Terry Pratchett’s passing was a great shock to much of the genre community. The author produced amazing books that spoke to the very being of his readers, and he was much loved throughout the community. The loss is perhaps most keenly felt during these winter months; after all, many of us expected to receive a new book by Sir Terry to lighten our day during the darkest hours.
Though there will be no new Discworld novels, the books themselves generated a great deal of imagery and paraphernalia associated with them. Notably, the artwork of Paul Kidby, who spent 15 years illustrating various Discworld novels and the like. Kidby’s first work in the Discworld was The Last Hero, a lushly illustrated parody of the ‘lone warrior’ myth, and his interpretation of the elderly Cohen the Barbarian, diamond dentures included, is utterly unforgettable.
All of your favourites are here. Rincewind, Nanny Ogg, The Wee Free Men, Tiffany Aching and, of course, the Great A’Tuin. Kidby’s art is gorgeous and a key to memory, even single work here is golden, and if you’ve read the books then the pictures can be enough to allow you to revisit some of those memorable scenes.
This is a collection of Kidby’s favourite examples of his Discworld-related work. It includes 40 pieces never before seen and 30 pieces that have only been seen in none-UK editions. We have a variety of book covers as well, this time without the pesky blurb, title and barcodes getting in the way. As a coffee table book, it does the job well. It hasn’t the heft one might hope for (for that to work it would have to feature more than one artist), but it is beautifully presented and it’s a rather lovely thing that will fit nicely on an over-sized shelf.
Kidby’s introduction is nothing terribly special and the book itself is low on commentary. This is very much a book to give to the Discworld lover who has everything; there’s no new insights here except for some amazingly lovely art and some images you’ve likely never seen before. As a capstone on a near complete Discworld collection, it’s pretty much perfect.
TERRY PRATCHETT’S DISCWORLD IMAGINARIUM / AUTHOR: PAUL KIDBY / PUBLISHER: GOLLANCZ / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
