Art of Discworld, The

Inhoud

The Discworld floats through space on the backs of four elephants standing on a giant turtle (once there were five elephants, but that's another story). It's a world bursting with magic, a land of contrasts and extremes, from the bustling metropolis of Ankh-Morpork, the oldest city on the Disc (now ruled with an iron hand in a velvet glove by the Patrician, Lord Vetinari), to the ancient empire of Klatch, where there are fifteen words for assassination. There's the mysterious continent XXXX, or Foureks, about which nothing anyone has ever heard is really an exaggeration, the tiny kingdom of Lancre and the dark country of Uberwald, where things do go bump in the night.

And then there are the inhabitants: the witches Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, Magrat Garlick (now a Queen, of course). There are wizards galore, Archchancellor Mustrum Ridcully, the Librarian, Rincewind, the Bursar . . . there are the History Monks and the ancient Vampyre families. There are great heroes, like Cohen the Barbarian and his Silver Horde, Sam Vimes, Captain Carrot and the men* of the City Watch . . . and there are the ordinary folk like Cut-Me-Own-Throat Dibbler, Foul Ole Ron, the Igors . . . and there's Death.

The Discworld might have started out in the imagination of its Creator, Terry Pratchett, but over the past 30 or more books, it has taken on a life of its own.

Here, gathered together for the first time, is artist Paul Kidby's own voyage through the Disc, in glorious color and intricate black and white: a cornucopia of characters that have won the hearts of millions of adoring readers the world over:
Here is The Art of Discworld.

* werewolves, zombies, gargoyles, dwards - in fact, men of the Watch are actually few and far between these days.

Bespreking

A must have for Discworld fans

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.