Customer Reviews

The Art of Discworld

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Terry Pratchett's Discworld is an extraordinarily varied and detailed creation of fantasy-that-is-awfully-real (not to mention being seriously funny). I suppose all of us who are fans of this work carry an assortment of internal visual images of what the world and its inhabitants look like, but "The Art of Discworld" comes pretty close to showing us how Terry Pratchett envisions his own creation. The drawings and paintings are by Paul Kidby, and Pratchett assures us in the introduction that "Paul sees things my way about seventy-five per cent of the time, which suggests either mind-reading is happening or that my vision of my characters is really rather vagues until I see his drawings." The illustrations in the book are, as might be expected, numerous and wonderfully vivid, showing us everyone and everything (some of those things animate and some not) of importance in the Discworld universe. But as absorbing as the paintings are, they are matched in interest by Pratchett's comments on each character, telling us how they came about and how they have evolved over time. I would have a hard time selecting my favorite illustration from the book. Heck, I would have a hard time limiting my choice to the top ten -- or twenty -- pictures. "The Art of Discworld" is guaranteed to be a delight to any fan of Pratchett's fiction. Or as the Librarian would say, "Ook!"

If you have read even a few of the books in the Discworld series, you know that this fantastic and satirical world is populated with a parade of colorful characters and unusual geography. Haven't you wondered what Sam Vimes really looks like? How about Lord Vetinari, or Rincewind, or the Nac Mac Feegle, or those wacky witches of Lancre? "The Art of Discworld" brings together artist Paul Kidby's renderings of the wonders of Discworld. Filled with both color paintings and black-and-white sketches, this book brings Discworld alive. Kidby's works are not only painstaking in their detail, but they faithfully capture every nuance of the characters as described in the books.

In addition to the artwork, there is also running commentary by Terry Pratchett on the many people, creatures, and places in Discworld. He provides interesting new insights on the conception and evolution of his creations and describes how his mental visualization of them compares with Kidby's execution. Kidby also adds his own comments on why he depicts the characters the way he does.

There are so many treasures in this book! There's Death dressed as the Hogfather. There's Angua in her human and wolf forms. There are depictions of the Librarian that show the man within the orangutan skin. There's a sketch of Twoflower that's a perfect rendition of the first Discworld tourist. Let's not forget the cosmos-scarred Great A'Tuin, bearing the weight of four elephants and a flat planet on his mighty back. I could go on and on, but I won't. You have to see these amazing illustrations for yourself. This is a must-have for a Discworld fan's collection.

Eileen Rieback

I was introduced to the art of Discworld a bit late and The Last Hero was the first I saw. Currently I'm reading the Josh Kirby illustrated edition of Eric and I'll say up front that I prefer Paul Kidby's illustrations. From the brilliance of the Mona Ogg on the front cover to the masterful illustrations of Death I think that Kidby captures the spirit of the Disc.

Of course we don't just see Kidby's take on everybody from Lord Vetinari to Granny Weatherwax to Foul Ol' Ron, this volume also includes many notes from Terry Pratchett himself. Pratchett's notes make up the main body of the text and often Kidby's comments follow in italics. I especially enjoy seeing the evolution of different characters as when Terry reveals that Guards, Guards! wasn't intended to start a whole series of City Watch books. Rather he says that he wanted "to give them a moment in the sun, but it turned out to be a full tropical holiday."

One of my favourite illustrations is the one of Death as the Hogfather. I think the spirit of Death (and 'Pixie Albert') is perfectly captured with the grinning skull. Throughout the volume are many excellent full colour illustrations such as this as well as a number of sketches and line drawings.

I still imagine Discworld characters when I read a novel, but with this volume I can delve in a bit deeper and see them in new situations. Where else will you see apt parodies of The Scream, The Mona Lisa, or Rembrant's Night Watch?

If you're a long-time Discworld addict then your collection should not be without this volume. However, if you are a newcomer then beware. You're sure to enjoy the illustrations, but they and the text will spoil many of the previous books.

As another reviewer mentioned, in the US the artwork differs from the British novels. Since I had never had the chance read the British versions of the Discworld books this compendium of artwork was very fresh while not exactly what I had pictured in my mind while reading through the novels. I definitely enjoyed seeing the Discworld characters portayed through someone else's perspective, especially since it so closely mirrors the author's own.

This book is a collection of Artist Paul Kidby's illustrations of the various characters in Terry Pratchett' Discworld. And boy howdy, what a good job he does. Personal favorites of mine are the picture of Discworld on the back of the elephants on the back of the turtle swimming through space!! Kidby gets it perfect! I am also very fond of his pictures of DEATH.. one of my favorite characters in the series.

If you are fond of the series, I highly recommend this book! I would also suggest that you check out The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable, which also features the art of Paul Kidby.

All the best,

Jay

"The Art of Discworld" is a beautiful collection of images by Paul Kidby - some are pen and pencil essays, others are more advanced sketches and many form completed paintings. They are grouped by theme and portray the Discworld itself, several landscapes (Ankh-Morpork, Lancre, Überwald...) and buildings (Unseen University, several Guilds, Night Watch HQ...) and almost every named character in the Discworld universe. In addition, Terry Pratchett adds interesting, lengthy comments on characters, how they came to be and his opinion on Paul Kidby's view of them.

There are a couple of inexplicable omissions (for instance, Magrat Garlick is barely shown in the background of a picture, even though she is mentioned repeatedly in the accompanying text) and several images have already been featured elsewhere (e.g. several book covers, the Mapps,the Calendars).

Finally, the illustrations and the text correspond to the Discworld situation as it was by 2006, which means there are some serious SPOILERS in the text for those who haven't read the corresponding books.

Overall, this is an absolute MUST for any serious Discworld fan. It's gorgeous to look at, interesting to read and at times hysterically funny like only something written by Terry Pratchett can be.

I would say that the art depicting the various characters of Discworld looks exactly like I had imagined them. This is a wonderful book that I highly recommend if you are a Discworld fan. The only thing missing in this book is a depiction of Sybil, Vime's wife. I would liked to have seen her included in "The Art of Discworld". All in all, an excellent Discworld resource for the Discworld fan!

It's amazing how a well written description or the good development of a character can put an image in someone's mind.

I found Paul Kidby's illustrations to be as I expected the assorted characters to appear. And it motivated me to further pursue reading more of Pratchett's work.

I got it for my cousin as a present... He's a WAY bigger Terry Pratchett fan than I am and he LOVED it. We both did...

And the artwork is beautiful!

You know that feeling of browsing through old holiday snapshots? That melancholic feeling of those great times of the past. Those little moments that are still carved into your brain, hopefully never to erode away. Well, that is exactly the sentiment you experience when browsing through the Art of Discworld. That is, if you are one of those many people who have read quite a few of the Discworld novels. Have you never read one of those? What are you waiting for? Skip the Art of Discworld (for now) and start reading the books!

Paul Kidby is arguably the best artist to ever try envision the wonderful world and characters of Terry Pratchett's Discworld. The incredible amount of details he puts in the drawings make you want to study them again and again, each time discovering new aspects. The most noteworthy pieces are the depictions of the Great A'Tuin, Death, The-ook-ook-Librarian and of course Nanny Ogg's cat Greebo.

Accompanying the excellent reproductions are the comments of the big chief Pratchett himself and to a lesser amount Paul Kidby's remarks. Terry Pratchett reveals some of the creative processes behind the conception of many of the beloved characters.