I need to type this out because I spent 10 minutes crying in a bathroom cubicle in work, and I've never done that before. I've learned over the last two years that I'm not as in touch with my emotions as I thought I was, so I need to figure this one out. And I think better when I'm typing. And I'm upset. So here I go.
The Colour of Magic is one of the first books I remember reading. I don't know what age I was, but it was certainly in the single digits. I was so utterly absorbed in the world that, at a point when a shower of sparks was described, I physically flinched back from the page in fear.
It was also the first book where I encountered the idea that good people sometimes end badly for reasons that aren't their fault. Some people just get screwed over by existing.
This was not the only thing I have learned from reading Terry Pratchett.
So many of the concepts, ideas and thoughts that I love in fiction (and reality, sometimes) come directly from his books. You can move so silently that people hear the lack of noise. Old Gods do new jobs. Real heroes don't look like they do in children's books. Ideas are alive, and they think, and move, and breed, and dream. There are hidden dimensions and secret worlds behind every corner. Books don't need chapters. Just over there, there is an entire universe that sings. A good man will kill you with hardly a word. The Turtle moves.
The Colour of Magic was published when I was one year old. The Light Fantastic when I was four. Since then, not a year of my life has gone by that didn't have at least one new Pratchett book in it. A lot of gamers and fantasy fans are influenced by Tolkien, but the shadow he casts is totally eclipsed in my life by Terry Pratchett. No other author has ever had as much influence over me, and no other author ever will.
As I finished Raising Steam, I realized that Pratchett was saying goodbye to the Discworld. The end of that book is very much him putting things in order; leaving the world at a point where it was ready to move on to a new technological age. Leaving the Discworld in a state where it didn't need him any more. I knew then that there were going to be no more Discworld novels, but I didn't realize until today just how much that would hit me.
It hits me right where I live.
Ok, I feel better now. Thanks for listening.
