Terry Pratchett visits Kingwell Rise which has Discworld-inspired road names.
Ben Birchall/PA Images via Getty Images
One of the side benefits of the “peak TV” era: if you’ve ever wanted to see your favorite book (or series of books) adapted for television, it seems a whole lot more likely now than it was a few years ago. This includes books of all styles and genres — but it’s particularly benefited fans of science fiction and fantasy.
Adaptations of everything from Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time to Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast are in the works these days. This week brings with it the news that another beloved fantasy series is set to be adapted for television: Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, a series of satirical fantasy novels beloved by many. A 2015 article at io9 by Katharine Trendacosta explains the appeal of the books:
With Discworld, Pratchett’s great achievement was to create a universe that looked as familiar as Middle Earth, and fill it with people that had more in common with recognizable, modern-day people than with Aragorn or Frodo.
The deal will see Motive Pictures and Endeavor Content team up with Narrativia, which Pratchett launched in 2012, to make several series adaptations of the late author’s fantasy novels.
Pratchett’s daughter Rhianna, co-director of the production company Narrativia, had warm words to say about the new project, hailing the “unique characters, witty narrative and incredible literary tropes” found in the Discworld books.
For an acclaimed, beloved, and bestselling author, Pratchett’s works haven’t made the leap to screens large or small with as much impact as some of his contemporaries. (Flood explored this in an article from earlier this year.) One notable exception: Good Omens, his collaboration with Neil Gaiman, which was recently adapted for an acclaimed series by the BBC and Amazon.
How this new deal to bring Discworld to the screen will fare remains to be seen, but a lot of readers around the world will be watching very carefully for more news.
Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been...Read More
