Terry Pratchett started his career as a crypto-monarchist and ended up the most consistently humane writer of his generation. Ā He never entirely lost his affection for benevolent dictatorship, and made a few classic colonial missteps along the way, but in the end youād be hard pressed to find a more staunchly feminist, anti-racist, anti-classist, unsentimental and clear-sighted writer of Old White British Fantasy. Ā
The thing I love about Terryās writing is that he loved - loved - civil society. Ā He loved the correct functioning of the social contract. Ā He loved technology, loved innovation, but also loved nature and the ways of living that work with and through it. Ā He lovedĀ Britain, but hated empire (seeĀ āJingoā) - he was a ruralist who hated provincialism, a capitalist who hated wealth, an urbanist who reveled in stories of pollution, crime and decay. Ā He was above all a man who loved systems, of nature, of thought, of tradition and of culture. Ā He believed in the best of humanity and knew that we could be even better if we just thoughtĀ a little more.
As a writer: how skillful, how prolific, how consistent. Ā The yearly event of a new Discworld book has been a part of my life for more than two decades, and in that barrage of material there have been so few disappointments, so many surprisesā¦ to come out with a book as fresh and inspired asĀ āMonstrous Regimentā as the 31st novelĀ in your big fantasy series? Ā Ludicrous. Ā He was just full of treasure. Ā What a thing to have had, what a thing to have lost.
In the end, he set a higher standard, as a writer and as a person. Ā He got better as he learned, and he kept learning, and there was noĀ ātoo lateā orĀ ātoo hardā orĀ āI canāt be bothered to do the research.ā Ā He just did the work. Ā I think in his memory the best thing we can do is to roll up our sleeves and do the same.
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