Fantasy Author Sir Terry Pratchett Dies At Age 66

Earlier today, famed fantasy author, Sir Terry Pratchett passed away at age 66 after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. The British fantasy author wrote more than 70 books during his career with his final one published last summer.

The author touched many with his books selling over 85 million worldwide in 37 languages. Millions of readers enjoyed their journeys through Pratchett’s universe of Discworld, and millions will mourn the loss of the brilliant author. The announcement of Pratchett’s death first came from the author's Twitter account, which he shared with his longtime assistant Rob Wilkins. And the tweets came in the voice of his character, Death, in a gorgeous final eulogy.

The story continued…

And then…

The more official announcement from Larry Finlay at Transworld Publishers (via The Guardian). It included details surrounding the author’s death noting that he passed away in his home with “his cat sleeping on his bed surrounded by his family”. And, Finlay also reminded us of the incredible work of art that Pratchett has left us, adding:

Pratchett was very open about his struggle with Alzheimer’s, announcing his diagnosis in 2007 calling it, “an embuggerance” and pulling out of a Discworld festival earlier this year saying that the “Embuggerance” finally caught up with him. As one of the UK’s most beloved authors, Pratchett quickly built his fan base after his first Discworld novel in 1983, The Colour of Magic. Last year, he released Raising Steam, the 40th novel of the series in which he completed using voice-recognition software.

With a number of writing awards, and a knighthood for “services to literature”, the acclaimed author will surely be missed. And as a leader in the fantasy genre, his legacy will live on.