I Can’t Wait For Discworld’s New Shared Universe, And I Hope These 4 Terry Pratchett Books Get Adaptations Next
On April 18, it was announced that the legendary Discworld series, originally by Terry Pratchett, will be adapted into a series of graphic novels. While Pratchett passed away in 2015, his estate – led by his daughter Rhianna – has put significant effort in over the past few years to keep the series alive in the hearts and minds of fans worldwide.
Interestingly, the release plan for these graphic novels isn’t going to be a straight line following the original Discworld release order; instead, the first three books in the pipeline are Thief of Time, The Wee Free Men, and Monstrous Regiment. If that continues to be the case, then these four Discworld books would all make fantastic choices for the next wave of graphic novels.
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Guards! Guards!
Book 8: Originally Released In 1989
The Night Watch novels eventually become a key part of Discworld‘s moral core, so inevitably one or another will get an adaptation. Yet while Guards! Guards!, as the first book in the series, might be a little more rough around the edges when compared to the later brilliance of Night Watch or Feet of Clay; it does have a few excellent qualities that would make it a great starting point in adapting the trials and tribulations of Samuel Vimes.
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Guards! Guards! was our introduction to Vimes while he was at his lowest, struggling with alcoholism, misery, and a pair of generally incompetent subordinates. Yet by the book’s end, Vimes is actually feeling a tiny bit of an emotion he thought he’d never feel again: optimism. He’s got a brilliant new recruit; he saved the Patrician, and a phenomenal noblewoman has made her intentions to snap him up quite clear. It’s a wonderful story for kicking things off – and the absolutely wild climactic fight against a dragon would be gorgeous to see as a series of splash panels.
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Moving Pictures
Book 10: Originally Released In 1990
Moving Pictures is a wonderfully significant book in the Discworld series, as it represents the kickoff of the Disc’s Industrial Revolution. Unlike most of the other books in that storyline, Moving Pictures doesn’t feature fan-favorite con artist Moist Von Lipwig as its protagonist, but rather wizarding dropout Victor Tugelbend, who helps get Ankh-Morpork’s nascent filmmaking industry off the ground – and then discovers that in doing so, he’s put the Disc at risk of destruction at the hands of a horrible denizen of the Dungeon Dimensions.
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One thing that Moving Pictures could never do, as a novel, is play with shot framing; while Pratchett’s allusions to and parodies of Hollywood and film culture are as on-point as ever, there’s only so much text can do to lampshade any references to how a film actually looks. Graphic novels, however, have a lot more ways to play with that kind of visual language, which is why Moving Pictures is ripe for an adaptation.
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Reaper Man
Book 11: Originally Released In 1991
Discworld‘s Death is one of Terry Pratchett’s most enduring and beloved characters, which is a particularly entertaining detail when you consider just how morbid it is to have any kind of deep affection for the Grim Reaper. Yet Death persists, not only as a universal force but also as one of Pratchett’s best avenues for exploring the deeper parts of how humans interact with the innate existential dread of mortality.
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In Reaper Man, Death is put on leave as his superiors, the Auditors of Reality, see the personality he’s developed over the course of his work as a liability. Death winds up working on a farm, developing a deep personal connection with the land and the farmer, while his replacement begins wreaking havoc across the Disc. It’s a story full of sweeping, cosmic conversations about the nature of existence, including a glimpse at the unknowably vast entity Azrael, Death of the Universe, that’s just begging for some trippy Jack Kirby-esque spreads.
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Small Gods
Book 13: Originally Released In 1992
While Small Gods is mostly a standalone novel, with its main character of Brutha not appearing directly in any other books, its events have repercussions throughout Discworld after Brutha launches a complete reform of Omnism, the Disc’s dominant religion. The story is a no-holds-barred satire of organized religion, and one that notably led to Pratchett receiving praise from wildly opposing viewpoints, who all thought his book agreed with them.
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Although it’s not the most action-packed Discworld book – Brutha does meet the Great God Om, but Om spends most of the book in the form of a tortoise – the dialogue is as brilliant as any of Pratchett’s other works. More importantly, the story’s focus on the Disc’s many gods, large and small, would allow for artists to really play in a fascinating space for character designs.
Discworld
Discworld is a celebrated fantasy franchise created by Sir Terry Pratchett. The series takes place on a flat, disc-shaped world that is carried through space on the backs of four elephants, who stand on the shell of the giant turtle Great A’Tuin. Known for its satirical humor and incisive social commentary, the franchise began with novels but later expanded to adaptations in film, television, radio, stage plays, and video games. It has had a lasting impact on fantasy literature and pop culture.
- Created by
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Terry Pratchett
- Latest Film
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Going Postal
- Cast
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David Jason, Charles Dance, Michelle Dockery, Marc Warren, Anna Chancellor, Richard Coyle, Ingrid Bolsø Berdal, Adam Hugill, Jo Eaton-Kent, Wendell Pierce, Ralph Ineson, James Fleet, Terry Pratchett
