alt Hacker NewsWhat a beautifully written article.
> What I miss, selfishly, is the next book. There were always going to be more.
> What I miss, less selfishly, is whatever Pratchett-shaped object is supposed to be reaching teenagers now, and isn’t.
I feel the first keenly. I have put off a re-read of Pratchett for several years now: I want to forget as much as possible, to have the pleasure of discovery again. But I have read them all so many times I know it will all be familiar.
I don't know what teenagers read today. I hope Pratchett is still there. Even as an adult, I found his writing encouraged a kind of kindness in me. He had a way of understanding human nature and, with zero preaching, making you consider how people different from you felt. I still remember when I encountered Cheery the first time and how beautifully Pratchett navigated the intricacies of gender. I was an adult who already believed in kindness, with friends who have their own experiences of gender and from whom I learned and who I tried to support, yet he still taught me something.
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I don't know about male teenagers but teen girls read copious amounts of a genre called romantasy.
It's not remotely beautifully written. It reads as if someone prompted "Write an article called I Miss Terry Pratchett, and write it in his style."
It's full of attempted Pratchettisms that, if you're paying attention, make no sense.
It's on a blog where almost every post is about AI.
It's the opposite of Terry's warm, intelligent, humanist writing and an insult to his name.
It's riddled with ai slop markers. I personally hated it. Fine dining that turns out to be $0.50 ramen with a sprig of parsley on top.
> What a beautifully written article.
Sadly, I suspect that this may be, because it was an AI, prompted to "Write a short essay, in the style of Terry Pratchett, about how much I miss Terry Pratchett."
The defining aspect of Pratchett for me is that he loved his characters, and let them be free. He wouldn’t force a character to do something “against his will” and you can see characters introduced as a joke and a parody become fleshed out and clearly loved without abandoning their core values, if you will.
Which translates (or comes from) a respect and love for the reader.