought in advance:

On the door:

2.2 Swansea Pride

Discworld Monthly and Llamedos Holiday Camp will be joining the Pride March and parade at Swansea Pride on Saturday 29th April 2023.

We want YOU to join us as part of the march, and as part of the Discworld community joining together at the Pride festival at Museum park in Swansea.

The Pride festival at Museum Park outside the Waterfront Museum contains stalls, food and entertainment and will be running until 7pm.

We will be meeting at the March start point from 10am to make sure we are all together for the start of the parade at 11am.

Please bring a bottle of water with you, as in past years it has been Hot! Hot! Hot!

You can dress however you choose, our Rincewind will be in attendance and we would love to see some other Discworld characters join him on the march.

We need to know how many of us will be marching so please let us know on either our facebook event page by clicking GOING or by emailing us at .

There are many hotels in Swansea City centre, Travelodge, Premier Inn and Delta Marriot are all affordable and currently have rooms available.

The Train and Bus Stations are all within the city centre and are just a short walk from these hotels and the March start point.

Meet us outside the Pitcher & Piano pub, 59-60 Wind St, Swansea SA1 1EG from 10am, the March and Parade will leave at 11am.

The entertainment at the Pride festival will open at 12 noon and is located at Museum Park, Oystermouth Rd, Maritime Quarter, Swansea SA1 3ST. It's also a really good place to see everyone arrive at the end of the march.

If you have any questions, either post in our facebook event page or by emailing us at and a member of the team will get back to you.

We hope to see you there!

SUPPORTING | CELEBRATING | CHAMPIONING LGBTQ+

Swansea Pride is organised by https://www.swanseapride.co.uk/ - members of the UK PRIDE organisers network

2.3 Good Omens - An Ineffable Game

Renegade games have recently announced a new card and dice game called Good Omens - An Ineffable Game. The game is a co-operative game in which the players must battle heaven and hell and features seven mini games based on seven key scenes from Good Omens series one. Each game is designed to take around 20 - 30 minutes to play and can be played individually or as a campaign for one longer sitting. Apparently each game is easy to learn to play with most only having one or two pages of instructions.

Good Omens An Ineffable Game - Announced

There will be three versions for the US market:

The different versions are cosmetic and don't affect the gameplay, just the experience.

The game is expected to be released in the US in 2023. At the moment we don't have any information about international releases.

2.4 The Amazing Maurice

2.4.1 The Amazing Maurice at Alexandra Palace.

The Amazing Maurice LIVE!

A very special screening of the film will take place at Alexandra Palace Theatre with a LIVE orchestra. [don't know why they are saying a live orchestra, who wants to see a dead one? - Rach]

This will take place on Sunday 9th April 2023 with two screenings.

The 11am performance is in aid of Cats Protection, the UK's largest feline welfare charity.

The 2.30pm afternoon performance will be extra-special with Gabrielle Aplin singing live alongside the orchestra, performing songs she wrote for the film as well as a special introduction from Andrew Baker and some very special guests.

The Amazing Maurice merchandise team will also be there so you can purchase yourself something from the merchandise range in person (no shipping fees!)

A teaser trailer for the event can be seen over on Youtube

Tickets range in price from 25.95 GBP to 111.95 GBP per showing.

Location: Alexandra Palace, Alexandra Palace Way, London, N22 7AY

Box Office

2.4.2 The Amazing Maurice Worldwide Releases

It appears many countries will be getting The Amazing Maurice hitting their cinemas in 2023. As to what cinemas and exactly when, for a lot of countries is still a bit hazy or at least I cannot find confirmed information. I can tell you release dates and if your country is showing it. I cannot tell you if your country isn't showing it because, well they don't tell anyone that.

I have done my best to collate all the information I have solid sources for. And a huge amount of thanks to those that emailed us with clues and links to cinema chains.

Don't forget to take a look at our Amazing Maurice Cinema Database

Confirmed dates based on UK GMT timings.

Still to be confirmed:

2.4.3 The Amazing Maurice Statue from Blugoblin

Blugoblin have extended the opportunity to purchase one of the hand-painted life size statues of The Amazing Maurice. You now have until the end of March to get your pre-order in.

We can't wait to get one in our house as we had the pleasure of seeing the prototype in the flesh as it were at the MCM London event back in November.

See BluGoblin's Store for more details.

2.5 Audio Book News

We've been a little lax in keeping you informed about the new audiobooks from Transworld. So here is all the release news from the last few months.

All the audio books have Bill Nighy as the voice of the footnotes and Peter Serafinowicz as the voice of Death.

Pre-order or purchase links are available on our affiliate page

Release date: Already Available.

Read by Colin Morgan:
The Wizard Series: The Colour of Magic, The Light Fantastic, Sourcery, Eric, Interesting Times, The Last Continent, Unseen Academicals.

Read by Indira Varma:
The Witches Series: Equal Rites, Wyrd Sisters, Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Maskerade, Carpe Jugulum.

Read by Sian Clifford:
The Death series: Mort, Reaper Man, Soul Music, Hogfather, Thief of Time

Read by Andy Serkis:
Small Gods

Read by Ariyon Bakare:
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents

Release date: 23/02/2023

Read by Katherine Parkinson:
Monstrous Regiment

Read by Richard Coyle:
The Moist Von Lipwig series: Going Postal, Making Money, Raising Steam.

Read by Mathew Baynton:
The Truth

Release date:15/06/2023

Read by Indira Varma:
The Tiffany Aching Series: The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, I Shall Wear Midnight, A Shepherd's Crown.

Audio books which have yet to have their narrator confirmed.

Release date: 20/03/2023:
Pyramids

Release date: 27/04/2023:
Guards! Guards!, Feet of Clay, Men at Arms, Jingo, The Fifth Elephant, Night Watch, Thud!, Snuff.

Release date: 20/05/2023:
Moving Pictures

2.6 Book Release news

We have a couple of new releases hitting the bookshops over the next couple of months. Obviously these are all new editions rather than complete new books and they tie up with the audiobook releases above.

There are two exceptions to this, one is the new paperback version of Eric. This may have due to Random House Publishing not having the rights to Eric as they were previously published by Victor

Sources indicate the Special edition of Nation will be a hardcover edition. I am secretly hoping for a hardback with a cover by Joe Mclaren to match the Discworld Collectors editions as they have already done The Bromeliad Trilogy and Good Omens in that format.

Release date: 23rd Feb 2023

Release date: 30th March 2023

Release date: 27th April 2023

Release date: 18th May 2023

As always you can find links to these on our Issue 296 - affiliate links page

3. Review: Rob Wilkins Interview and book signing Norwich

Review by Carolanne Brewer

30th November 2022 – 7:30pm Waterstones Book Store, Castle Quarter, Norwich

"Terry Pratchett – A Life with Footnotes. The Official Biography by Rob Wilkins", published by Transworld Publishers, 2022

We arrived about 7pm for a quick browse before the interview with Rob Wilkins and was pleasantly surprised to meet up with two or three Discworld fans that I knew.

The room was full (over 100 people, showing a decent amount of interest in the Discworld universe in East Anglia!).

Rob arrived promptly at 7:30, with a small entourage (which included his lovely mum!), with a glass of brandy in memory of Terry. He was interviewed by journalist Kat Brown, suitably dressed in black with a bee pattern. He told us that this last interview and book signing was the final date of the tour, as Norwich was his home city.

Rob started by telling us about the origin of the biography, that Terry started it and left 24,000 words, which makes up much of the first part of the book. In essence, the book is an autobiography, wrapped in a biography, which felt very bittersweet. Rob was clearly moved at this point, and the crowd was quiet in response. The book is all about Terry.

Kat was a very good interviewer, asking well practised questions that helped us understand how the book came about. I was impressed (as always) by Rob's dedication to Terry and his memory, and the determination to keep his legacy alive.

We heard lots of stories of Terry (and Neil Gaiman), always entertaining! Rob told us about the filming of Good Omens 2 (and that he now owns the watch worn by David Tennant in the series). He talked about how Terry had a support mechanism that allowed Terry to be the writer he was.

Rob told us about how he became Terry's assistant/business manager – and it was all Jilly Cooper's fault! For a full explanation, it's in the introduction in the book.

At the end, Rob drank the brandy in one go in Terry's memory and then commenced the book signing. I was one of the last to go up and we had a really nice chat about the book (and I had a quick look at the watch!).

4. Review: Denizens of Discworld. 30 years of Paul Kidby's illustrations.

St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, Lymington. 14 Jan to 18 Feb 2023.

By David and Lyn Moger

In 1993 Paul Kidby gave Terry Pratchett an envelope of illustrations of Discworld characters that he had drawn, and a few weeks later Terry contacted him with some Discworld projects he wanted him to work on. Paul is still illustrating Discworld 30 years on. He was at the exhibition of some of his work at Lymington to sign books, and we took the opportunity to have a very brief chat with him while he was signing our book. He was scheduled to be signing from 10am until noon, but when we left at nearly 12 the queue was still out the door. It was very good to talk to him, and we would like to thank him for being so generous with his time, despite the queue.

The exhibition in Lymington ranges from a 1994 pencil illustration of Rincewind up to illustrations from 2021 for the Ultimate Discworld Companion. These new drawings are of characters who only appear in one book, so there are Mrs. Gogol, Baron Saturday and Ella Saturday from Witches Abroad, Ptraci and Pteppic from Pyramids, the Creator of XXXX, and Coin from Sourcery (complete with Ipslore's staff), all in pencil drawings. They also appear in the new version of the Discworld Massif, the Discworld Massive Massif. The original was painted in 2014 featuring 77 characters, and the new version has 150. We spent a good while trying to name them! The key on the wall also helped. No doubt a print will appear in due course.

There are also several reworked paintings, including a new version of the Mona Ogg which has a disapproving Granny Weatherwax in the background, and a new portrait of Death which was only finished four days before the exhibition opened. To us this portrait seems to echo the shape of the hourglass (we thought) and talking to Paul he said it was not deliberate (but he said he will take credit for it in the future!)

For several subjects the finished painting and the first pencil draft are shown side by side. One of these is the painting of the Librarian, which is on the cover of the Ultimate Discworld companion. I (Dave) liked the pencil drawing better than the final full colour version. Although it doesn't have Rincewind and the luggage in, the pencil version has much more expressive eyes than the final version. It seemed to me that everything in that drawing was centred on the eyes and to me that made it a much better representation of the Librarian.

Another pencil drawing which was better (Lyn's opinion this time,) was the original drawing for the cover of The Shepherd's Crown. Paul was drawing this when he heard of Terry's death, and he thinks that Tiffany's sad expression in the drawing is a result of that. The publishers wanted some changes, including fewer bees, but talking to Paul at the book signing, he said the sad expression was not wanted also. However it is definitely a better picture.

The exhibition runs until 18 February and is well worth a trip if you are within striking distance of the New Forest. (We can recommend the Travelodge at Stoney Cross, Lyndhurst for a cheap overnight stay.) It is quite a small exhibition, not as big as the Salisbury "His World" exhibition in 2017 but there is enough new work to make it worthwhile. I don't think the café will still have the special it was advertising when we went – CMOT Dibbler's Sausage inna Bun – but that may be a good thing…

* * * * *

A second opinion from Ellie Olson:

Despite the dreadful weather there was a fantastic turnout to Paul Kidby's book signing and Denizens of Discworld exhibition at St. Barbe Museum & Art Gallery in Lymington last Saturday.

The friendly staff were amazed by how many people were there (they weren't used to us Discworld fans!). The queue seemed never ending but it was just slow moving as Paul was so nice and chatting as well as allowing selfies with so many of us.

As for the exhibition there are lots of new works as well as all our favourites. There's still time to go and see it for yourselves as it runs until 18th February.

Sausage inna bun
Fun in the queue
Getting books signed

5. DiscTrivia

This month Jason has written five more trivia questions, this time not tied to any one particular novel.

Q1. Who was the 37th Lord d'Eath?
Q2. At which establishment is Miss Drapes a senior clerk?
Q3. Who is Heme Krona?
Q4. Who is Belafon?
Q5. Where is Brother Prankster a lecturer?

The answers can be found at the end of this issue.

6. Birthdays

Everyone has a birthday. If you know someone who would like a mention or if you would like your birthday included in the listings, send us an email the month before your birthday and we will add it to the list! Email rachel@discworldmonthly.co.uk Subject: Birthday

Happy January and February Birthday greetings to: Masakazu Ohshiro, Carolanne Ellis-Brewer, Chris Pendry, Bev Greenhalgh, Nicole Henderson, Hannah Wright, Polly Bartlett, Anita Carr, Steven Dean, Dawn Tazare, Gemma P, Stella Carter, Adam Barker, Helen Boothby, Heather Wallace, Andrew Nevill, Megan Lewis, Andrew Norman, John Quilty, Elaine Boot, Lucie Zeale, Margaret Butler, Emma Spruce-Smith, Bambanella Brunigioni, Mitch Benn, Tim Williams, Keith Stewart, Muriel Lavender, Vicky Lear, Wendy Green, Catherine Homer, Marti Sterin, Garry Oxley, Rob Liano, Jane Deal, Andrew Raby, Iain Campbell, Sara-Jane Ray, Christian Almgren, Charles Braham, Richie Watkins, Marina Yakimova, Jen Austen, Butch Rivera, SteelJam, Astrid Stratton, Abbie Walton, Andrea Potts-Pointer, Naomi Webb, Jeff Rupp, Martin Glauner, Kimberley Chandler, Joe Pattison, Thomas Rowlands, Jerry Elsmore, Beth Murray, Helen Cordingley and Tom Foolery, Jesscia Tarttelin and Kellee Matlock.

7. Readers' Letters

If you have any letters or comments, please email them to

We assume any correspondence is eligible for use in the newsletter unless otherwise stated, including the sender's email address. We may edit your letters for length, spelling or grammar and will try not to let the cat get to them.

It is vitally important that you don't pass off other people's work as your own. If you use information from other resources please let us know so we can give proper credit.

We make an editorial decision on what letters to include. Sometimes the opinions expressed in a letter are not the same as our own but we reserve the right to publish them nevertheless. You might not like the content of the letters we publish and we encourage you to write in your own constructive letters explaining your points of view. We will not shy away from including letters that question our views and expect our readers to be able to accept that not everyone has the same point of view on all subjects.

* * * * *

* From: "Name and email withheld on posters request"

Note: We have upon request not edited this letter in any way and included it as is.

The Amazing Maurice: A Review.

Where to start. Well there are a number of questions that immediately spring to mind about any film adaption of a book, and whether or not it is a good adaption, or even, is it a good film. The Amazing Maurice is a good film. ...but that is not the full statement. As a film it filled out certain boxes of the usual "Hollywood" adaption of a book, or whatever format a film might be adapted from. It was well cast and well made, performances were good and the whole did not suck. Which is why this is also a shame.

Or to put it the way I feel about it. Yes I liked it, but it is not an exceptional film. The source material is exceptional, I mean this book won awards and everything. This film looks good but it lacks a certain something that would lift it up above the croud of films out there, especially animated films. In point of fact, the following elements are true. As a film it was clearly aimed at very young children. The colours were bright and the whole very family friendly. But it lacked... There was little, to no emotional resonance with the characters, and while performances were good, they were not riveting, nor even immediately catching. The animation was standard fare for CGI cartoons that are made today, and it was all a little bit plastic and antiseptic. Was it a good adaption of the source material? Yes... and NO. It looked to me as if the producers boiled the story down to a basic plot synopsis and then just lifted a few scenes from the book and then made their own family friendly version of these elements, adding in a few Easter Eggs to keep dedicated fans happy (most notably things taken from Paul Kidby's art - Rincewind, statue of Terry Pratchett, and so on.)

As Terry Pratchett himself put it, it was sanitised by well meaning adults into what they believe a child wants or needs in a book, or in this case, a film. The book was far deeper than the story depicted here in this cinematic affair, and it was disappointing for that reason.

So lets start back at the beginning. The animation was standard fair, which was good for most audiences, especially toddlers. But it lacked art. Take for instance a film from the past, an adaption of a book. Lets use the book and film 'Watereship Down'. Now as a child, the very first book I ever read was Watership Down. Admittedly I was only six years old at the time, but it was a good read and I enjoyed it. Cut to a few years later and a film version was made of the book. It was a work of art and quite a joy to watch. Yes it was shorter than the book, and left out bits, but it was reasonably faithful, and more importantly it was well made. The animation was old hat by today's standards, and maybe not the same bright palette as say Disney animated features of the time (and past), but it was a work of art. It had good music and emotional performances, and characters you could empathize with, no matter if you were a child or an adult. It became a hit film, because it was exceptional.

A more modern take on the same type of thing, standard film-making versus artistic film-making - And lets assume that the producers of the film adaption intend to make a reasonably accurate adaption of the original book, so thus the story is already known, so the only people who would be surprised by plot twists and characterisation would be those who had not read the original book, and this also holds true for the futurisation of any film, the only course left to the film-makers is to make a film that works artistically. So lets use Harry Potter as a point here. The first two films were very well made and were, and still are, great films, but the third film took the films to a whole new level. Alfonso Cauron took the franchise into a more artistic realm. The flat looking castle (Hogwarts) was suddenly this multilevel Gothic building on the side of a mountain and it was better for it, there was a darker artistic realm in this film, the whole film had a more ethereal feel to it which is why this is still my favourite of the whole Octology.

So why cannot 'The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents' have been a more artistically made film? They started out with production art by Carter Goodrich. This was a good start. High profile adaptions of Carter Goodrich concept art into films includes 'Despicable Me', and 'Brave' both of which were excellent animated movies, with 'Brave' being a particularly excellent and artistic film. So why didn't they just make the book as is with this artistic talent as a lynchpin?

Instead we got a watered down, anticeptic, politically correct version, that does not fully satisfy. I have had quite enough of all this PC film-making and backseat direction from paper pushers and money lenders. True art has no limits, especially those trying to please every aspect of an expected audience, and attempting to not offend anyone in it. I recently read that attempts had been made to update the written works of Enid Blyton, to make them more politically correct, which is a very wrong thing to do to any author or creative work, so it came as no surprise to me that this attempt did not work, and even the youngest people today prefer the non-PC versions of the stories. Her stories stood and stand on their own without being politically correct and she is still the eighth best selling author today, I hear. So what was missing from Amazing Maurice, what was cut out and why? Whole characters were left out, story parts were transposed to different locations and a whole new part inserted relating to the Pied Piper. I cannot see why. The book's tone was darker than most people suppose, and it had elements of metaphysical angst which were sanitised out entirely. The confrontation with the "Bad Guy" was taken out of the dark (cellars) and into the light (outside the village), and again watered down. This made it less entertaining and took away the emotional elements that were supposed to be played out in this scene, especially the idea of self and dreams. The Rat King was boiled down to a single hive humanoid figure, which despite Thewlis' best vocal efforts, failed to show much menace at all. The final Pied Piper scene in the book was chopped in favour of the pointless mid-film sequence of stealing the pipers flute, which was a greater loss to the film and story than the producers could obviously imagine in their limited way. Imagine if you will what could have been done both artistically and musically if they had kept the proper pied piper scene the way it was written. Imaging what a score could have been written for a battle between two dueling musicians, one playing a supposed magical flute, and one playing the only instrument he could find, namely a trombone. That scene would and could have been marvelous, or dare I say, Amazing!

So much for this being the perfect adaption of a Terry Pratchett book. All I can see are the lost chances to do it right. And yes it does seem to have pleased some people, but not me, not totally anyway.

Oh yes, and while the cast was superb, the choice for the voice of death was very weak. Where was the voice speaking in capitals?!? Why could they not approach one of the people who had voice'd Death before? (well alright Christopher Lee is late and lamented, as is Ian Richardson. RIP) But Rob Brydon and Nigel Planer are still about, but my favourite choices would be Idris Elba, or Benedict Cumberbach or even Jeremy Irons.

Final analysis, this film was good but left me wanting.

Jason replies: Thanks for your review, as you can see it varies dramatically from what Rachel and I felt about The Amazing Maurice. Were we wrong and this review correct? Write to us at and let us know.

* * * * *

* From: "Robert Bull"

I like fantasy (amongst other things) author Juliet E. McKenna, who despite that middle initial, is English.

Her latest blog post Here we go again… mentions her Christmas and New Year:

"I got a good haul of reading gifts, and three very different books have turned out to have an elegiac atmosphere in common as I've settled down to read them since Christmas. That was no great surprise from "Terry Pratchett, A Life With Footnotes." This biography was entertaining, illuminating, and makes me fiercely cross about his untimely death all over again."

* * * * *

* From: "Pax Well"

Enormous gratitude for Discworld monthly and all the news. Its enabled me to see several plays that I would not have heard about otherwise

And also got to see Troll Bridge in Llanelli and met some of the actors.

Off to See Maurice in Port Talbot next

Happy Hogswatch to the team

Pat xxx

* * * * *

* From: "Neil Bamford"

I just wanted to say Hi.. I'm Nely.. And I look forward to reading your monthly newsletter avidly.. I live in Patagonia.. Near lago carrera. General. I suppose parts of it look like uberwald.. Glaciers.. Mountains.. Lakes.. Nobody.

Anyway I just wanted to say feliz. Navidad.. Happy hogswatch.. And Merritt crimbo.. And keep up the good work.. You don't need an award to know Terry would be proud. And it keeps me entertained.

Can't wait to watch Maurice.. Love the book.. Not many disc world fans in Patagonia.. But I'll keep asking around.

It'll be alreet.. Laters..

* * * * *

* From: "Aimee Ford"

An Amazing Fundraiser!

Adelaide locals were treated to an Amazing movie screening on Saturday the 10th of December at Palace Nova Prospect when the Australian Discworld Convention showed a special advance screening of "The Amazing Maurice". Due to be released in Australia on the 12th of January, the story is based on a book by our favourite fantasy author, Sir Terry Pratchett.

For those who need a refresher, the story is about the Amazing Maurice, a talking cat, who, together with a bunch of talking rats and a boy called Keith, run a Pied Piper type scam in a new town every day. They stumble upon a Mystery (it deserves the capital M) when they reach a town with a rat infestation without the rats. They team up with Malicia, a story obsessed girl and daughter of the town's mayor, to help solve the puzzle of the starving town without getting trapped, hurt or eaten!

Unlike some Pratchett adaptations, The Amazing Maurice was considerably true to the source materials (COUGHTheWatchCOUGH) which delighted the viewers. Fans particularly loved nods to the author and brief cameos of other well-loved characters – no spoilers here! Truly a family film, there was enough to keep it interesting for older viewers as well as mild enough to not be too scary for the younger audience members. In fact, due to a sudden increase in ticket sales in the last days leading up to the event, the movie screening was moved to a different cinema in the complex half an hour before the start time, giving ticket holders the bigger screen experience.

The movie screening was organised to help raise funds for the upcoming Australian Discworld Convention in 2024. Each two years a different state hosts the convention, and it is Adelaide's turn again, the last being in 2017. Check out the Australian Discworld Convention page to find out more about tickets to the convention and to join the newsletter. To this end, a raffle and market stall was also held before the screening with prizes including double movie passes, museum exhibit tickets, and a new, not-yet-released-in-Australia book of "The Unadulterated Cat Maurice".

Now the only question left is: is it MawREESE or MORRis?

* * * * *

* From: "Carolanne Brewer"

Dear East Anglian fans of Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld and other writings. We are thinking of starting a monthly online (and in person) meetup to discuss and celebrate his writing and life. If you are living in Norfolk/Suffolk/Cambridgeshire and want a local group this is for you. We will start with online and if wanted will arrange meetings in person possibly involving quaffing!!

Please email me on if you are interested. Please note: this group is for fans in East Anglia, but visitors will be very welcome!

If there is enough interest a Facebook page will be created :)

Carolanne Brewer Norfolk

* * * * *

* From: "Masakazu Ohshiro"

I'm Masakazu Ohshiro, have met "Mort" Japanese edition on 2005 when I still lived and worked in Japan, and had been one of a few fan of Sir Terry Pratchett's works in Japan, till I moved to Canada with my wife on 2012 and still a fan of one of the great authors in the whole history. Also, I have been a subscriber of Discworld Monthly since issue 136.

I have been quite busy in recent years with work and raising our now 6 years old boy, and reading Raising Steam veeeery slowly (a page or 2 in a week pace) for some years.

My current job is English to Japanese video game translator, and Sir T.P. inspired my sense of humour a lot. I even put homages of a few of Discworld's phrases in my translation for a game's flavor texts; sadly, it seems not many Japanese gamers know Sir T.P. nor find my homages.

* * * * *

* From: "Louise Hitchcock"

I have the following comment for your reader's letter section. I know you don't "print" all but I thought I would pass comment on the recent release of the Terry bust from the Emporium.

Firstly, thank you all at Discworld Monthly for your continued efforts, energy and newsletters that I look forward to every month. I'm not sure whether I had overly high expectations but I am slightly disappointed with the very expensive Terry bust from the Discworld Emporium. On the listing they said that it was for the 50th Anniversary but nowhere is there anything on the bust saying this. Even a sticker on the bottom of the base would've been nice. I know it came with an envelope saying as such but at the price I'm surprised. I feel that at just under £250 an expectation of something on the bust itself is reasonable. Plus with the "extremely limited" release (this time, I am aware they are planning to make more available in 2023) I was hoping for a limited edition number, after all they did sell out in about 30 minutes and came with the warning to check out as just having the bust in your basket wouldn't reserve one. I do love the bust and all of the 'objects de art' I have from the emporium but this one just left me feeling a little flat.

Jason replies: We still haven't seen the bust in person yet. We hope to get one soon.

8. Events

As part of the process of updating our website we've combined Stage Productions / Conventions and Fan Meetups into a single page.

It's great to see so many productions pop-back up on the schedule (even if most of them appear to be Wyrd Sisters). If you see a production local to you, please send us as much information as possible (in case we don't know about it) to

8.1 Current and Upcoming Events

For more details of these current and upcoming events visit: Pratchett Events and Productions

8.2 New and Updated Events

These events productions are new this month or have been updated. For our full list visit: Pratchett Events and Productions

* * * * *

[UK] Updated Event - Denizens of Discworld 30 Years of Paul Kidby's Discworld Illustrations
Location: St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, New Street, Lymington, Hampshire SO41 9BH
Dates: 14th Jan - 18th Feb 2023
Times: Monday to Saturday – 10am to 4pm
Tickets: Adult £6, Child £3, Concess £5, Family £12
Website: https://www.stbarbe-museum.org.uk/

* * * * *

[UK] New Event - The Larpcon of Magic
Location: Whitwick and Coalville Leisure Centre, Stephenson Way, Coalville LE67 3FE
Dates: Fri 3rd March - Sun 5th March 2023
Times: Sat 10am - 5pm, Sun 11am -4pm
Tickets: £6 /£5 for a weekend ticket, Individual day tickets at £4/£3
Box office: warped-dreams.co.uk
Website: http://larpcon.co.uk/

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[UK] Updated Stage Production - Hertford Dramatic & Operatic Society presents Wyrd Sisters as adapted by Stephen Briggs
Location: Studio Theatre, Bentley House, Hertford, SG13 8EG
Dates: 8th - 11th March 2023
Times: 7:45pm (Sat Matinee 3pm)
Tickets: £13
Box office: www.ticketsource.co.uk
Website: Hertford Dramatic & Operatic Society

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[UK] Updated Stage Production - Stowmarket operatic & dramatic society presents Wyrd Sisters as adapted by Stephen Briggs
Location: The Regal Theatre, Stowmarket, Suffolk
Dates: 22nd - 25th March 2023
Box office: regalstowmarket.co.uk
Website: Stowmarket operatic & dramatic society

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[UK] Updated Stage Production - Rhyl Liberty Players presents Guards! Guards! as adapted by Stephen Briggs
Location: Rhyl Little Theatre, 17 Vale Road, Rhyl, Denbighshire, LL18 2BS
Dates: 30th March - 1st April 2023
Times: 7:30pm
Tickets: £12 each - Special offer 10 tickets for the price of 8 £108.00 plus booking fee
Box office: / www.ticketsource.co.uk
Website: Rhyl Liberty Players

* * * * *

[UK] Updated Stage Production - Thalian Theatre Group presents The Shakespeare Codex as adapted by Stephen Briggs
Location: St. Martins Square, Basildon, Essex SS14 1DL
Dates: Thursday 30th March - Saturday 1st April 2023
Times: 8pm
Tickets: £15
Box office: towngatetheatre.co.uk
Website: Thalian Theatre Group

* * * * *

[UK] New Fan Meetup - Swansea Pride - Discworld Monthly and Llamedos Holiday Camp join the march & parade
Location: Wind Street, Swansea, SA1 1EG
Dates: Sat 29th April 2023
Times: Meet from 10am for an 11am start

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[UK] Updated Stage Production - Guide Bridge Theatre presents Wyrd Sisters as adapted by Stephen Briggs
Location: Guide Bridge Theatre, Manchester, M34 5HJ
Dates: Monday 15th May 2023 - Saturday 20th May 2023
Times: 7:30pm and 2:00pm matinee on Saturday.
Tickets: 10 GBP (9 GBP Members)
Box office: www.ticketsource.co.uk

* * * * *

[UK] Updated Stage Production - Rutland Arts Theatre Society presents Wyrd Sisters as adapted by Stephen Briggs
Location: Rutland County Museum, Catmos Street, Oakham, LE15 6HW, UK
Dates: 18th, 19th, 20th May 2023
Tickets: 9 GBP advance, 10 GBP at door
Box office: www.wegottickets.com
Website: Rutland Arts Theatre Society

9. Competitions

9.1 Amazing Maurice Mug and Coaster Result

Way back in November when we were at the MCM London event we picked up an Amazing Maurice Mug and Coaster from the Forbidden Planet stall to give away. We asked you to send the answer to the following question to us in order to enter the competition.

Q1. What is the name of the small rat that asks awkward questions, prefaced with the word "Ahem"?

The answer we were looking for was, of course, Peaches.

The lucky winner of the Mug and Coaster is Lindsay Campbell from The Orkney Isles, we will send your prize out to you as soon as possible.

9.2 Amazing Maurice Jigsaw Competition

This month we have a 200 piece Amazing Maurice Jigsaw from Laurence King supplied to us by Laurence King to give away.

In order to win this prize you must answer the following question:

Q1. Which of the educated rodents wears a bowtie?

Send your answers along with your postal address to by 15th March 2023.

Good luck.

Rules: Entries must be sent via email to . Address information will only be used for sending out prizes. Once prizes are sent out all address details will be destroyed. Entries received after the closing date or sent to any other email address will be ignored. No more than one entry per person will be accepted - multiple entries will result in a ban from the competition. Failure to answer the questions or provide postal address will prevent entry. Answers to the questions must not be posted to any websites before the competition ends. The judges' decision is final. The competition is open to all readers.

10. The End

This month's issue is brought to you by banners, website design, colds and university visits.

The deadline for submissions to issue 297 of Discworld Monthly is 15th March 2023.

10.1 Supporting Discworld Monthly

Discworld Monthly was created as a totally free newsletter and will continue to remain so for as long as it continues. However, the costs of maintaining the website, postage, travel etc. add up. If you feel you would like to make a small contribution towards these costs please consider doing so via: PayPal

Our account for Paypal is oook@discworldmonthly.co.uk

You can also purchase items from our range of licensed Discworld Monthly products from: Discworld Monthly Shop

10.2 Contact Information

We prefer information to be sent via email to but can also accept information via post at the following address: Discworld Monthly, 20 Cambrian Place, Pontarddulais, Swansea, SA4 8RG, United Kingdom

10.3 Latest Book Information

We have an extensive Terry Pratchett bibliography with a tick list you can print out at: Terry Pratchett Bibliography

We have created a wonderful BookShop.org bookshop. Any sales made through the book shop will earn us a small commission and will also make a donation towards small independent bookshops.

We are also members of various Affiliate programs where you can purchase your Discworld books.

10.4 DiscTrivia Answers

Q1. Who was the 37th Lord d'Eath?
A1. Edward d'Eath was the 37th Lord of that name. (Men At Arms)

Q2. At which establishment is Miss Drapes a senior clerk?
A2. Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork (Making Money)

Q3. Who is Heme Krona?
A3. The owner of the Camels-R-Us livery stable in Djelibeybi (Pyramids)

Q4. Who is Belafon?
A4. A young druid, who delivers rocks for stone circles. (The Light Fantastic)

Q5. Where is Brother Prankster a lecturer?
A5. At the Fools Guild (Wyrd Sisters).

10.5 Subscription Information

To subscribe to Discworld Monthly simply enter your email address in the form on the Discworld Monthly web site. Our web site contains all back issues, interesting articles and links to other Pratchett sites.

To unsubscribe please follow the instructions at the end of this email.

10.6 Small Print

We make every effort we can to ensure the information in this newsletter is accurate and legal. All trademarks are recognized as the property of their respective owners, whoever they may be. Discworld (R) is a registered trademark of Dunmanifestin and used under licence.

10.7 Thanks

Thanks for reading this issue of 'Discworld Monthly'. We hope you enjoyed it. If you have any comments, complaints or suggestions for the future of this newsletter please email us at:

Thank you Terry Pratchett

10.8 The Final Word

Rachel here: We may not be perfect designers, or award winning journalists but we do our best to keep you all entertained and informed about all things Terry. We do have some ethics though.

We like our news to be current, up to date and factual with a solid source. We don't like posting rumours but occasionally the source it comes from is 98 percent solid so we will tell you it's a rumour and confirm it when we have a 100 percent confirmation.

Our own articles are written by us for us only. You won't find articles from other publications here unless it's a formal press release about an adaptation, book release or event or something we actually wrote for someone else unless they begged us to publish it (OK not begged but some of our lovely friends do ask us occasionally to boost something).

[NB I say we are not award winning but Discworld Monthly did win Website of the Month for Issue 3 back in a different century. It would be nice to win something much more recent, or even just get acknowledged #justsaying]

Whilst you keep reading it, we'll keep on writing it because we love Terry's books just as much as you do.

Keep smiling, Keep breathing, Keep reading.

See you soon!

GNU Terry Pratchett...

Table of Contents:

1. Editorial
2. News
2.1 LarpCon 2023 - The Larpcon of Magic
2.2 Swansea Pride
2.3 Good Omens - An Ineffable Game
2.4 The Amazing Maurice
2.4.1 The Amazing Maurice at Alexandra Palace.
2.4.2 The Amazing Maurice Worldwide Releases
2.4.3 The Amazing Maurice Statue from Blugoblin
2.5 Audio Book News
2.6 Book Release news
3. Review: Rob Wilkins Interview and book signing Norwich
4. Review: Denizens of Discworld. 30 years of Paul Kidby's illustrations.
5. DiscTrivia
6. Birthdays
7. Readers' Letters
8. Events
8.1 Current and Upcoming Events
8.2 New and Updated Events
9. Competitions
9.1 Amazing Maurice Mug and Coaster Result
9.2 Amazing Maurice Jigsaw Competition
10. The End
10.1 Supporting Discworld Monthly
10.2 Contact Information
10.3 Latest Book Information
10.4 DiscTrivia Answers
10.5 Subscription Information
10.6 Small Print
10.7 Thanks
10.8 The Final Word
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