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Illustrating the Discworld: Terry Pratchett's universe in colour

16 January 2020

Terry Pratchett said, "I only invented the Discworld, Josh created it". He was referring to his original cover artist Josh Kirby, who died in 2001. Here are a selection of cover illustrations by Kirby and Paul Kidby, his successor as visualiser of Pratchett's fantastical universe.

Discworld I | Cover illustration by Josh Kirby
Carpet People | Cover illustration by Josh Kirby
Night Watch | Paul Kidby's first Discworld cover, 2002
The New Discworld Companion / The Librarian | Cover illustration by Paul Kidby
The Discworld Massif | Illustration by Paul Kidby
Maskerade | Illustration by Josh Kirby
Great A Tuin II | Illustration by Paul Kidby
Lancre Gothic | Illustration by Paul Kidby
Monstrous Regiment | Illustration by Paul Kidby
The Truth| Illustration by Josh Kirby
Wyrd Sisters | Illustration by Josh Kirby
Wyrd Sisters | Illustration by Paul Kidby

A version of this article was originally published in February 2017.

Terry Pratchett

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  • Back in Black director on the transformation of actor Paul Kaye into writer Terry Pratchett.

  • Pratchett's longtime friend and collaborator reads his funny and moving tribute, featured here in its entirety for the first time.

  • Exclusive extra scene from Back in Black: Pratchett, played by actor Paul Kaye, confronts his old headmaster.

  • Terry Pratchett's life story related by his collaborator on many spin-offs from the mammoth Discworld series.

  • The fantastical cover illustrations that visualised Terry Pratchett's Discworld universe.